Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices - Blogs

October 16, 2012

Texts from God

Will you try this experiment with me?

A few weeks ago, the American Bible Society launched DayPack, a free tool that makes it easy for churches to schedule and send a week’s worth of Biblical passages by text. According to the DayPack website, leaders can simply select which Bible translation they wish to use, choose the Bible passages they want to send, name the “pack”, and register. The purpose of this tool is to make it easy to use texting as a way of engaging congregants in scripture.

Since I am always interested in how churches can use technology to build members’ spirituality, I have gone ahead and created my own “pack” of Biblical texts. To do so, I selected and scheduled seven Biblical passages focused on the theme of gratitude. Text the word “thanks” to 347-462-0258 to participate in this experiment, or just visit the Giving Thanks webpage. (If you’re feeling a little less adventurous, I will review my experience using this new tool next week.)

If everything goes according to plan, people who participate should receive texts for seven days. These texts will include a biblical passage and a customized message from St. Swythin’s in the Marshes Episcopal Church.

Here are some of the ways I imagine Episcopal churches might use this tool:

For each day of Holy Week - Select seven Bible passages to lead parishioners through the final seven days leading up to Easter.
On the final seven days of an annual stewardship campaign - or any sort of campaign, for that matter.
As a way of staying connected to parishioners during the busy holiday season.

Provided that it works, I see the primary benefit of this tool as literally meeting congregants wherever they are. Imagine, for instance, being in a busy shopping mall the week before Christmas. Surrounded by thousands of very anxious shoppers, your buzzing phone reminds you to stop, take a deep breath, and return to a scene of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter.

For me, anyway, it would feel like a text from God.

Updated 10/23/12: I've since written my follow up post reviewing this resource. You can find this blog post here.