WELLINGTON, FL (April 16, 2010) – New Village Council member Anne Gerwig laughs about the photo spreading across “Twitter verse” that shows her taking the oath of office while placing her left hand on an phone running the popular YouVersion Bible application.
“I have to admit it was staged,” she says. The village actually does not use a Bible during the swearing-in ceremony. “If they did, I would use the phone.”
Gerwig said about 50 friends – including members of the local Lifechurch.tv campus – showed up for the ceremony. When Gerwig discovered that no Bible was used in the ceremony, she decided to shoot the picture and send it to the multisite church’s lead pastor Craig Groeschel for a laugh.
Gerwig attends the local campus, which is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church congregation that has its main church facility in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Lifchurch.tv developed the free online Bible version that has since been adapted for applications on different mobile devices. Readers can choose from numerous translations, are able to add their own notes (although they remain separate from the Bible), and can make the notes available for other YouVersion users. The free Bible can be accessed through the Lifechurch.tv website or downloaded using an iTunes account.
Gerwig, her husband and some of the other church members read the YouVersion Bible rather than a bound copy during services. Users also can take advantage of YouVersion Live, which enables attendees at events to follow the speaker’s notes, respond to questions, or click on referenced links.
Lifechurch.tv launched the online Bible in September 2007. Last December, they announced that people around the world had used the mobile applications for 1 billion minutes, the equivalent of 19 centuries.
