Free church projection software for small churches

A small church doesn’t need an expensive media setup to put scripture on screen. A laptop, a projector or TV, and free software will do it.

What you really need

• A laptop — any recent Windows laptop, or any computer with Chrome or Edge.
• A screen — a projector, or a TV connected by HDMI. A second-hand projector is fine.
• An HDMI cable long enough to reach from the media desk to the screen.
• The pastor’s mic feed into the laptop — see how to connect the pastor’s microphone.
• Internet during the service — mobile data from a phone hotspot works.

What the software should do

For most small churches the hard part is not songs — it is the sermon. The pastor quotes verses faster than one volunteer can type them. Look for software that:

• Finds the verse from what the pastor says, instead of making you type it.
• Has the translations your congregation reads — and your local language.
• Opens on the projector as a clean full-screen display.
• Is simple enough for a new volunteer to run on their first Sunday.

Starting free with Scrivent

Scrivent does exactly this, and it is free for every church right now: automatic scripture from the sermon, 18 English translations with Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa or another language underneath, the projector display, a livestream overlay, and sermon recaps for WhatsApp. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install to try it.

1. Create your church account — about a minute.
2. Connect the laptop to the projector and the pastor’s mic.
3. Run the Ready for Sunday check in the console.
4. Run it next Sunday in Manual mode, so the volunteer approves each verse until everyone is comfortable.

Keep using whatever you already use for song lyrics — Scrivent is for the sermon. See also: an EasyWorship alternative for scripture.

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