How to show Bible verses on screen automatically during a sermon

The pastor says “turn with me to Romans 8:28” and the media desk scrambles to type it in. By the time the verse is up, he has moved on. Here is how to have the verse appear on its own.

Why typing references doesn’t keep up

In most churches one person on the media desk listens to the sermon, catches each reference, searches for it in the presentation software and puts it on the screen. That works for a planned reading. It falls apart when the preacher quotes three verses in a minute, quotes a verse without saying where it is, or switches translation mid-sentence.

How automatic scripture display works

Software like Scrivent listens to the preacher’s microphone and does three things in a row:

1. Transcribes the sermon live. Speech becomes text as it is spoken, tuned for Nigerian and African accents.
2. Recognises the scripture. A spoken reference (“John 3 verse 16”), a verse quoted word for word, or a close paraphrase is matched against the whole Bible.
3. Puts it on the screen. The verse appears on the projector, the livestream overlay, or both.

You choose how much control the media desk keeps. In Auto mode a confident match goes straight to the screen. In Manual mode it waits in a preview until the operator presses Push — a good way to start while the team builds trust in it.

What you need

• A laptop or desktop with Chrome or Edge, or the free Scrivent app for Windows.
• The preacher’s microphone going into that computer — a cable from the mixer’s aux or record output into the laptop is best. A laptop mic in the room works for testing but catches the congregation and the band too.
• A screen: a projector or TV on a second display, a browser on another computer, or OBS for the livestream.
• An internet connection during the service.

Setting it up for Sunday

1. Create a free church account — church name, email, password.
2. Open the console, choose the microphone input and speak a sentence to check the level meter moves.
3. Open the display on the projector screen (or add it to OBS as a browser source).
4. Run the in-app Ready for Sunday check: it confirms the mic is heard, a verse is detected, a display is connected and a verse reaches it.
5. On Sunday, press Start before the sermon begins. Leave it running.

What it does not do

It shows scripture, not song lyrics — keep your usual presentation software for worship. And it listens for English preaching: if your pastor preaches in Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa, references spoken in English are caught, but verses spoken only in those languages are not yet. The verse itself can be shown in those languages underneath the English — see Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa verses on screen.

More detail: Quick Start · How detection works · Best practices.

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