Users can now easily share content straight from the app
by Paul Seebeck | Presbyterian News Service
The PC(USA) Daily Prayer app has been upgraded to allow users to share material straight from the app.
LOUISVILLE — The PC(USA) Daily Prayer app, which combines services for daily prayer from “The Book of Common Worship” with Bible readings from the two-year daily lectionary, received a major update this week.
Available now at the iTunes App Store, the update adds readings from the three-year Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) as well as sharing features that enable users to text or email content from the app or post directly to social media from the app.
The app was originally built around two-year daily lectionary, which allows users to read through most of the Bible over the course of two years in the regular discipline of daily prayer.
The addition of the three-year RCL provides for a somewhat different approach to daily prayer, which is connected with the readings proclaimed during Sunday worship. This approach may be better suited to occasional use of the app (once or twice a week, for instance), or for those who desire additional opportunities for reflection on the weekly lectionary readings of the RCL.
With the addition of the RCL and sharing features, Daily Prayer app users will have a more connected experience.
“Especially during this time when people are isolated and separated, discouraged and distressed — the practice of daily prayer is a vital resource for connecting the people of God in common worship,” says the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell.
An associate for worship in the Office of Theology & Worship, Gambrell said with the Revised Common Lectionary, users will be reading the same Scriptures that many other Christians do, both in the United States and abroad. With the option to share content by email, text or social media, they’ll be able to reach out to friends with a Bible passage or prayer.
Launched in 2012, the Daily Prayer app has been downloaded approximately 10,000 times.
The app costs $2.99 to download; proceeds help pay for the development of additional updates and new features. Search for “PC(USA) Daily Prayer” on the iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon app stores. The latest update will be free for those who already have the app.
The Rev. Dr. Barry Ensign-George, coordinator for the Office of Theology & Worship, said the Daily Prayer app provides a way of praying that is rooted in the accumulated wisdom of the forebears in the faith.
“Today’s developing technology makes it available to us at minimal cost,” he said, “and now one can easily share parts of each day’s prayers that particularly speak to them.”
The Android version of the update should launch in about a month.
A future set of updates, planned for Advent 2020, will add seasonal content and new texts from the 2018 “Book of Common Worship.”
“We’re excited about more developments to the app in the near future,” Gambrell said. “This seems like the right time to nurture ancient practices through new technology.”
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