Bible Society Australia partnered with YouVersion late last year, extending its aim to engage more Aussies with the Bible by adding more Australian content to the uber-popular Bible-reading app.

“Getting more than half of subscribers completing a study is pretty incredible.” – Mitch Hammond

Hammond estimates that only about one per cent of current YouVersion Bible reading plans are written by Australians.

So far, there are 15 Bible-reading plans offered on the app by Bible Society Australia, with many more to come.

Series of 14-day topical devotions are initially sent to subscribers of Bible Society’s Daily Bible program, a daily email service containing a snippet of the Bible and a short reflection.

Users can also find most of the devotional series on the YouVersion app by searching for ‘Australia’ in the Plans section.

Hammond says the two most popular BSA devotions on YouVersion are ‘Peace’ written by BSA’s acting CEO Melissa Lipsett, and ‘The Way’ written by Hillsong pastor Catrina Henderson (who is starting up a Hillsong campus in Israel).

“So far, over 57,000 people have actually completed a Bible Society Bible-reading plan. You know you’re doing a good thing if you’re getting over 30 per cent sticking with it till the end,” says Hammond.

“Some people quickly move on to another topic; some people just want to see if a study is for them and try it out for a few days.

“So getting more than half of subscribers completing a study is pretty incredible.”