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Bible App features promote mental health and friendship

Need for social connection highlighted by Surgeon General as Mental Health Awareness Month begins

OKLAHOMA CITY (May 10, 2023)—A new advisory from the Surgeon General highlights the link between social connection and mental health. As Mental Health Awareness Month begins, YouVersion is encouraging people to prioritize their health by engaging in the Bible and building Christ-centered relationships.

“We weren’t created to go through life alone. We were designed by God to live in relationship with Him and with other believers,” said Bobby Gruenewald, YouVersion Founder and CEO. “That’s why we’re passionate about offering our Community a set of features that not only helps them draw closer to God, but helps them experience the Bible within trusted relationships.”

For those who want to strengthen their relationships and improve their mental health, YouVersion is sharing information about Bible App features that help people find peace of mind and stay connected to each other around God’s Word:

  • Friends—Adding Friends gives people the opportunity to connect with a small group of trusted Friends within the app so that they can grow in their faith together. Once a Friend request is accepted, both people are able to see and leave comments on each other’s Bible engagement activity by tapping on Community at the top of the Home Feed.
  • Plans with Friends—Plans with Friends offers a simple, easy way for people to study the Bible alongside others who care about their spiritual growth. People can choose from one of the thousands of Plans available in the app, including Plans on some of the most-searched topics like anxiety, peace,and hope. When doing Plans with Friends, there is space at the end of each day to chat with Friends about questions,insights, and learnings.
  • Prayer—The Prayer feature helps people grow in their daily prayer life and experience the power of prayer in community. In addition to being able to add private prayers to their list, people can share them with Friends in the app. This allows Friends to support one another in prayer by sharing updates about prayer requests, marking a prayer as answered, and letting friends know they’re praying for them.
  • Discover Churches Nearby—Anyone who wants to connect with a local church can use the Discover feature to find a church near them. By tapping on Churches Near Me, people can see different Church Profiles that share key information, including address, service times, and a church description People can also see which churches their Friends in the app have designated as their home church so they have the option to connect in person.

“We believe spiritual growth best happens within the context of relationships,” said Gruenewald. “We’re honored to play a part in helping people find hope, peace, and meaningful connections as they engage in God’s Word together.”

About YouVersion

Created by Life.Church, YouVersion designs biblically-centered experiences that encourage and challenge people to seek God throughout each day. Bible App offers a free Bible experience in more than 2,000 languages and has been installed on more than 565 million unique devices. Bible App Lite is a simple, space-saving app that is currently available in Africa and SE Asia as part of an effort to equip countries with internet limitations. Since its launch in October 2022, it has been installed on more than 4 million devices. Bible App for Kids, which was developed in partnership with OneHope in 2013, helps children engage with the stories of the Bible through interactive animations and fun activities. It has been installed on more than 100 million unique devices. For more information about YouVersion, visit youversion.com.