Getting started with EBENEZER
EBENEZER takes the video recording of your Sunday sermon and turns it into everything your church shares during the week: short video clips for social media, devotional text messages, an email newsletter, a blog post, podcast episodes, and a Bible study guide.
You upload the sermon once. EBENEZER writes everything out. You read it over, change anything that doesn’t sound like your church, and send it. No technical skill required, and nothing reaches your congregation until you press send yourself.
Click around freely. Every message, email, and post waits for you to approve it. Nothing goes out on its own.
Your first week
Work through these in order. The first two happen once; the rest become your weekly rhythm.
- 1 Set up your church Seven short steps: your church details, and which of the six content types you want. About 20 minutes, once.
- 2 Log in and look around Sign in and learn the home screen, so every other guide makes sense. About 5 minutes.
- 3 Upload a sermon Put this week’s sermon video in and start it processing. About 10 minutes, plus waiting.
- 4 Review and approve clips Watch the short clips EBENEZER cut from the sermon and choose which ones to publish. About 15 minutes.
- 5 Send devotional texts Polish three short encouragements and schedule them to phones for Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
- 6 Send the newsletter Read the weekly email EBENEZER wrote, pick a subject line, test it on yourself, then send.
- 7 Publish to the blog Put a written version of the sermon on your church website for anyone who missed Sunday.
- ? Troubleshooting Upload stuck? Texts never arrived? Start here before you call anyone.
Worth reading once
Not urgent, but each of these saves an afternoon later.
- How EBENEZER works Why processing takes as long as it does, how clips get chosen, and what that score on each clip actually means.
- How your clips are framed Five minutes deciding how your stage is cropped for phones changes every clip you publish from then on.
- Publication history What the delete button really does — it differs by platform, and you want to know before you need it.
- Connect Facebook and Instagram The one connection with an extra step that’s easy to miss. Get it right the first time, and know what the amber warning means if you see it.
Before you begin
Have these three things ready:
- The web address for EBENEZER — app.ebenezer.rest.
- The email address and password for your account. Need one? Email support@ebenezer.rest.
- A video recording of a sermon saved on your computer. Most common video types work, up to 5 GB, which comfortably covers a full-length service recording.
Your account can send messages to your whole congregation. If you forget your password, the sign-in page has a Forgot Password? link that emails you a reset link — it works for one hour.
How a week actually goes
Once you are set up, the weekly rhythm is short. Sunday afternoon you upload the recording and walk away while EBENEZER works. Monday morning you sit down for twenty minutes: skim the clips, approve the good ones, read the devotionals and the newsletter, fix anything that sounds off, and press send. That’s the whole job.