NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Individuals searching for everything from Beth Moore Bible studies to Vacation Bible School songs need look no further than their iTunes account.
In 2006, LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention began placing downloadable audio files on Apple’s iTunes website, the world’s largest such catalog that features more than 5 million songs and nearly 1,000 television shows and movies.
“iTunes is the easiest and most customer-friendly way to get music to our customers,” said Aaron Linne, a customer experience technician at LifeWay. “It allows us to reach beyond regular channels to meet people’s needs.”
Today, LifeWay offers more than 500 tracks on the popular audio repository, and that list is ever-growing.
This fall, for instance, choir directors and choir members will even find rehearsal tracks from LifeWay’s music area on iTunes, which already houses several Christmas choral releases, including Phil Barfoot and Dave Williamson’s “The Joy of Christmas” and “Finding the Christmas Star,” a children’s piece by Jeff Slaughter.
“This is another step in our goal to provide churches with the resources they need, in the formats they need, so that their ministries are equipped to lead their congregation to authentic worship,” said Mike Harland, director of LifeWay Worship. Harland added that the familiar options of obtaining music, such as visiting a LifeWay Christian Store or shopping on LifeWay.com, still will be available.
While choral music comprises an abundance of the content LifeWay offers on iTunes, the most popular items continue to be Beth Moore Bible studies such as “Jesus, the One and Only” and “Daniel: Lives of Prophecy, Words of Integrity,” the study that launched LifeWay’s women’s area in iTunes.
“This allows women to access materials even if they aren’t near a small group or missed a class or want to do the study in their own time,” said Faith Whatley, director of LifeWay’s church ministry training and events.
Linne said LifeWay will continue to expand its offerings via iTunes during the coming months to include additional VBS tunes, Bible study options and additional songs from the worship bands featured during LifeWay’s various Fuge summer camps.
Whatley added that while video elements of Beth Moore and other Bible studies are already available at LifeWay.com/women, she hopes LifeWay one day will offer those video elements on iTunes.
“It’s important to reach that audience that is so tech-savvy,” Whatley said. “We’re finding that people like being able to pick and choose what they want.”
In addition to the LifeWay files available for purchase on iTunes, the organization offers an array of free informational podcasts such as StudentCAST, which addresses youth ministry; Inside LifeWay, the official news podcast of LifeWay; and Firehose, a collection of podcasts relating to young adults.
To access LifeWay’s diverse content on iTunes, search for the title or author of the materials at www.apple.com/itunes/download or visit LifeWay.com for more information.
–30–
