Introducing Bible Unlocked
Designed for both newcomers and deeper study, Bible Unlocked offers webinars, videos, and courses that help explain what the Bible teaches. And why it matters.
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Bible Unlocked is an online resource made up of weekly live webinars, professional explainer-style videos, and free Bible courses. Everything mentioned in this article, including webinars, videos, and courses, can be found on the website at bibleunlocked.com.
Why Bible Unlocked?
Bible Unlocked began in early 2020, just as COVID-19 became a worldwide phenomenon. Like many ecclesias around the world, the Brant County ecclesia was forced to take our weekly Memorial Service, Bible class, and CYC online. Naturally, we continued our public lectures online as well. These lectures have grown into what is now known as Bible Unlocked.
Originally called “Bible Basics Webinar,” the project has always emphasized basics. There was a feeling among our peers that the typical Christadelphian lecture, though easily understood by a knowledgeable audience, could be difficult for an interested friend who was fairly new to the Bible, or at least to our way of understanding it. We decided that this new online format presented the perfect opportunity to try something a little different.
That’s when we developed our current webinar format. Each session was 30-35 minutes long, and broken up into three main parts:
Part 1: Typical Bible-based lecture format, explaining a first principle (15 minutes)
Part 2: Short pre-recorded video to break up the session and expand on a related topic (3 minutes)
Part 3: Question and answer style discussion to encourage participation and expand on core themes (10 minutes)
What we found was that these short sessions required the speaker to distill a topic down to its simplest form. We were forced to explain often complex concepts in such a way that made them simple, while still leaving the door open for deeper and more complex conversations.
The feedback to this point has been extremely positive, at least in relation to our typical in-person lectures! We’re now in our sixth year of hosting weekly live webinars, and a typical session averages 15-20 logins and 2-3 new visitors. They’ll generally run for 20-25 weeks of the year, and at the time of writing, we are currently working our way through 20 different reasons to believe the Bible.
All these live sessions are recorded and uploaded to YouTube for anyone to watch later.
After a couple of years of running these online sessions, we recognized an opportunity to expand the concept into explainer-style online videos. With the help of many volunteers, we were able to script, film, illustrate, animate, and edit several professional videos that clearly explained first principles. Examples include:
- “What is the Bible?”
- “God Loves You, But What Does That Mean?”
- “What’s the Point of Baptism?”
- “The Resurrection of the Dead”
These videos are 5-10 minutes long, and continue the emphasis on simple explanations of typical lecture-style topics.
One video in particular, titled “What it Means to Take God’s Name in Vain,” has had over 200,000 organic views on YouTube and is one of the first results on Google for searches about the topic. There are hundreds of comments from people who are excited to have learned what the Bible really has to say about the subject! Needless to say, results like this really encourage us and show there is a thirst in the world for Bible teaching.
Another emphasis since the beginning has been the development of a recognizable style and brand. Of course, none of this would matter if it weren’t for the blessing of our Heavenly Father, but we believe that a professional image would only help the level of trust that people have in the content. The creative team has put hundreds of hours into developing a look that is professional, recognizable, and trustworthy. We believe this brand demonstrates we aren’t just a group of individuals seeking to deepen our understanding of the Bible, but a group committed to the Bible’s teachings and sharing them with others.
Finally, we have recently spent time putting together first principle courses (and are still in the process of creating more). While these courses utilize videos, they delve deeper than individual videos and webinars. They allow students to watch videos, read transcripts, and work through the course material at their own pace. They’re similar to correspondence courses, but online and with the same emphasis on professionalism that has characterized the Bible Unlocked image.
How You Can Use the Resource
What makes Bible Unlocked so practical is that it isn’t tied down to any specific region. People from all around the world can access and share its content at any time.
We’ve found it to be an excellent resource for sharing with family members, friends, coworkers, or clients who want to know what the Christadelphians believe and why. There are also various forms of content tailored for different stages of learning about the Bible. If people are new to the Bible and want to learn the basics, the online videos are a perfect way to visually learn what we believe. If people want to dig deeper into the concepts and understand the story of the Bible, they can take the online courses. And if people want a place to learn and discuss in a live setting, there are the weekly live sessions.
We are very thankful to everyone who has contributed to the project thus far, and we are especially grateful to our Heavenly Father for this opportunity. We live in such a unique period of time where content can be shared and watched instantly, and we pray that Bible Unlocked will be a useful preaching tool now and moving forward.
Sam Robinson,
Okanagan Central Ecclesia, BC