Kerygma AI
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Documentation

Get Kerygma ready
for your next service.

Kerygma listens to the sermon, finds Bible references, and gives the media operator verse suggestions to approve before they go on screen. This guide is written for the person running the booth.

Install

Download Kerygma on the computer you use for church media. Do the first setup before Sunday so you have time to test audio, sign in, and confirm the output screen.

# macOS
Download: https://kerygma.dev/api/download/macos

# Windows, when available for your account
Download: https://kerygma.dev/api/download/windows

If Your Computer Says It Can’t Open Kerygma

The first time you open Kerygma, your Mac or Windows PC may warn that it cannot verify the app. This is normal for a newly released app and does not mean anything is wrong with Kerygma. You allow it once, and the computer remembers your choice from then on.

On macOS

You may see a message like “Kerygma can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.” Here is how to let it open:

  1. Double-click Kerygma once, then close the warning.
  2. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings, then Privacy & Security.
  3. Scroll down to the Security section. You will see a line saying Kerygma was blocked. Click Open Anyway.
  4. Confirm with your Mac password or Touch ID.
  5. Click Open on the last dialog. Kerygma starts, and it will not ask again.

On older macOS versions you can instead open your Applications folder, hold Control and click Kerygma, choose Open, then Open again.

!
If macOS says Kerygma is damaged and can’t be opened, the app is not really damaged. macOS is blocking the downloaded copy. Open Terminal(Applications → Utilities), paste the line below, press Return, then open Kerygma again.
# Clears the download block on the installed app
xattr -cr /Applications/Kerygma.app

On Windows

When you run the installer, Windows may show a blue box that says “Windows protected your PC.” That is Microsoft SmartScreen warning about a new app. To continue:

  1. Click More info in the blue box.
  2. Click Run anyway.
  3. Follow the installer prompts as normal.

The Windows installer is large, around 780 MB, so the download and the security scan can take a few minutes on a slower connection. If your antivirus removes or blocks the file, restore it from quarantine or allow it, then run the installer again.

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Why does this happen? Apple and Microsoft show these warnings for any app that has not yet gone through their paid verification programs. We are working through that process. Until then, allowing Kerygma once per computer is safe and only needs to be done a single time.

Sign In

Open Kerygma and click Sign in. Your browser opens on kerygma.dev. After you sign in, return to the app. You should see your account status update inside Kerygma.

If the browser says you are signed in but the app still says you are not, leave the app open and try the sign-in button again. Do not reuse an old sign-in tab from earlier in the day.

Run Your First Test Session

  1. Open Kerygma.
  2. Sign in.
  3. Choose the microphone or mixer input.
  4. Click Start Session.
  5. Read a clear verse reference, such as John 3:16.
  6. Confirm that words appear in the transcript and a verse appears in preview.
  7. Send the verse live only after you have checked it.

The first test should be simple. Once that works, test with the real preacher mic or mixer feed.

Choose The Right Microphone

The cleaner the audio, the better Kerygma performs. A direct feed from the church mixer is best. A laptop microphone can work for a quick test, but it will hear the room, the band, people nearby, and speaker echo.

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Wired audio is strongly preferred. Bluetooth microphones add delay and can drop quality during a live service.

Connect Audio From A Church Mixer

The goal is to send Kerygma a clean preacher feed, not the loud speaker output. Ask the sound operator for a spare output from the mixer.

Good mixer outputs

How to connect it

  1. If the mixer has USB, connect USB from the mixer to the computer and select the mixer as the input in Kerygma.
  2. If the mixer only has analog outputs, use a USB audio interface between the mixer and computer.
  3. Use the correct cable for the mixer output: XLR, 1/4 inch TRS, or RCA depending on your board.
  4. Start the mixer send low, then raise it until the transcript is steady and accurate.
  5. Avoid clipping. If audio sounds distorted, lower the mixer send or the interface input gain.
!
Do not connect a powered speaker output directly to a computer or audio interface. Use a mixer line output, aux output, USB output, or proper DI/interface path.

Computer Performance

Kerygma can use online transcription or offline transcription, depending on your plan, settings, and available build. Offline transcription does more work on your computer.

The Operator Screen, Part By Part

This is the main window you watch during a service. Nothing here goes to the congregation on its own. Kerygma suggests, and you approve what goes live. Here is every part of the screen, from the top down.

The top bar

Just above the top bar is the menu bar (File, View, Bible, Output, Tools, Help). Every menu is explained in Every menu explained.

The three screens in the middle

If a verse is long, Kerygma splits it into slides. Small arrows in the Stage Preview and Live Output corners step through slide 1 of 3 and so on.

The action bar

The row of buttons under the three screens acts on the verse you have staged:

Detections: the tabs along the bottom

As the pastor speaks, every reference Kerygma finds lands here, sorted into tabs with a running count:

Each card shows the reference, a confidence badge, and a preview of the text. Preview stages a verse in Stage Preview; Play sends it straight to Live Output. A small maybe badge means Kerygma is less sure.

The right-hand panels

The status bar at the bottom

The thin strip along the very bottom is your health check at a glance: a Connected indicator for the cloud connection, a microphone level meter with the name of the selected input, and, during a service, a running tally of direct, paraphrase, and related detections. If the mic meter is flat while the pastor is speaking, that is your first clue something is wrong with the audio.

Show Verses During A Sermon

  1. Start the session when the sermon begins.
  2. Watch the transcript to make sure Kerygma is hearing clearly.
  3. When a verse appears, read the reference and text in preview.
  4. Send it live only when it is correct.
  5. Blank or clear the output when nothing should be on screen.

Direct references are usually fastest. Paraphrases can take longer and may need more operator judgment.

Customise How Verses Look On Screen

Theme Studio lets you design exactly how scripture appears on the projector and on your stream: the font, the colours, the background, and the position. What you see in its live preview is what the congregation sees. Set it up once, before Sunday, and Kerygma remembers it.

Open it in one of two ways:

Design a theme

  1. Pick a starting theme on the left. Kerygma ships with Default, Pure White, and Parchment Light.
  2. Use the tabs to shape the look: Typography for the font and size, Colors for the text and background, Shadow for readability over busy backgrounds, and Layout for position and spacing.
  3. Watch the live preview on the right. It matches the projector and the stream exactly, so there are no surprises on screen.
  4. When it looks right, click Apply to preview without closing, or OK to save and close. Reset returns the theme to its saved state, and Cancel discards your changes.

Match your projector exactly

In the Layout tab, use Mirror a screen to size your design to the real resolution of the display you project to. That keeps verses from being cropped or stretched on the big screen.

Backgrounds for streaming

In the Colors tab you can set the background to:

Projector and stream can look different

A theme’s name row has two switches: Use on projector and Use on NDI / stream. Turn on one, the other, or both, so the screen in the room and the look on your stream can each have their own theme.

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To change the look quickly during a service, use the theme dropdown next to Live Output on the main screen. It switches the active theme without opening Theme Studio.

Sunday Workflow

Before service

During worship

If lyrics, music, or announcements create noisy detections, keep the session stopped or keep output blank until the sermon begins.

During sermon

The menu bar sits along the very top of the window. Most of these have a button somewhere on the screen too, but the menus are the complete list. Keyboard shortcuts are shown in brackets.

File

View

Bible

Output

Tools

Help

Settings Explained

Open Settings from the gear in the top bar, or File → Preferences (Ctrl+,). Click Save to keep your changes, or Cancel to undo them. Settings has six tabs.

Audio

Transcription

This tab decides how Kerygma turns speech into text. There are two engines, and this is often the answer when Kerygma stops hearing the pastor.

When you switch engines, a short Switching… banner appears while Kerygma restarts the listener. If your internet is shaky during services, choosing Whisper (Offline) removes the network as a point of failure.

Display

Bible

Panels

About

Your version and build number, the Bible index version, the update channel (Stable, auto-update on), a Check for updates button, and your signed-in account and plan.

Outputs & Streaming

Open this from Output → Outputs… It controls where verses go: the projector in the room, and any stream or broadcast. It has three tabs, plus a separate Motion Backgrounds window.

Live Display

Streaming & broadcast

For sending verses to OBS, vMix, ProPresenter, or any NDI receiver, for online services or in-house broadcast.

Output format

Motion backgrounds

Open from Output → Motion Backgrounds… or the Media button on the main screen. Drag in or import MP4 and MOV clips, click a tile to set it live, and it loops behind your verses. Clear stops it.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The fastest way to run a service is one hand on the keyboard. On a Mac, use Cmd wherever this list says Ctrl.

Account And Billing

Use Account to manage your plan, billing, and subscription portal. If you just upgraded, give the app a moment to refresh, then sign out and back in if the new plan does not appear.

Updates

Use the Download page to get the latest published app. If Kerygma warns that an update is required, install it before running a service.

Troubleshooting

My computer will not let the app open

The app still says I am not signed in

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To change the default browser on a Mac: open System Settings, go to Desktop & Dock, find Default web browser, and choose Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. On older macOS it is under System Preferences → General. Then start sign-in from Kerygma again.

No transcript appears

Kerygma suddenly stops hearing the pastor mid-service

Sometimes the words stop appearing even though the pastor is still talking. This is almost always the listening connection, not the microphone. Work through these in order, easiest first:

  1. Check the small dot and label at the top of Live Transcript. If it is not showing the engine as online, the listener has dropped.
  2. End the session and start it again. This reconnects the listener and is the fastest fix during a service.
  3. In Settings → Audio, re-select your Audio device and watch the input meter move as the pastor speaks.
  4. If you are on Deepgram (Online), check the internet connection. The cloud engine needs a steady network.
  5. Close Kerygma completely and open it again. A fresh start clears a stuck listener.
  6. If it keeps happening on a shaky network, switch to Whisper (Offline) in Settings → Transcription, so transcription no longer depends on the internet.

The transcript is wrong or delayed

Verse suggestions are noisy

Output screen is wrong

Need help before a service? Email support@kerygma.dev with your app version, computer model, and audio setup.