New Feature: Sermon Editor
What is it? A new “Sermon” document type that can be created and opened from the Documents menu.
This document defines a set of document-like artifacts that cluster around single speech presentation given during a church service. These artifacts are:
- The text of the sermon, which for some scenarios will simply be the body of the speaker’s notes (or outline headings) meant to be read only by themselves, but for the primary scenario, will be a transcript of the words the preacher intends to speak, minus any internal private notes.
What is it for? The Sermon document interacts with the larger Faithlife ecosystem that already exists to support sermon presentation (Proclaim), provide public access to that sermon (Soundfaith), and informs a group of the sermon's existence (Faithlife Groups).
The Sermon document allows the author(s)to organize their thoughts into a document using a familiar word processing interface (not unlike Google documents). During the sermon, this document can either have been exported to Proclaim, PowerPoint, or to rich text for use in other word processing and desktop publishing software. After the sermon's delivery, the document is archived locally and can be searched by its content or metadata.
How does it work? The Sermon document is a standard Logos document type, so it works like any other Logos document, including sync.
How do you use it?
The Sermon document operates much like a standard word processing application:
- Add new paragraphs by hitting ENTER, type or paste text into them, and style those paragraphs with heading styles, block quote styles, and so on.
However, it has some special and unique features
- Editing slides, handouts, and questions
- Exporting directly to sermon-friendly tools
- Auto-detection of Bible references. Type ‘Gen 1:1’ in a normal paragraph, and a hyperlink to your preferred Bible will automatically be inserted.
- Auto-insertion of Bible references as “cards.” Type ‘Gen 1:1’ on its own line and then hit ENTER, and the text of Genesis 1:1 will be retrieved from your preferred Bible and inserted as a new specially-styled paragraph in place of the reference you just typed.
- Auto-extraction of Bible reference cards from typed or pasted text. Type a paragraph that has some Bible references in it. Then select across one or more of those references, and hit the “Insert reference cards from selection” button in the toolbar, and the text of each reference will be retrieved from your preferred Bible and inserted as a new card after the paragraph in question.
- Auto-inclusion of slides where you probably want them. When you make a new heading, a slide with that heading text is automatically inserted.
- Manual inclusion of more slides if you want them. You can also select text from the manuscript and press the “Insert slide from selection” and a new slide will be created
- “Smart art” templates. Double-click on any slide to open that slide in the Media tool (was Visual Copy) and edit your slide’s content or style. Hit the “Update sermon” button in the Media tool to post that change back to your sermon document.
- “Clippings” from Logos resources. Pasting text from a Logos resource into a non-empty paragraph will just paste the text (along with an auto-citation, if your settings imply that). Pasting text from a Logos resource into an empty paragraph will add a Clipping-like card for that text to the Sermon document. (User interface for converting the clipping card to regular text is in the works, but probably won’t make it by 7.0 launch. Pro tip: If you want just a new paragraph with some Logos content, type a space first, then paste, then delete the space.)
- Metadata, including topics covered, key passages, sermon summary/description, audience type, and so on. All searchable.
In a general sense, the ideal use case/scenario goes like this:
- Having researched using Logos Bible Software for a coming sermon, a pastor begins crafting the sermon with the Sermon Document
- Ideally, the pastor will write out a full manuscript, inserting headings at various levels (1–5), which will constitute the sermon's outline
- Creating a single manuscript with the Sermon Document automatically edits multiple documents all together at once:
- The sermon manuscript
- the sermon presentation consisting of a set of slides
- a “handout” to be printed and included as a bulletin insert (if any) or in the Faithlife Groups bulletin (if set up)
- a set of study or reflection “questions” meant to be printed and given out to small groups for further discussion, or to be posted online as a document for discussion group homework or personal reflection during the week.
- All of these artifacts share a common structure, that is, the set of headings that defines the sermon’s outline that appears in the sermon manuscript also appears in the slide list, the handout, and the questions. Thus, some paragraphs within the main sermon document editor will belong to the manuscript, some to the handout, and some to the questions. Slides that align on the left margin belong to the slide presentation. This is a key distinctive of the Sermon Editor feature in L7. It’s also fairly unusual as document editing software goes, as it requires thinking about how to edit four things at once. Under each heading, there may be some sermon text, some passages to print in the handout, some slides to show, and some questions having to do with the same topics and ideas addressed by that section of the sermon. Having these all in the same place is a convenient way to fulfill all your sermon related needs.
- Once the artifacts have been edited and previewed, they can be exported. This feature is intended to “work best” with Proclaim (and Soundfaith and Faithlife Groups), so it is easy to send the sermon to a Proclaim presentation with one click. The resulting slide presentation can be further edited.
- The sermon manuscript with its attendant metadata can be posted to Soundfaith with one click, and handouts and questions can be printed or exported to rich text for further manipulation in a word processing program of choice.
Comments
- Auto-inclusion of slides where you probably want them. When you make a new heading, a slide with that heading text is automatically inserted.
- Manual inclusion of more slides if you want them. You can also select text from the manuscript and press the “Insert slide from selection” and a new slide will be created
- “Smart art” templates. Double-click on any slide to open that slide in the Media tool (was Visual Copy) and edit your slide’s content or style. Hit the “Update sermon” button in the Media tool to post that change back to your sermon document.
- Auto-inclusion of slides where you probably want them. When you make a new heading, a slide with that heading text is automatically inserted.
- Manual inclusion of more slides if you want them. You can also select text from the manuscript and press the “Insert slide from selection” and a new slide will be created
- “Smart art” templates. Double-click on any slide to open that slide in the Media tool (was Visual Copy) and edit your slide’s content or style. Hit the “Update sermon” button in the Media tool to post that change back to your sermon document.
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 0 = normal formatting (no heading)
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 1 = Heading 1
- ...
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 5 = Heading 5
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + 7 = numbered list item
- Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + 8 = bulleted list item
- Ctrl + M (Windows) = indent
- Ctrl + Shift + M (Windows = unindent
- Command + ] (Mac) = indent
- Command + [ (Mac) = unindent
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 0 = normal formatting (no heading)
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 1 = Heading 1
- ...
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 5 = Heading 5
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 7 = numbered list item
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 8 = bulleted list item
- Ctrl + M (Windows) = indent
- Ctrl + Shift + M (Windows = unindent
- Command + ] (Mac) = indent
- Command + [ (Mac) = unindent
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 0 = normal formatting (no heading)
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 1 = Heading 1
- ...
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 5 = Heading 5
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 7 = numbered list item
- Ctrl/Cmd + Alt + 8 = bulleted list item
- Ctrl + M (Windows) = indent
- Ctrl + Shift + M (Windows = unindent
- Command + ] (Mac) = indent
- Command + [ (Mac) = unindent
- Ability to introduce content gradually on a slide (using '++')
- Ability to highlight a selection (this one, though, has no textual markup in Proclaim)
- Click the slide next to the sermon title.
- Choose "Edit".
- The Media tool will open. Choose 16:9 aspect ratio.
- Click the "Update sermon" button in the Media toolbar.
- This is now the default style for slides in your sermon.
- Click the slide next to the sermon title.
- Choose "Edit".
- The Media tool will open. Choose 16:9 aspect ratio.
- Click the "Update sermon" button in the Media toolbar.
- This is now the default style for slides in your sermon.
- Click the slide next to the sermon title.
- Choose "Edit".
- The Media tool will open. Choose 16:9 aspect ratio.
- Click the "Update sermon" button in the Media toolbar.
- This is now the default style for slides in your sermon.
120 words per minute, based on the oft-cited-but-never-really-proven figure of ~150 WPM for midwestern spoken English. (This I remembered to put in the help.) Some places in the southern US average as low as 40 WPM, and some places in the northeastern US average as high as 300. (Y'all know who youse are.)
Words are calculated by counting spaces In all the content. We'll almost certainly have to let you adjust the 120 WPM setting, since one size definitely does not fit all.
Will the ability to include custom art be added in the future?
For example I have a graphic of four wine glasses I want to use as I preach on Luke's version of the Lord's supper. Luke mentions two cups and I would like a graphic as I explain a bit about it. Sure I can add that manually to my powerpoint presentation, but It would be nice if I could add it to my Logos sermon file.
Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you.
Will the ability to include custom art be added in the future?
For example I have a graphic of four wine glasses I want to use as I preach on Luke's version of the Lord's supper. Luke mentions two cups and I would like a graphic as I explain a bit about it. Sure I can add that manually to my powerpoint presentation, but It would be nice if I could add it to my Logos sermon file.
We're working on a feature for the Media tool that will allow you to upload your own background images. When that happens, you might be able to add a blank slide with your image into your sermon.
Words are calculated by counting spaces In all the content. We'll almost certainly have to let you adjust the 120 WPM setting, since one size definitely does not fit all.
Great! This tool alone is worth my Logos Now subscription, I look forward to when it has full formatting and when I can send the sermon to my iPad.
I look forward to when it has full formatting and when I can send the sermon to my iPad.
[Y][Y]
When I finish typing a Scripture reference it becomes hyperlink color (but doesn't seem to have the ability to hover over it and get the text - like elsewhere in Logos) and then I tell it to make a slide (which it does nicely) but then I'm left with both a repetition of (1) the reference, and (2) the reference with the full verse from the slide conversion. So then I go back and delete the initial verse reference because I don't need it in there twice. Am I missing something?
For Logos Devs, this is a great concept! Thank you for including this and taking the chance of rolling it out. Everyone has their unique ways of working to harness Logos and maximize efficiency.
While you are in the tweaking phase of the Sermon Editor, it would be great to include some keyboard shortcuts (unless they are there and I have missed them).
I know the Note Files have the ability to enter lists (bullet and number) with 'command + .' and 'command + /' -- In addition, keyboard shortcuts for H1, H2, H3... etc would be helpful.
Thanks for your continued work on this.
MacBook Pro 15' Retina • 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 • 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 • Version 10.10
In addition to "standard" word processing keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+B (Windows) or Cmd+B (Mac) for Bold, the Sermon document supports the following, where 'Ctrl/Cmd' means Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac):
Oops, I neglected that in the help file. Adding a reminder to do that now.
Is this only available on Windows? I'm not seeing it on Mac
Is this only available on Windows? I'm not seeing it on Mac
You need to purchase a Feature Set to enable this feature. See this post for additional details:
https://community.logos.com/forums/p/129472/841280.aspx#841280
Andrew Batishko | Logos software developer
In addition to "standard" word processing keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+B (Windows) or Cmd+B (Mac) for Bold, the Sermon document supports the following, where 'Ctrl/Cmd' means Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac):
Oops, I neglected that in the help file. Adding a reminder to do that now.
Thank you Eli! Works indeed. The indent and unindent are off. Indent on the Mac is Ctrl/Cmd +] -- I'm having trouble getting 'unindent' to work.
MacBook Pro 15' Retina • 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 • 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 • Version 10.10
For indent I mean 'Control+Command + ]' works.In addition to "standard" word processing keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+B (Windows) or Cmd+B (Mac) for Bold, the Sermon document supports the following, where 'Ctrl/Cmd' means Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac):
Oops, I neglected that in the help file. Adding a reminder to do that now.
Thank you Eli! Works indeed. The indent and unindent are off. Indent on the Mac is Ctrl/Cmd +] -- I'm having trouble getting 'unindent' to work.
MacBook Pro 15' Retina • 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 • 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 • Version 10.10
Tab and Shift+Tab can also be used to control indent level.
Phil, I have various resources in my Logos library such as Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary and Biblical World in Pictures. Is there a way for me to add an image from them to a Sermon document?
Kevin, I think you have to put the name that you desire while in the Sermon Editor, for it to automatically display in the Proclaim Slide.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
The Sermon Editor is immediately my favorite new feature of Logos 7.
I am hoping that the metadata fields will be expanded to include info such as Delivery Date, Occasion, Location (many folks preach at different churches).
If I'm going to start putting every sermon in here, I will need a more robust way to sort and view sermons, rather than simply in the order of last edited.
I concur with Clint. Opml would be awesome!
I got gold. Did that not include the feature set?
I got gold. Did that not include the feature set?
It depends whether you purchased the Gold Base package or the Gold Linrary.
Where there two items on your cart or one?
Do you plan to bring text markup support parity to what's available in Proclaim?
For now I can't really use the Sermon editor to edit slides to the same level of detail and interaction that I can in Proclaim.
2 things come to mind that I'm missing the most. I use them all the time since they were offered to Proclaim users:
Another thing that I use often in Proclaim is the ability to bolden, italicize, and underline words or phrases in my verse slides. Right now, the Sermon Editor won't allow my to do that inside Verse Cards. (And it wouldn't either allow me to add those '++', for example.)
I also haven't yet tried to export a Sermon to Proclaim. I hope the transcription follows legibly in the slide notes.
Without bringing this kind of parity to the party, I'm wondering if I'll ever be at ease using this feature (but I hope I will).
With that said, thank you very much for investing your resources and energy in developing the Sermon editor!
Do you plan to bring text markup support parity to what's available in Proclaim?
I don't know Faithlife's plans here and will be interesting to see their response.
For now I can't really use the Sermon editor to edit slides to the same level of detail and interaction that I can in Proclaim.
True - but I could see an argument where the Sermon Editor does what it does well and Proclaim does what it does well. In this scenario, the Sermon Editor will be used to provide the base set of slides and final editing / markup / inclusion of transitions will be done in Proclaim. Personally I think this would be a better approach but Faithlife may have different plans.
Ability to introduce content gradually on a slide (using '++')
This is an example of something that could be added in Proclaim post export
Ability to highlight a selection (this one, though, has no textual markup in Proclaim)
I think I have seen that this is being considered - but not sure
Another thing that I use often in Proclaim is the ability to bolden, italicize, and underline words or phrases in my verse slides. Right now, the Sermon Editor won't allow my to do that inside Verse Cards.
Interestingly while you can bold etc words in the Sermon Editor this formatting seems to be lost when creating a slide from those words
(And it wouldn't either allow me to add those '++', for example.)
Once you have created the slides, click on them and then Edit.
This opens the Media Tool with the verses in a text box on the left.
Inserting "--" between verses will force them to move onto separate slides.
I also haven't yet tried to export a Sermon to Proclaim. I hope the transcription follows legibly in the slide notes.
It does this well. All of the text between slides are included in the Notes field of the slides.
How do you change the exported font size. I had to reconfigure it all in MS Word (after exporting it) - and a few slides in Proclaim as well (usually poetry which had additional line spacing resulting in the verse being spread out over too many slides).
BTW this is absolutely what I've been waiting for - reducing the duplication of sermon prep with a tight relationship between Logos, Proclaim, Word, Soundfaith. Keep it up please!
Another item that needs to be included is the adding of additional media and video to the sermon editor. If I add a video to the Proclaim Service after I've created and exported my sermon in the sermon editor my two files are not the same. The key for a seamless integration here (in my opinion) is to be able to do everything from within the sermon editor and just send it to Proclaim.
How do you change the exported font size. I had to reconfigure it all in MS Word (after exporting it) - and a few slides in Proclaim as well (usually poetry which had additional line spacing resulting in the verse being spread out over too many slides).
Can't currently change the exported font size - I believe this is recognised and being looked at
The poetry being spread out in verses is a known issue and being worked on
How do you access media that has been uploaded to Proclaim (Group Resources)? I'm not seeing that option in the media choices when editing a slide in sermon editor. Is there someplace else (within Logos) that I have to upload (or re-upload) my Proclaim Group Content/Images to be able to use them in the sermon editor?
How do you access media that has been uploaded to Proclaim (Group Resources)?
To the best of my knowledge that it not possible.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
How do you change the exported font size. I had to reconfigure it all in MS Word (after exporting it)
I as well would like to see this an option to edit as the default look is WAY too big for printing. Exporting to MS Word and editing from there before printing is the only solution I can come up with so far as well. A little trick to help make this less painful is a keyboard shortcut that resizes everything you have selected all at once. So you can select the entire document (Cmd/Ctrl + A), and then use these keyboard shortcuts to reduce the size of the entire document correspondingly all at the same time.
Mac:
Reduce Font Size: Cmd + Shift + <
Increase Font Size: Cmd + Shift + >
PC:
Reduce Font Size: Ctrl + Shift + <
Increase Font Size: Ctrl + Shift + >
I hope this helps, as without these shortcuts, the printing (for handouts or for print outline to preach from) features are useless to me because the font is so big and I don't have time to manually fix each line.
There was a discussion about font controls during the beta period. Several requests were made to add the ability to control font size, type, etc. Bob indicated they were hesitant to add full control, but planned to provide several different options for larger or headings, text, etc.
There was a discussion about font controls during the beta period. Several requests were made to add the ability to control font size, type, etc. Bob indicated they were hesitant to add full control, but planned to provide several different options for larger or headings, text, etc.
I see. Well at a minimum, they need to make the default size MUCH smaller!
There was a discussion about font controls during the beta period. Several requests were made to add the ability to control font size, type, etc. Bob indicated they were hesitant to add full control, but planned to provide several different options for larger or headings, text, etc.
I see. Well at a minimum, they need to make the default size MUCH smaller!
I agree, as of now the only way I can see to use it on my iPad is to export to word. However the for size is huge (Sermon title is 36pt,Headings are 30pt, regular text is 16pt).
This tool has a TON of potential (I love that my sermons would be searchable), ideally it would be readable from the docs on the Logos mobile app. I can't wait to use it regularly, but not till it's more usable.
This tool has a TON of potential (I love that my sermons would be searchable), ideally it would be readable from the docs on the Logos mobile app. I can't wait to use it regularly, but not till it's more usable.
This was pretty much the consensus during the beta period. They made some significant improvements when compared to the initial release, but a few more tweaks are needed to make it truly valuable.
This was pretty much the consensus during the beta period. They made some significant improvements when compared to the initial release, but a few more tweaks are needed to make it truly valuable.
Agreed! Also if I may...
New Feature Suggestion!
It would save me TONS of time if on the sermon level, I could select the aspect ratio for all my slides in that sermon! For example, I am a pastor of 3 churches. 2 of those churches use projectors (4:3 aspect ratio), while the other one uses TV screens (16:9). I see that each slide can be changed manually, but what would be AWESOME is if I could simply change the aspect ratio on the entire sermon and be able to re-export all my slides to powerpoint depending on which church I will be preaching it at! 
This would also be great for creating a projector version and a TV version of some of our best sermons so that we can have the powerpoint files ready to go no matter where we get invited to preach it at. Does that make sense?
It would save me TONS of time if on the sermon level, I could select the aspect ratio for all my slides in that sermon! For example, I am a pastor of 3 churches. 2 of those churches use projectors (4:3 aspect ratio), while the other one uses TV screens (16:9). I see that each slide can be changed manually, but what would be AWESOME is if I could simply change the aspect ratio on the entire sermon and be able to re-export all my slides to powerpoint depending on which church I will be preaching it at!
Changing the style of all the slides at once is a planned feature for an upcoming release.
Until then, if you change the first slide when you first open a sermon, it should use that slide as the new default for the rest of the sermon:
Also, if you use Proclaim, this is very easy to change after you export.
If you export your sermon to Proclaim and have a church group affiliated with your presentation group, you'll also get a church bulletin automatically created with the contents of your sermon! This will include anything marked with the handout style. Check out the bulletins tab on your church's Faithlife group to see what it looks like (make sure to hit Preview).
Here's a test sermon I created:
https://faithlife.com/example-community-church/bulletins/19689
Changing the style of all the slides at once is a planned feature for an upcoming release.
Until then, if you change the first slide when you first open a sermon, it should use that slide as the new default for the rest of the sermon:
Also, if you use Proclaim, this is very easy to change after you export.
[Y] Awesome!! You guys are the best! I'm super stoked about this Sermon Editor feature! This is going to save me so much time and enable me to serve my congregations more thoroughly. Keep up the good work!
How do I create a document in the Sermon Editor? Pretty sure I'm done updating.
How do I create a document in the Sermon Editor? Pretty sure I'm done updating.
Open Document Menu -> New -> Sermon
There was a discussion about font controls during the beta period. Several requests were made to add the ability to control font size, type, etc. Bob indicated they were hesitant to add full control, but planned to provide several different options for larger or headings, text, etc.
It's too bad they were hesitant to add full control. I realize it might be a huge undertaking. But every pastor has their own preferred style of formatting that works for their unique needs. One size definitely does not fit all. The ability to create the manuscript, handout, and screen presentation in one step is a fantastic idea - so much better than creating 3 separate documents. But if I have to export what I produce in the Sermon Editor into other programs so that I can format them, I may as well just produce them in those programs anyway.
Another helpful addition would be spell checking. Since the presentation and handout are created for public consumption, I end up having to export to Word anyway just to make sure that my lousy typing doesn't result in distractions for the congregation while I'm preaching. Sometimes a simple typo can be what prevents someone from hearing a key point in a sermon.
The Notes function offers font controls and spell checking, so it must be doable. I'm hoping it will be seen as a worthwhile enhancement to make to a tool that has a whole lot of potential but is being limited by the lack of user control.
Editing the font size, colors, format etc is a must if this feature is to be useful. Otherwise might as well stick with editing in Word or Pages.
Another helpful addition would be spell checking.
Spellcheck was also discussed during the beta period. FL said this would be added in a future release.
The Notes function offers font controls and spell checking, so it must be doable.
FL will have to speak to this issue. I don't have the knowledge to argue for or against it. As a user I am for it.
Until then, if you change the first slide when you first open a sermon, it should use that slide as the new default for the rest of the sermon:
Eli, will there be an option to have a default aspect ratio for ALL sermon slides?
Thanks!