I Had a Dream About AI and the Church. Today, We Launched It.

For two years, I carried an idea I couldn't let go of.

Every Sunday in church, I would watch the same scene play out. The pastor would reference a verse, pause, and look toward the screen. The projection volunteer would scramble. Sometimes the wrong verse went up. Sometimes nothing appeared at all. The pastor would adjust, move on, and the moment would pass. On the other side, church members were flipping through Bible apps trying to keep up. By the time they found the passage, the preacher had already moved to the next point.

It seemed like a small thing, but it kept bothering me. I kept thinking: what if the screen just knew what the pastor was talking about?

For a long time, that thought remained wishful thinking. I'm a product designer by trade. I didn't come from a software engineering background. But in August 2025, I made a decision. I posted on Twitter:

I had no idea what I was getting into.

Seven Months of Building

What followed was the most intense stretch of work I've ever done. My friend Tony Deoye came on board as brand designer, and together we started shaping what would become Pewbeam.

The technical challenges were unlike anything I had faced before. Pewbeam needed to listen to a pastor speak, understand the Bible passage being referenced, even when paraphrased or indirectly alluded to, and display the correct verse on screen fast enough that nobody noticed a delay.

Not “fast for software.” Actually instant.

We got it down to under 80 milliseconds.

I also made a deliberate choice early on: build for Nigeria first. Our internet is unreliable. Power goes out. Hardware varies wildly. My belief was simple: if it works here, it works anywhere.

So the core of Pewbeam runs offline. No internet is needed for verse detection.

There were weeks I wanted to quit. The Windows build alone took weeks to get right. I pushed myself and my team hard. But every time I considered stopping, I remembered why I started.

The First Church Test

In October 2025, we ran our first live test at CCI Global in Ibadan.

I was terrified.

The pastor started preaching. Within seconds, the first verse appeared on screen. Then another. Then another.

It just worked.

The pastor didn't have to pause. The projection team didn't have to scramble. Church members could see every referenced scripture on screen as it was mentioned.

After the service, a church member told me something I'll never forget: "Pewbeam changed the way I follow sermons in church completely."

That was the moment it stopped being a project and became a mission.

Over the following weeks, we tested in more churches. Pastor Michael Ajao at Shepherd's Field Chapel said, "Pewbeam listens and brings up scriptures automatically, quite impressive." Pastor Tomiwa Immanuel at Celebration Church in Ibadan watched it work during a live sermon and said, "The moment he references a verse, Pewbeam picks it up instantly." Christian Bright, a projectionist at Bounty Church, called it "a game changer."

What Pewbeam Does

Here is what we have built.

Real-time verse detection: Pewbeam listens to the sermon and transcribes it live. When the pastor references a Bible verse, whether through a direct citation like “Turn to John 3:16” or a paraphrase like “that passage about putting on the full armor of God,” the correct verse appears on screen instantly.

Beautiful presentation: Verses are displayed with smooth animations and professional typography. We built a full theme designer so churches can customize exactly how scripture looks on their screens, including fonts, colors, backgrounds, and layouts. Pewbeam includes built-in themes, and churches can create their own.

Projection and streaming output: Pewbeam connects to existing church setups through NDI and HDMI. It works with OBS, Arena, and standard projector setups. If your church streams services online, Pewbeam works with that too.

AI sermon notes: After the service, Pewbeam can generate organized notes from the entire sermon, including the theme, key scriptures, main points, practical applications, and reflection questions. Members can download the notes as a PDF or Word document. Imagine your congregation leaving every Sunday with a complete, structured record of what was preached.

Live transcript: The real-time transcript can be displayed on screen, making sermons more accessible to everyone, including people who are hard of hearing.

Offline-first: The core verse detection works without an internet connection. This was non-negotiable for me.Churches in Nigeria, across Africa, and in rural communities everywhere deserve technology that does not depend on a stable connection.

We are starting with scriptures, but slides are coming next month. The vision is a comprehensive presentation platform built from the ground up for how church actually works.

Why This Matters Beyond Technology

I believe we are living through one of the most significant shifts in how information is created, shared, and consumed.

AI is changing every industry. But when I look at the Church, I see an institution that has historically been slow to adopt new technology, often waiting until it becomes unavoidable instead of leading with it.

That does not have to be the case this time.

Pewbeam's mission is to ensure the Church is not left behind in the AI era. Not by making church feel like a tech demo, but by removing the friction that gets between the Word and the people who need to hear it.

When a pastor can preach without worrying about whether the right verse is on screen, they preach with more confidence and flow.

When a church member can see every scripture reference in real time, they engage more deeply.

When a projection volunteer does not have to panic every time the pastor goes off-script, the whole service runs more smoothly.

This is about discipleship.

Better tools mean better communication of the Gospel. And I believe AI, used thoughtfully, can serve that purpose in ways we are only beginning to understand.

TechCabal, Techpoint Africa, Queen Moremi, The Condia, ConnectNigeria, and BusinessDay have all covered what we are doing. The Condia named Pewbeam one of the African startups to watch in 2026.

That recognition means a lot. But what means more is the response from actual pastors, projection teams, and church members who have used Pewbeam and told us it made a difference in how they experience worship.

The Launch

Today, March 20, 2026, seven months after the first tweet, Pewbeam is available for public download on Windows. macOS is coming this weekend.

The app has a generous free tier for small churches and fellowships. It includes verse detection, selected themes, and 60 minutes of transcription per week.

For churches that want unlimited access to everything, including all themes, unlimited transcription, sermon notes, and more, we have a paid plan with location-based pricing so Pewbeam remains accessible wherever you are.

How You Can Support Us

If you are a pastor, media team lead, church admin, or someone who cares about how technology can serve the Church, here is what I am asking:

1. Download Pewbeam and try it in your next service. See how it changes the experience for your congregation.

2. Subscribe to a paid plan if it adds value to your church. Your subscription directly funds development and helps us keep building.

3. Tell other churches about it. Word of mouth from church to church is how tools like this spread.

4. Give us feedback. We are building this with the Church, not just for it. Your input shapes what comes next. You can share feedback in the app or email [email protected].

You can find everything you need, including download links, documentation, and a walkthrough of the features, at https://pewbeam.com/docs.

If you have been following this journey since that first tweet in August, I appreciate you.

And I assure you, it will be worth it.

This was just a dream.

Today, it is real.