Does your Pastor/Church Have "favorite Bible version"

Our Pastor preaches from the KJ each Sunday. Studies from KJ and ESV (mostly KJ).

 

Our pastor preaches from the NKJV.

 

I had been using the TNIV but alas they updated, I stayed with the TNIV. Then something happened suddenly the words started disappering while I was preaching. I thought it was a defect with my Bible but after further examination it turned out the disappearing words had to do with my aging eyes. I had to upgrade to large print, they don't make TNIV anymore, so I got a NIV 2011. Words no longer disappearing.

 

Our church uses the NIV

 

I use the NASB.

 

I am the pastor and I am currently preaching from the ESV.

I've preached before from the KJV, NKJV, NIV 84, NASB 95, NLT (youth events), and the HCSB.

I was fairly set on the HCSB for a while, but using the NASB 95 for study, but after using it for a while I have switched to a more standard translation that satisfies the best of both worlds, the ESV.

I cannot see myself ever preaching or teaching from the KJV again, other than special occaisions where that langauge is dictated, such as weddings or funerals. Never for general consumption. Have to do double translation -- first from the original languages and then from the archaic English where common words do not always mean what they mean today.

 

I am just recently out of two different NIV congregations in Louisville, Valley View and Sojourn. Valley View baptizes around 250 per year, and has avereged that or more for the past decade. Sojourn is now baptizing more than 100 per year and is only a 10-year-old church start that has in excess of 2800 average attenders on four campus locations.

Certainly the NIV can be used effectively to lead people into a right relationship with Christ. I merely prefer a different translation because I am more aligned with a "teaching" sort of sermon than an "emotional" sort of sermon, albeit, Sojourn is a heavily doctrinally-based congregation in the Reformed sense (Valley View was not -- it was virtually anti-doctrine, which is why we left, even though they are effective).

 

We are a KJ church.... everything we do (all literature, responsive readings, scripture projected on screen or in bulletin, etc) are all KJ.

Not everyone uses only the KJ in their personal devotions and lives, but in church we keep it KJ.

 

My church goes by the ESV

 

Our pastor uses only the KJV, which is also all I use.

 

My church also uses the NIV. It is our pew bible and nearly all our "overheads" used during the sermon quote the NIV. Occasionally a different version is shown, but we try to use the NIV exclusively.

Before our church went to the NIV, we used an older version of the NASB. If the NASB-95 had been available (which ditched the thee & thou) we would have hung with the NASB.

One of the reasons for going with the NIV is that it was popular, selling way more than the existing NASB. File it under an attempt at relevance.

 

What? Bibles are being sued? :laugh:

 

Only KJV at my Church