Marcus Constantine

LifeChurch.tv never set out to be a leader in the app world—it simply wanted more young people reading the Bible. Yet Tuesday the Edmond, Okla.-based church celebrated reaching an astounding 10 million-plus users with a smartphone application that remains one of the world’s most popular.

YouVersion, the free online and mobile Bible LifeChurch.tv launched as an app in April 2008, includes 41 different translations in 22 languages. According to Bobby Gruenewald, LifeChurch.tv’s innovation leader and the app’s developer, someone new installs YouVersion every 2.8 seconds, while in the same time span 12 people open the Bible app.

“When we set out to find a way to help people engage with God’s Word and to have a deeper relationship with Christ, we never realized that God would use one idea in such a way that could change so many lives and draw people closer to each other and closer to Him,” Gruenewald said during a webcast on Tuesday.