Ever sit through a Sunday sermon, look down at your phone to find a passage, and realize you missed the point your pastor just made? Velora was built for exactly that moment, a smart Bible app that listens along with you during church, pulling up Scripture passages in real time as your pastor references them, then helping you carry the sermon into your week.^1
Open the app, tap to start a Relay, and Velora uses your phone's microphone to follow the sermon. When your pastor says "turn to Second Peter chapter one, verse three," the passage appears. Direct quotes, thematic allusions, even suggested complementary passages are all captured live, hands-free, so you can stay focused on the Word being preached. After church, Velora transcribes the sermon, generates structured outlines for personal or small group study, and provides periodic debriefs and reflection prompts throughout the week.^2
In June 2026, Velora introduced Ask Velora, a context-aware AI companion built specifically for reflecting on the sermons you have captured. Unlike a generic chatbot, Ask Velora is scoped to your own sermon library: it can turn a captured message into a devotional, discussion guide, or quiz, answer questions about what your pastor has taught over time, and quote Scripture directly from your preferred translation. The team built it as a deliberate counterweight to the trend of AI replacing pastoral guidance. Ask Velora is designed to help you go deeper into what your own pastor already preached, not to generate new spiritual insight on its own.^4
In October 2026, Ask Velora became Velora AI, an all-purpose AI assistant rooted in Scripture and your own church’s teaching, ready to help you apply it to all of life. It is one tap away anywhere in the app: ask about the chapter you have open or a passage you have selected and the text is added to the chat’s context automatically, and the same works from a past relay. Velora AI can search the web for richer, more current answers to everyday questions, with linked sources shown inline, while still prioritizing Scripture and your past relays when providing spiritual answers. Its Today’s news briefing helps you think through current events through the lens of your own pastor’s Bible teaching. You can attach images and files to a prompt (a photo of your pastor’s printed sermon outline, for example) and ask Velora to read them and answer questions about them. Responses can be longer and more detailed when a prompt calls for it, with the best model selected automatically for each prompt, and Velora AI can recall relevant context from earlier conversations.^12
Brothers Jonathan and Colin Hooper co-founded Velora through their company Everywai, based in Cleveland, Ohio. Jonathan, a UX designer and PCA Presbyterian, leads design; Colin, a software engineer who previously co-founded Viewcastle (acquired by BoxCast), leads development. They have spent over a decade building apps for major Christian media organizations before turning their full attention to Velora, which began as an idea in late 2024, entered private beta in March 2026, and launched publicly on the App Store and Google Play in July 2026.^5
In September 2026, Velora shipped quick actions to start or stop a Relay without opening the app: long-press the home screen icon (iOS and Android), say "Hey Siri, start a Velora relay" or set a Shortcuts automation (iOS), or use an Android Quick Settings tile. Relays can now be paused and resumed mid-service. The same update made Ask Velora faster, added a Give page for one-time and recurring donations, and folded unlimited monthly relays into Velora Premium.^10
On September 26, 2026, Velora shipped Bookmarks, which had previously been announced as coming soon. You can save and favorite any verse or passage, highlight a saved passage in one of six colors, and add your own notes, questions, and prayers alongside it. Bookmarks stay tied to the passage when you switch Bible translations. The same release added the words of Christ in red where a translation supports it, swipe navigation between chapters, copy and share for selected verses, and faster Bible reader performance.^11
Why Christians Are Excited"In real time, Velora Bible tracks the book, chapter, and verse, even when my pastor doesn't explicitly state them." - Tim Ishikawa, Google Play review^8
"Instead of trying to take notes during the sermon, I let Velora do its amazing thing." - Gina Glennon, Google Play review^8
Notable- Proprietary real-time Relay engine follows your pastor's sermon live, transcribing and highlighting Scripture passages as they are referenced^2
- Velora AI (October 2026, formerly Ask Velora) gives answers rooted in Scripture and your own church's teaching, with web search and sources shown inline, image and file attachments, and one-tap questions about the passage or relay you are viewing^12
- Ask Velora AI chat turns captured sermons into devotionals, quizzes, and discussion guides, explicitly scoped to your own church's teaching rather than generating new theology^4
- September 2026: start or stop Relay from the home screen icon, Siri, or a Quick Settings tile; pause and resume mid-service; faster Ask Velora^10
- September 26, 2026: Bookmarks shipped, with favorites, highlighting, and notes, plus words of Christ in red and swipe chapter navigation^11
- Velora Premium now includes unlimited monthly relays; new Give page for one-time and recurring donations^10
- Crafted with care by Christians, inspired by traditional heirloom Bible design^1
- Presented at the Missional AI 2026 Global Summit in Silicon Valley as part of the Missional Labs Faith and AI cohort^2
- Active blog, public changelog, public roadmap, and community Slack^3
Platforms: iOS and Android Pricing: Free to download, with an optional Velora Premium subscription (weekly or yearly)
