The Assemblies of God recently released Bible Engagement Project (BEP) as a free disciple-making resource on a new all-digital curriculum platform in both English and Spanish.

BEP first launched in August 2020 after AG General Superintendent Doug Clay became concerned about biblical engagement within the Fellowship. An AG-commissioned Barna Group survey and a listening tour across districts revealed many adherents do not hold a biblical worldview.

“We learned a number of kids felt called to ministry, but they didn’t know basic Scripture,” says Ryan M. Horn, director of AG Publishing and Resources. “We knew we had to equip people in life group settings to have biblically centered resources.”

BEP offers systematic, age-aligned materials for preschoolers, children, teens, and adults to study over a 40-week period in church or home settings. Research showed Christian education is most successful in small groups. Additionally, families play a vital role in discipling young people.

The AG originally partnered with an outside company to deliver the BEP app. However, there were problems with the platform, resulting in end-user frustration.

Therefore, a team of AG developers began working to build a proprietary, user-friendly platform from the ground up. BEP 2.0 launched as a free discipleship resource during the recent General Council in Columbus, Ohio. It is available through Apple Store and Google Play. Further, users will soon be able to access BEP through a parallel, web-based experience.

Three years of age-aligned, interactive core curriculum content — called Listen, Learn, and Live — allows students to stream weekly sessions. A fourth year, Lead, will soon go into production, and a fifth year, Legacy, is in the works for fall 2025.

“We will continue to develop new content onto the platform on an ongoing basis,” Horn says.

The first-year curriculum, Listen, lays a foundation of biblical understanding. Learn dives deeper into the core truths of the Bible during the second year, and Live teaches people to live out their faith daily.

Although Bible Engagement Project had been generating income for the AG national office, Clay says he sensed the Lord’s urging last year to make the materials available without charge. The Executive Presbytery agreed to the step of faith, and the subscription-based model, which started at $49 per month for 50 users, transitioned to the current free format.

“We don’t want pastors around the world to have to compromise on the level of spiritual content chosen because of budget, the size of the church, or location,” says Horn, who has been involved with BEP since the beginning. “Now, without paying, they have access to biblically centered, Spirit-empowered resources that align with our doctrine.”

"Of the spiritual disciplines — including prayer, fasting, worship, and missions — none has the ability to move the needle of life transformation as much as engaging in God’s Word.” —Ryan M. Horn

The content is available in English and Spanish, and there are plans to translate materials into Arabic, Portuguese, Korean, and Mandarin. As financial partners come forward, curriculum will be translated into additional languages as well.

“At the heart of BEP, our primary motivation is to get people to engage with God’s Word more frequently,” Horn says. “Of the spiritual disciplines — including prayer, fasting, worship, and missions — none has the ability to move the needle of life transformation as much as engaging in God’s Word.”

Lima First Church (AG) in Lima, Ohio, started using the BEP curriculum for children and youth in 2022. In all, 260 attendees aged 17 and under are involved.

“Our church loves that all our students are learning the same truths at the same time,” says children’s pastor Lynna Mooney, who also serves as Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge director for the Ohio Ministry Network. “It makes it easy for them to go home and have conversations as a family.”

Mooney says she appreciates the curriculum’s Pentecostal perspective.

“It is a well-thought-out curriculum in scope and sequence,” she says. “Kids are bringing their Bibles to church, they’re excited to get into God’s Word, and they’re memorizing faith verses.”

Even though the new platform is free, Mooney says the church plans to continue sending the $75 monthly fee it had been paying to the AG national office, to help support the effort.

BEP also has proven valuable in global settings where Christianity is a minority religion. Amy Farley, an AG missionary in an Asia Pacific nation where most people claim affiliation to Buddhism, says the church she leads uses BEP in children’s ministries, youth ministries, and small groups.

“The videos and discussion questions have been on point,” Farley says. “Our people have really connected with it and have grown in their knowledge of the Word and in their relationship with God.”

Farley says several non-Christians joined the church’s small groups, and after months of exposure to Scripture, recently made decisions to follow Christ.

Both Mooney and Farley say the new app is easier to use than the previous format.

Bible Engagement Project allows parents to play a more active role in their children’s faith formation through family devotions. The program also equips adult small groups to build communities that study the Bible together and apply it to their lives.

The entire curriculum library is available from a mobile app that is easy to read or teach from a smartphone. Users can download content, including videos and personal devotions, for offline viewing. Teachers and parents can download and print lesson materials.

Clay believes Bible Engagement Project can be a key ingredient for the Assemblies of God to fulfill a purpose outlined in the Fellowship’s founding 109 years ago.

“If we get Bible engagement, the missional activities that help us complete the Great Commission will fall into place,” Clay says. “We must be about more than proclaiming Jesus. We must make disciplined followers of Jesus who are ready to usher in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”