Sermon notes overview

Prep, sermon speech, presentations, and service links.

Understand the sermon notes workflow from research and prep through spoken manuscript, slides, and service attachment.

Quick start

  1. Open Sermon Notes from the sidebar (/sermon-notes).
  2. Create a New note (blank) or AI note (generated prep or speech — AI note is always available).
  3. Write in the editor at /sermon-notes/note/{noteId}Prep tab for research/outline, Sermon tab for the spoken manuscript.
  4. Optionally Generate speech from prep or use AI on the library page.
  5. Optionally Generate presentation from sermon speech.
  6. Optionally Attach to service when opened from a service workspace (beta).

You should see note cards with Prep and/or Speech badges in the library. Folders use /sermon-notes/folder/{folderId} (legacy /sermon-notes/{folderId} redirects there).

Deep dive

The sermon notes workflow

WorshipDeck sermon notes follow a natural progression:

Prep (research) → Sermon (speech) → Presentation (slides) → Service (order)

Not every step is required. You can stop after prep, write sermon speech manually, or skip presentation generation.

StageTab / locationPurpose
PrepEditor Prep tabResearch, outline, scriptures, commentary notes
SermonEditor Sermon tabFinal spoken manuscript for Sunday
PresentationSermon tab or library ⋮ menuSlide deck from sermon speech
ServiceSermon tab (workspace)Link note + presentation to a service order

New note vs AI note

ActionResult
New noteBlank note in the current folder → opens editor immediately
AI noteModal collects topic, tone, length, Bible → creates note with prep or speech content

See Sermon notes library for library actions and AI sermon prep / AI sermon speech for AI detail.

Where to learn more

TopicArticle
Folders, search, cardsSermon notes library
Tabs, references, autosaveSermon note editor
AI prep generationAI sermon prep
AI speech generationAI sermon speech
Slides from sermonPresentation from sermon
Service attachmentAttach sermon to service

Prerequisites

Preferred translations available to your church are set in Church general settings. Your personal default is under Bible settings.

  • AI generation consumes church AI credits — see Billing.

Tips

  • Start with a blank New note if you already have an outline; use AI note for a first draft.
  • Keep research in Prep and polish the spoken flow in Sermon before generating slides.
  • Generated presentations open in the presentation editor for final tweaks.

Troubleshooting

I do not see AI buttons

  • Library AI note and editor Generate speech from prep / Generate presentation are always shown when the UI is available. Generate presentation runs as a background job (toast + estimated wait); speech may still use proposal review when speech beta is on.
  • Ask an admin if Generate grounded prep or speech proposal review is missing — those are beta-gated per church.
  • Attach to service only appears when you open the note from a service workspace (flag + linked presentation required).

Bible picker is empty

  • An admin must add preferred Bible translations under Church general.

Related articles

Sermon notes overview | WorshipDeck.ai