Church Timer for Sermons and Services
A countdown timer for the whole service — the sermon clock the preacher sees from the platform, the worship set, announcements and the countdown to the start — simple enough for whichever volunteer is on the desk this Sunday.
What a church timer does
Services run to a clock: the livestream starts on the hour, children's church hands back at a fixed time, the next service needs the room. A church timer keeps each part of the service to its slot without anyone waving from the back. The preacher sees the remaining time on a confidence monitor at the front of the platform; the congregation sees the lyrics and slides as usual.
- Sermon countdown on a screen only the platform can see, changing colour as time runs down and counting into overtime so the preacher knows exactly how far over they are.
- The order of service as a runsheet — worship, announcements, offering, sermon, response — each with its own duration, stepped through with one button.
- Countdown to the start on the lobby screen or the livestream, and a time-of-day clock mode for everything in between.
Built for volunteer tech teams
- One-button operation. Load the runsheet before the service; on the day it's Start, Pause and next cue. Space starts and pauses from the keyboard.
- Run it from your phone. The web controller and the iPhone/iPad Companion app let the person running the service start, pause or add a minute from anywhere in the room (Full).
- A quiet nudge to the preacher. Send a message to the confidence monitor — 5 MINUTES or PLEASE WRAP UP — instead of a hand signal from the sound desk (Full).
- Stream Deck ready. The Bitfocus Companion module puts start, pause, presets and messages on Stream Deck buttons, which many church AV booths already have.
- Starts itself. Scheduled cues fire at a set time of day, so the pre-service countdown can begin at 10:25 without anyone touching the desk (Full).
Screens, stage monitors and the livestream
| Where the timer goes | How |
|---|---|
| Confidence monitor on the platform | Full-screen on any display connected to the computer — the projector output stays on your lyrics and slides. |
| A spare TV | Raspberry Pi kiosk mode: a low-cost Pi boots straight into the timer (Full). |
| Livestream (OBS, vMix) | NDI output with an optional transparent background, for a "service starts in" overlay (Full). |
| Over the preacher's own slides | Presenter View — a floating countdown on top of PowerPoint or Keynote (Full). |
| Someone off-site | KUMA Live: share a link and they watch the countdown in a browser (Full). |
Pricing for churches
KUMA Timer isn't a subscription. Lite is free forever: a sermon countdown on a second screen with overtime, up to 10 presets and 10 runsheet cues (each up to 59:59), and Stream Deck control through Bitfocus Companion. Full is a one-off £8 per computer and adds the phone remote, messages to the screen, scheduled cues, NDI, Raspberry Pi kiosk mode and the rest. Every install starts with a 30-day Full trial, so you can run a few Sundays before deciding. Churches use it under the same licence as any other organisation — see the pricing page.
FAQ
What is a church timer?
A church timer is a countdown clock used to keep a service on schedule: a sermon countdown the preacher can see from the platform, timings for the worship set and announcements, and a countdown to the start of the service. It usually runs on a confidence monitor facing the stage, so the congregation doesn't see it.
Can the preacher see the timer without the congregation seeing it?
Yes. KUMA Timer sends the countdown to any screen you choose, so it can run full-screen on a confidence monitor at the front of the platform while the projector shows lyrics or slides. With a Full licence it can also run on a Raspberry Pi connected to any TV, or on wireless LED displays.
Is KUMA Timer free for churches?
The Lite tier is free forever and covers a sermon countdown on a second screen with overtime, up to 10 presets and 10 order-of-service cues (each up to 59:59), and Stream Deck control through Bitfocus Companion. The Full tier is a one-off £8 per computer, no subscription, and every install starts with a 30-day Full trial.
Running a conference or theatre show as well? See stage timer software for live events.