A Fresh Look at the Bible
During 2011, many churches are planning special initiatives to recognise this as a Year of the Bible. Bible weekends, storytelling, exhibitions, public readings, copying the Bible text by hand, following a course of readings as a church body, and challenging people to commit themselves to regular reading of the Bible text. BSNI is helping the organisers of several of these events which have been encouraged by the national Biblefresh campaign.
This is an exciting time to have access to Scripture. The Bible is, after all, God's Story.
This site provides access to a range of visual resources that demonstrate the joy of having Scripture in your heart language, and the great demand from language groups for whom the Bible is still a scarce or non-existent resource. What is your church doing to promote the Bible in this special year? Tell us your thoughts - perhaps we can help you.
A Biblefresh paperback book is available with 56 short articles to inspire greater Bible use and offer creative suggestions for Bible engagement. Available from BSNI in Howard Street Belfast (tel. 9032 6577). Price £4.99.
Ideas & Resources for you - free resources to celebrate God's Word!
The list of resources at the bottom of this page is just a flavour of ideas to help you, your Church, small group, youth group etc. Click the link above to discover a range of resources. It is our prayer that many people will be challenged to discover God's Word in fresh ways througout this special anniversary year, please feel free to use and download as many ideas and resources as you would like.
Please continue to check the site as we will be continuing to add material for you to use. We have added: a summary of the 'King James Story' in both pdf and PowerPoint format, some Bible reading activities that a church might consider organising, along with guidance to the practical resources that are available from BSNI... and much more.
Bible Reading Habits
We are encouraging churches to raise the question of Bible reading with their membership. One of the simplest ways to approach this issue is to afford members an opportunity to complete the simple Questionnaire that you can download here. It suggests possible obstacles to Bible reading, but also some suggestions for action. We hope it encourages honest discussion about a growing problem within the Church. We would be delighted if, after using the Questionnaire, you would give us some brief feedback about what you found and the steps you are taking to increase regular Bible reading in your church. You can email John Doherty at GSec@bsni.co.uk
Scripture InSight - Follow the link to read personal reflections on Scripture passages from people who are priminent in the Northern Ireland community.
The E100 Bible Reading Challenge, one of a number of Biblefresh initiatives, is based on 100 carefully selected readings (50 from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament) to give people a good understanding of God's Story from Genesis to Revelation. The E stands for Essential and the readings range from a few verses to a few chapters.
The E100 Bible Reading Challenge is very flexible and can be adapted to the context of the local church: for individual reading or within the teaching programme. Download the E100 Bible Reading Challenge below.
More details available on the E100 website: http://www.e100challenge.org.uk/
There is also a good range of resources on the UK-wide Biblefresh site that we are contributing to. View the biblefresh website.
