17 July 2009
Methodists take a lead in discovering the nation's Biblical literacy
A Methodist supported biblical literacy study has made headlines
around the world.
The National Biblical Literacy Study 2009, which found that
knowledge of the Bible is declining with fewer than one in 20
people able to name all the 10 commandments, received two-thirds of
its £22,000 funding from the Connexional Team and Methodist related
trusts CTVC, the Gibbs family Trust and the Rank Trust.
Seven of the nine churches used as locations for interviewing more
than 900 people from faith and non-faith backgrounds were Methodist
Churches in Newcastle, Mumbles, Redditch (joint Methodist/URC)
Lewisham, Hornchurch, Poole and Sutton.
The project was initiated by Revd Brian D Brown, a Methodist
minister and Fellow in Media and Communication at St John's
College, Durham University, and Revd Jonathan Kerry, also a
Methodist minister and Director of the Guy Chester Centre in
Muswell Hill, London.
Brian worked with Revd Dr David Wilkinson, Methodist Principal of
St John's College, to establish the Centre for Biblical Literacy at
St John's College, Durham University in September 2006 with the
help of a grant from the Rank Trust.
Brian said: "The study happened to hit at the right time and we are
extremely pleased that there has been so much interest in it. The
Church needs this information and needs it now. The Methodist
Church saw what we were doing as important.
"I am particularly grateful for the support we have received from
the people in the Connexion. Everyone has been very supportive at
the grassroots level."
The project's research team also included Brian's son Dr Paul
Brown, lecturer and researcher in mathematics at Birkbeck College
London.
Jonathan said: "The results confirmed our impression that there is
a small residual awareness of the Bible among people in Britain,
but the level of real knowledge is quite low."
The survey brought to light the fact that 33 per cent of the
under-45s interviewed could not name anything about the Feeding of
the 5,000 compared to 12 per cent of over-45s. More positive
findings showed that 75 per cent of the interviewees owned a bible
and significantly high numbers of them knew central facts about the
crucifixion and resurrection stories which are at the heart of the
Christian faith.
Methodist minister Revd Dr Peter Phillips has now taken on the
baton from Rev Brian Brown and heads up the Centre for Biblical
Literacy at St John's College, Durham University, which is part of
a larger research institute, Communication in the Digital
Environment (CODEC). The Centre will use the data for further
research over the next four years.
At the Methodist Conference, Peter seconded a successful notice of
motion calling Methodists to make 2011 a year of the Bible. The
motion proposed by Rev Ashley Cooper of Swan Bank Methodist Church
called for a celebration and promotion of the Bible's impact on
British culture alongside the Evangelical Alliance's BibleFresh
initiative.