04 July 2011
More than 30,000 Britons transcribe Methodists's Bible
Thousands of people across Britain and Northern Ireland have
hand transcribed the Bible in the past 12 months, and the final
version was presented to the Methodist Conference in Southport this
weekend.
As part of the 400th year anniversary of the King James Bible,
people were invited to join Methodists in handwriting verses from
the Scripture. Volunteers joined in from across communities,
including prisons, schools, colleges, libraries, nursing homes,
airports and shopping centres to copy verses from the NRSV version
of the Bible after Methodists voted to transcribe the scripture at
their Conference in Portsmouth last year.
Revd Lionel Osborn, President of Conference, said: "The
hand-written Bible has been a tremendous success. It has enabled
people to engage with Scripture at perhaps a slower pace than usual
and to really think about what they are copying. For many it has
been a deep and enriching experience."
The Methodists' handwritten Bible, which will be bound in 31
volumes and then tour the country, will also be available to read
online on the Deepening Discipleship website. Verses have
been written in English, Chinese, Welsh and braille with
accompanying illustrations.
Revd Jenny Ellis, Co-ordinator of Evangelism, Spirituality and
Discipleship, said: "It has been wonderful to see how this project
has captured the imaginations of many local churches. Methodists
have used it as an opportunity to reach out and work together with
people in their communities. The Scriptures were originally passed
down through word of mouth and then through handwritten scripts,
and so asking people to write out verses is a particularly
significant way of valuing Scripture and its life giving words. The
King James Bible was a book that changed the lives of many."
The idea to celebrate the year of the Bible with a handwritten
version was put forward by Daniella Fetuga-Joensuu from the London
district at last year's Methodist conference. Revd Jenny Ellis drew
up guidelines for the 31 Methodist districts, enabling them to
organise the project as creatively as possible in their regions.
The guidelines included advice on how to organise scriptoriums or
writing "sit-outs" in public places. A scriptorium outside
Westminster Central Hall attracted so many people that participants
were limited to writing one word per verse. Some churches filmed
their scriptoriums and posted them on
You Tube. The handwritten Bible - a project that cost £3,500 in
total - also travelled through Durham and Frankland prisons.
Janet Deakin, an administrator at Methodist Church House in London,
wrote her verses in braille. "I have a version of the Bible in
braille," said Jan. "It is made up of 35 volumes and they sit on
two shelves of my bookcase at home. I also have five versions of
the Bible on my braille sense machine."
ENDS
Notes: For pictures see
here.
If you have occasions or places where you would like to display one
or more volumes of the Bible, or the whole collection, please email
Jenny Ellis at ellisjenny@methodistchurch.org.uk