3 Ways Churches Are Reading the Bible Together in Community
Research shows that even though 59% of U.S. adults believe the message of the Bible has transformed their lives, only 11.5% use the Bible daily, according to the State of the Bible 2019. Churches that encourage their worshipping community to read the Bible together have noticed greater impact and real life change.
During the last 3 months, we invited churches like yours to submit their communication plans to coordinate how their community is reading the same Bible passages throughout the week between worship services. Let us share a handful of good examples for how churches are reading the Bible together.
Reading, Sharing, and Discussing
First MB Church uses the YouVersion Bible app and its Read With Friends feature so they can all read the same passages together. This allows the church community to keep each other accountable and also share insight and questions along the way. Here is how First MB Church described its communications: "We promote the reading plan in our email, bulletin, and website whenever we start a new plan. We’re currently in a year-long campaign taking us through the New Testament. It’s worked really well for us!" (around 10% of their congregation participates regularly; and, in case you're wondering, MB stands for "Mennonite Brethren")
Giving It a Catchy Name
Evanston Vineyard created a year-long reading plan for Luke, Acts and the epistles. The church promoted their Bible reading as Eating Well, with videos, small groups, daily email reminders, and more. The church went through a teaching series that pulled from some portion of the assigned text for each week. The Bible reading continues after the sermon series ended in September 2018 with suggested reading plans on its Eating Well landing page.
How They Shall Hear
Zarephath Christian Church's Pastor Hunter Barnes reads a Bible passage daily at dailyradiobible.com. He takes the listeners through the Bible in a year: the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice. With the daily readings, Pastor Hunter includes a short devotional at the end. The church noted: ".. a large percentage of the church follow through to the end of the year. Many reported that it was the most they had ever engaged with the Bible ever."
Easier Way for Your Church to Do This
American Bible Society and Biblica have partnered together to bring churches the Community Bible Experience. Community Bible Experience is a different way to read the Bible: less like a reference book, more like a story. It’s a new way to talk about the Bible, too: less like a Bible study, more like a book club.
Join your church on an unforgettable journey—and reignite their passion for the Scriptures. Get access to these free resources at cbe.bible.