In May this year, Mark attended the Bible Engagement Forum, hosted by the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) and the United Bible Societies (UBS) in Geneva, Switzerland. Representatives from 11 Bible Societies shared together in fellowship for a few days and it was a great opportunity to network with others who are involved in Bible engagement in their own Bible Societies’, some with very different contexts.
Over the course of the last three years, BFBS has carried out a huge piece of global research, looking at Bible engagement on a worldwide scale. Finally, the three years has come to an end and we are excited that we will be able to share some of the findings of this research within the next year, showing how it could affect ministry and resources here in Northern Ireland.
This year the discussions had at the forum were based around a particular demographic found within the data from the research, and the group spent time creatively thinking and sharing ideas of how each Bible Society might engage with this particular audience. We spent time thinking about people that we know who might fall into this demographic, and people we know in our home churches who may find it difficult to engage with the Bible but want to learn more. We then tried to identify some active projects within these Bible Societies that are currently reaching this demographic of people. A good time of collaboration and learning.
The Bible Society of Norway shared about their podcast which targets young people. This podcast was the second most listened to podcast in the country within the first week of it’s release. The Bible Society of the Netherlands spoke about their project called ‘Zie Lacht’ (translated as ‘She laughs’) which is a young woman’s social media brand focusing on engaging with the Bible through blogs, social media accounts and in-person meet ups.
All of these resources and projects helped us to consider how we might engage in our own contexts but also how we might collaborate as a group of Bible Societies to do more in this area of Bible engagement.
It is always wonderful to meet people from other Bible Societies and hear how they are seeking to help people engage with God’s Word. Please continue to pray for this Bible engagement research as we try and implement the results into our work here in Northern Ireland.