Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Scott Gunn’s Jan 2, 2012 Seven whole days blog post brought the Bible Challenge back into my consciousness. The concept is simple: Read the Bible in a year by following the Bible Challenge’s formula of reading the books of the Bible “in sequence and ensuring that a psalm and a portion of the New Testament are read each day in order to provide strong spiritual daily content to sustain readers working through the entire Bible.”

“I’ll do it,” I thought. Had my Bible been within reach of my desk, I might have started right then. Instead, I thought, “Where’s my Bible?” and “I’ll get it later.” And then promptly put it out of my mind.

Now on January 5, I still haven’t started. But I want to.

The program, as laid out by the Center for Biblical Studies and the Bible Challenge is simple:

“You can start this schedule on January 1 or any day of the year that you like. This schedule works ideally if you begin on a Monday because we encourage readers to read portions of the Bible Monday through Saturday and assume that on Sunday they will be in church hearing the Scriptures read aloud. The Bible is best understood in the context of a faith community and by persons who are committed to following the teachings of Jesus and obeying the Word of God in their daily life. Merely hearing the Scriptures read aloud on Sunday, however, is not enough to know and to experience the living, life-transforming Word of God.”

Recognizing that such an ambitious project requires support, day the Bible Challenge website offers an online reflection related to the day’s reading . Additionally, Bible Challenge founder Marek Zabriskie offers a tip sheet designed to help sustain and encourage readers, especially those reading as part of a group.

My plan? First, find my Bible. Knowing that my plan to start (and catch up to where I should be in the Challenge had I started on January 1) involves reading during my upcoming trip to Kanuga, I selected the smallest Bible on my shelf: a well-worn copy given to my great aunt in 1910 by her parents.

Will I follow through? That’s my challenge. I’ll let you know how it is going….