Latest News #162
September 13, 2001

Bible Societies minister to United States terror victims

READING, England — The American Bible Society (ABS) and the Canadian Bible Society (CBS) are actively distributing Scriptures to people affected by the horrific attacks made on New York and Washington on September 11.

In an e-mail sent out late on Wednesday (September 12), the Rev Greg Bailey, National Director of the CBS, said he understood from ABS President Dr Eugene Habecker that the ABS was going to start supplying Scripture Portions to bring comfort and hope to survivors and the bereaved.

Following the closure of United States airspace in the wake of the attacks, all aircraft which could not safely return to their point of origin were diverted to airports in neighbouring Canada. Passengers and crews from several hundred flights have thus been obliged to take emergency accommodation near Canadian airports and CBS District offices have been helping relief authorities by providing Bibles and Selections for those stranded and concerned about the welfare of their families in the United States.

“We have a glorious opportunity to ensure that the light of Christ burns brightly despite the darkness that has tried to extinguish it,” said Mr Bailey.

The large number of those killed and injured by the attack in New York do not include any members of ABS staff but do, inevitably, include their friends, neighbours and business acquaintances. The boyfriend of one staff member is reported missing and the services of counsellors are being made available at the ABS offices.

The International Bible Society (IBS) is also based in New York and in a widely circulated e-mail Peter Bradley, the IBS President, said it, too, was preparing a scriptural response to the tragedy.

“We know that hearts are opened as never before in times of crisis, and we need to present the power of the Word to those whose hearts are seeking truth and hope,” he said.

The Salvation Army has asked the IBS to supply some 75,000 Scripture Portions for victims and their families, he added, and the Society is offering Scripture resources to as many as 300,000 churches for the same purpose.

He said he and Dr Habecker had been discussing how the Societies could collaborate to maximise the distribution of Scriptures to those in need.

Tributes paid to Siegfried Meurer

WAS96C58_25: The Rev Dr Siegfried Meurer died suddenly on September 8, 2001. Dr Meurer served as General Secretary of the German Bible Society from 1974 to 1997, Chairman of the UBS Europe-Middle East Executive Committee from 1984 to 1991 and from 1991 to 1996 as Chairman of the UBS Executive Committee. He is pictured speaking at the United Bible Societies World Assembly held in Mississauga, Canada in 1996. Photo: United Bible Societies/Maurice Harvey

STUTTGART, Germany — Following Monday’s announcement of the death of the Revd Dr Siegfried Meurer, the former General Secretary of the German Bible Society, tributes have been paid to the man whose lifelong aim, according to the German Bible Society, was “to help people discover the Holy Scriptures as their book.”

Dr Meurer, 70, suffered a heart attack in his sleep on September 8 while on holiday in the south of France.

Paying tribute to him, the Rev Fergus Macdonald, General Secretary of the UBS, said, “Siegfried Meurer lived and moved and had his being in the Bible cause, to which he made an enormous contribution. He was highly respected and widely admired both in Germany and throughout the entire UBS family.”

The funeral is due to take place in Dr Meurer’s home town of Steinenbronn, near Stuttgart, on Friday September 14.

He was General Secretary of the German Bible Society from 1974 to 1997 and the German Bible Society paid tribute to him as the man responsible for bringing the various regional Bible Societies in Germany together into the single national German Bible Society of today.

He also paved the way for important projects in the field of publishing and Bible mission. He was a strong supporter of ecumenical Bible initiatives and, feeling strongly that the affluent Germans bore a responsibility for relieving the worldwide need for Bibles, succeeded in implanting a sense of this in a large group of supporters.

“People need famine relief in order to live and they need the Bible so that they want to live” was a saying of which he was fond.

He was also particularly concerned that all Bible work should be based on sound scholarly principles. Among the important publishing programs which he pushed forward were scholarly editions of the Old and New Testament texts (in Hebrew and Greek respectively), the Good News Bible, the 1984 revision of the Luther Bible, a multi-volume edition of the Greek New Testament, and the Biblia Hebraica with a new scholarly apparatus.

He was convinced that both in personal and public life the message of the Bible is more important today than ever before and his concern for the Bible cause led him to offer his talents and experience to UBS: from 1984 to 1991 he was Chairman of the UBS Europe-Middle East Executive Committee and from 1991 to 1996 he was Chairman of the UBS Executive Committee.

Born in 1931, Siegfried Meurer gained international experience early in life. After taking his degree in theology, he continued his studies at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis for a year and became successively pastor of the German communities in the state of Pennsylvania, in the United States, and in Luxembourg. Having worked as pastor of the Reformed Church in Wuppertal, Germany, for nine years, in 1971 he joined the Social Service Agency of the Church in Rhineland as a consultant. At the same time, he completed his doctorate (1968) and postdoctoral qualification (1973).

From 1974 until his retirement in 1997 he committed himself to the Bible Societies and to ecumenical work, among many talents offering his theological discernment, his sense of reality, his leadership and spirit of co-operation and his authority. It was thanks to his commitment that the German Bible Society launched its interconfessional Year of the Bible in 1992. He also established the Bible and Culture Foundation which, since 1988, has awarded an annual prize to creative artists in Germany and promotes artistic endeavour among young people.

He had, said the German Bible Society, worked steadily towards the lifelong aim which he put in the following words: “I want people to enjoy the Bible and I want to help them discover the Holy Scriptures as their book.”

WAS96C1_11.jpg: Mr Jean-Alain Moussié has been appointed as the new Publishing Services Coordinator and will take up the position later in 2001. He will continue to be based in Nairobi until arrangements are finalised for his move to the World Service Center in Reading. Reading, England. Photo: United Bible Societies/Maurice Harvey

New Publishing Services Coordinator appointed

READING, England — UBS has announced that Jean-Alain Moussié is to be its new Publishing Services Coordinator. Mr Moussié is currently the UBS Inter-Regional Services Coordinator and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. He will take up his new role later this year and will continue to work from Nairobi until a move to the UBS World Service Center in Reading becomes possible. He succeeds John Ball who left in March 1999 to join Scripture Union. (71 words - MOUSSIE.13.9.01)