Year of the Bible 2003 encourages
people to ‘Seek. And Find.’

EUROPE — A Bible project covering Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland is set to use a wide range of innovative approaches to present the Bible in a new light as modern and relevant to people who may have almost forgotten that it exists.

The organisers of the Year of the Bible 2003 are targeting individuals, local congregations and the general public as a whole and are working to ensure that there is a strong ecumenical flavour. The collaborating organisations, which in Germany include the Bible Society, the Protestant Church, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Organisation of Christian Churches, and in Austria the Bible Society and the Catholic Biblical Federation, have been making extensive preparations for many months.

Web sites and leaflets

Dedicated web sites have been set up in Germany and Switzerland, www.2003dasjahrderbibel.de and www.jahr-der-bibel.ch, giving a wide range of information about and ideas for publications and events, and in Germany more than 200,000 leaflets have been distributed at local level.
Many different events are being planned for 2003 in each of the countries involved, but they will share a common theme: “Seek. And Find.” This theme is designed to bridge the gap between the “Book of Books” and contemporary life and to be relevant to many different types of people.

January 1 launch

In Germany, the Year of the Bible is to be launched officially on January 1 with a live television programme from the library at the University of Dresden, part of a wider goal of ensuring extensive ongoing television and radio coverage, including televised services and themed radio programmes. One of the key attractions throughout the year will be the ‘Bibel-Box’ exhibition. This will be contained within a 10x10m blue cube which will visit cities including Kassel, Stuttgart and Dortmund for five days at a time. Inside the cube, visitors will find a two-storey display presenting biblical characters such as Moses, Peter and Paul and culminating with Jesus.

Another form of journey into the world of the Bible will be offered by the ‘Bibel-Parcours’, an exhibition leading visitors from Old and New Testament times to the present day and encouraging them to use all their senses to immerse themselves in the life and times of biblical characters. Like the ‘Bibel-Box’, this attraction, which is designed to be adapted by local church groups for events such as family days or town festivals, will be a feature at the Ecumenical Church Convention at the end of May. Other initiatives will include the publication of testimonies from prominent people in areas such as politics and the arts about the impact of the Bible on their lives, and the production of Bible software aimed at young people.

For children

The ‘Bibel-Parcours’ will also run in other participating countries, as will the Bible Discovery Tour, aimed at children aged between eight and 13, especially those with no existing knowledge of the Bible. Regional launch events will take place in January, and the children will then receive a colourful rucksack from which they remove one item each month between February and September and complete a related task.

The items are linked in some way to a story from the Old or New Testament. Inter-regional closing events will follow in October and November. The rucksack will also contain a special edition of the Good News Bible. The key aim of this particular initiative, which is set to cover a total of around 50,000 children, is to bring together children of different backgrounds. The Bible Discovery Tour has its own dedicated web site,
www.bibel-entdecker-tour.de, reflecting the fact that online communication is a key element of the Year of the Bible, in contrast with 1992, when the last Year of the Bible for the German-speaking region took place. Using the Internet will make it possible to rapidly exchange information about events and to share successful models.