Latest News SummariesSummaries of stories which have been e-mailed in the Latest News series since the publication of World Report 385:
ENGLAND
— The British and Foreign Bible Society’s
bicentenary service of thanksgiving took place at St Paul’s Cathedral,
London on March 8. Constructed around the themes of the Tower of Babel,
the Incarnation, and Pentecost, it incorporated dramatic readings, dance,
dramatic gesture and banners. The congregation consisted of nearly 2,000
representatives of the Church and Christian organisations in Britain,
of the worldwide Bible Society movement and ‘ordinary’ Bible
Society supporters. Use of the Welsh language figured prominently and
the liturgy throughout was rich in images of light and fire. In his
address the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said the Bible
Society movement’s history had shown that no culture or language
was unreachable by Scripture and it therefore gave grounds for hope.
e-274 March 11, 2004
(WR 386/21 - 6/7.04) INDONESIA
— In February the Indonesian Bible Society
celebrated its 50-year history with a Golden Jubilee consisting of a
six-day academic seminar, a bookfair, a book launch and two celebration
services. The theme of the seminar was One Bible, Many Versions. Some
of the lectures focused on Bible translation, others explored the needs
of different groups of Bible readers. The book launched as part of the
celebrations, Sowing the Word in the Archipelago, traces the history
of Bible work in the country back to the foundation of various Bible
Societies in the Netherlands in the early nineteenth century. A Bible
exhibition provided another attraction among the celebrations. e-275
March 18, 2004 (WR 386/22 - 6/7.04)
ZIMBABWE — Recognising that the visually impaired do not have access to information about HIV/AIDS, the Bible Society of Zimbabwe launched the Scripture Portion, Living in Hope, in Braille and on audio cassette on March 11. The initiative has been welcomed by Zimbabwe’s visually-impaired community. The Society, however, which is operating in an economy that is near collapse, is faced with the problem of not being able to produce and distribute enough copies of the new Scripture formats. It is in the process of developing a major new initiative, Spiritual Hope, through which it hopes to make Scriptures accessible to all Zimbabweans. e-275 March 18, 2004 (WR 386/23 - 6/7.04) WORLD — Bible Societies across the world have been busy capitalising on the evangelistic opportunities offered by the success of the film The Passion of the Christ. Declaring that it did not find it to be anti-Semitic, the American Bible Society has welcomed the film and bought 8,000 cinema tickets to give out free, along with copies of a special edition of Luke’s Gospel. It has also made print- and web-based resources available. In Europe, the Bible Societies distributing ‘tie-in’ Scripture Portions or Selections include those in Spain, Lebanon and Egypt. The Bible Society of Northern Ireland has added a special section to its web site offering a guided reflection on the film. e-276 April 1, 2004 (WR 387/24 - 6/7.04) AUSTRALIA
— The Bible Society in Australia spent
three months working hard on a communications campaign aimed at inspiring
the Church to use The Passion of the Christ as an evangelism
tool. Following an agreement with the film’s producers, they organised
a wide-ranging communications campaign involving film previews, a resource
kit of ideas and a pocket-sized edition of Mark’s Gospel for churches
to give away to their cinema guests. A cinema commercial features celebrities
endorsing the film and pointing people to a special web site: WORLD — Bible Societies have published more news of their efforts to draw the attention of the people flocking to The Passion of the Christ to the Gospels. The web site of the Bible Society in Italy presents the complete story of the Passion from the Gospels, hoping that it will prompt “reflection and meditation rather than visceral emotions.” The Bible Society in Lebanon offered film-goers a pocket-sized edition of John’s Gospel as they bought their tickets at cinemas in Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon and Zahle, as part of the Year of the Bible 2004. Initiatives of the Bible Society of Singapore include production of a Portion based on the Gospel of Luke incorporating images from the film, and the dedication of a section of its web site to The Passion. The Philippine Bible Society has published a Scripture Selection called The Cross of Christ for distribution in cinemas showing the film and in other venues. e-277 April 14, 2004 (WR 386/26 - 6/7.04) HUNGARY — The Hungarian Bible Society’s stall at the 11th Budapest International Book Festival, which took place on April 22-25, attracted many visitors. Many of the visitors, who included donors to whom a special invitation had been sent, commented favourably about the Society’s presence at such a prestigious event. The Society presented a German-Hungarian New Testament to German President Johannes Rau, who performed the opening ceremony with his Hungarian counterpart, Ferenc Mádl. e-278 April 30, 2004 (WR 386/27 - 6/7.04)
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