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A UMNS Report
By Kathleen LaCamera*
1:00 P.M. EST January 28, 2011 | MANCHESTER, England (UMNS)
In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King
James Bible, England’s Methodist districts are transcribing 66 books by
hand.
A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.
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In an age when a hand-written letter is an increasingly scarce
commodity, British Methodists have pledged to transcribe all 66 books of
the Bible by hand during the first five months of this year.
The “Written by Hand, Taken to Heart” national initiative is part of
the denomination’s recognition of the 400th anniversary of the
publication of the King James Bible. One of the world’s best-selling
books of all time, this translation was first published in 1611, at the
request of England’s King James I.
Each of England’s Methodist districts — roughly equivalent to U.S.
annual conferences — will transcribe 25 Old Testament chapters, five
Psalms and eight New Testament chapters. The completed transcribed
Bible will be presented at the 2011 British Methodist Conference in
June.
Jenny Ellis, the church’s Connectional Spirituality and Discipleship
Officer, said most of the work is occurring out in the community in
“scriptoriums” set up in shopping centers, schools, nursing homes,
universities and other public spaces.
“We want this to be a public expression of the church valuing
scripture,” said Ellis. “And we want to be as creative as possible.”
In addition to the opportunity to contribute handwritten verses,
participants may also be invited to create illustrations to go alongside
them.
Seeing Bible in a new way
The hope is that people of all ages who are unfamiliar with the
Bible, as well as those who know it well, will come into these mobile
scriptoriums and encounter the Bible’s stories, poetry and teachings in a
new way.
One group in Yorkshire plans to set up a scriptorium in a room where
members of a choir for people with Alzheimer’s disease rehearse.
“During their coffee break we’ll spend time talking to choir members
and invite them to take part, even if they just write a few words,” said
Nick Blundell, mission enabling officer for the West Yorkshire
District.
Methodists in this area will use a number of Bible translations for
their transcribing, not just the New Revised Standard Version that the
rest of England is using.
In the city of Bradford, which hosts a large South Asian population,
people may be invited to transcribe parts of the Bible in Urdu and other
languages.
Blundell can even imagine the possibility of contributions in
Braille. He wants people to “engage their imaginations” and translate
the project into their local situations.
“We want to make sure that the 400th anniversary of the King James
Bible isn’t just an historic or nostalgic look back, but is something
about making the Bible accessible today.”
On Jan. 9, the UK’s national publicly funded broadcaster, the BBC,
devoted more than seven hours of national airtime throughout the day to
readings from the King James Bible. Sections from throughout the Bible
were introduced by scholars and commentators, including the Archbishop
of Canterbury, and read by top British actors.
Christine Morgan, Methodist lay preacher and head of radio for the
BBC’s Religion & Ethics department, reports the feedback from
audiences — both religious and not — has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We even had one atheist get in touch to say that he enjoyed the
programming so much he was now prepared to become an agnostic,” Morgan
told United Methodist News Service.
‘Linked across the centuries’
In an introduction to the British Bible Society’s special
commemorative 400th anniversary edition of the Kings James Bible, Prince
Charles writes:
“The glorious thing about this anniversary is that, through this
exceptional translation, the generations are linked across the
centuries. As we celebrate its achievement, it will be introduced to a
new generation.”
The Rev. Rob Cotton, a Methodist minister and the Bible Society’s
senior campaign manager, noted that the Bible is deeply relevant to
people’s ordinary lives.
“The Bible talks about human emotion, loss, jealousy, love,” said
Cotton. “It’s not just something we learn theology from, important as
that is; it actually affects the way we do life.”
He believes taking part in the handwritten Bible can be almost a
meditative exercise that helps people experience the scriptures in a
deeper way. To illustrate, Cotton recounted the true story of a man who
walked in off the street to one of the Bible Society’s scriptoriums and
ended up transcribing by hand the story of the Prodigal Son.
Cotton described how the man wrote little comments in the margins and
left a contact address. When the Bible Society tried to follow up,
people at the address said “there was some mistake and that the person
couldn’t have possibly been their relative because he had left the
family and had recently died.”
In fact there was no mistake. The family was sent the pages the man
had transcribed with his personal notes. Cotton says they found comfort
in the realization that before his death he had found a measure of peace
in the story of the Prodigal Son.
“Here is a book that speaks about the very stuff of life,” said
Cotton. ”Whatever we (Christians) do every day, we should do through the
lens of scripture. That’s who we are.”
*LaCamera is a freelance journalist who also works as a hospital and
mental health chaplain in Britain’s national health service.
News media contact: Linda Bloom (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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