Yvette writes:

As Christians we claim that scripture is crucial to our growth in faith; yet many of us are reticent in reading the Bible for ourselves.

The gift of being part of St Francis church is that we hear scripture being read to us daily through morning and evening prayer, Sunday and Tuesday worship, the bulletin and the vicar’s weekly message. However, as rich as this corporate consumption is - our own individual engagement with our Holy Book can enhance and nuance this.

The Bible shares with us -

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NRSV)

And …

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 NRSV)

Powerful stuff …right?!

Reading the bible in a year was something I wanted to do for many years. I needed to overcome my ‘anxiety’ of engaging with this complex collection of books and poetry; and knew I needed companions on the journey to enable me to conquer this.

So, it was borne out of my own need that the request for fellow potential explorers was made.

Six of us started the journey together and I am so thrilled and humbled to report that the same six finished together. It wasn’t easy and took us six months longer than we had planned for …but it has been worth it.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jo Park, Derek Charlton, Marion Pennie, Jane Freeman and Kevin Burn for their time, commitment, perseverance, conversation, wisdom and vulnerability, but (most of all) for helping me limp over the finish line!

You can read the responses of the participants here