Big Bible Week

Oy vey, again with the long gaps - yep, despite my very best intentions, blogging seems to have slipped of the radar for some time again.  I have been brought back to it by some level of excitement over a forthcoming set of events happening in our Mission Community which make up our 'Mission Week' - our Big Bible Celebration.

For a bit more detail here's some of a publicity email I put out earlier in the week that sums it up as well as I could as if I tried to write it all out again....

We want our 'Big Bible Week' to be a time of building up disciples as well as attracting people to hear the message who might not normally come.

As such we have used the 'hook' of the 400th Anniversary of the publishing of the AV but we are celebrating the gift of Scripture as a whole, and particularly the Bible in readable, accessible form for us.  We are calling this the 'Big Bible' week - Attached is a pdf poster of all that's going on, which includes lunchtime Bible Studies, Evening events and a breakfast at which the chair of EDDC is going to give a very personal testimony of his own faith and the part that the Bible has had, and does have, in his life.

Because we have been fortunate in getting some very high calibre speakers (plus me) at these events we would like as many as possible to come and are very happy to open up the events wider. 

On Sunday 16th October we'll have a service with the puppeteers of Honiton Community Church coming to share on the theme of the 'parable of the sower', it will be a relatively informal service of the word which will be family friendly and is at 10.30am in Stockland Parish Church.  In the evening at 6pm in Yarcombe we will have a sung Evensong with Ante-Communion, the sermon for which will be about the KJV and reminding us of God's word to us in Scripture.  Of course you'll have your own worship services that day, but if you don't have an evening service, or a family friendly one and would like to send folk our way we wouldn't be adverse to a few extras!!!

On Monday - Friday we will have Bible Studies every lunchtime in which the Clergy of the Mission Community will try to get through the sweeping themes of Scripture... This will take place at noon in the Tucker's Arms in Dalwood with sandwich lunch available for (I think) £3 but no need to book.  The themes are divided thus:  Monday: Genesis & the birth of the Israelite nation, Tuesday: Law in the Bible, Wednesday: History and Prophets, Thursday: Gospels and Friday: The Epistles (& perhaps some Revelation)

Monday  7.30pm in Dalwood Church there's a presentation by myself about the grand shape (am I allowed to say 'meta-narrative'?) of Scripture, how it ended up as we have it - compilation, sources, editing, shape, translation and purpose.

Tuesday, 7.30pm in Stockland Church Anna Norman-Walker, Diocesan Missioner, will be talking about the Bible and Mission, and why the Bible is as relevant today as ever, and why it should be at the heart of sharing faith.

Wednesday 7.30pm local thesps and musicians will share a number of favourite King James Version passages along with music contemporary to the publishing of the AV.  This will be in Shute Church.

Friday 7.30pm in Yarcombe Jubilee Hall David Hopwood will be showing bits of movies and talking about how the Bible influences and has influence the way our society sees the world, and also meaning that we can see in movies which can inform our faith.  This will be a good one for youth and teens as well as grown ups!!!

Saturday 9am Breakfast in the Tucker's Arms Dalwood with Cllr Halse - we will need bookings for this - please contact Kate on katewoolven@hotmail.co.uk or 01404 861763 and

Saturday Evening will have the great joy of Gavin 'Beatbox' Tyte coming with a music group to lead us in worship at Kilmington Village Hall, 7.30pm - we might even get some of Gavin's 'Gospel of Luke in Rap'...  Again, another youth friendly event, but very much open to all!

Well, I'm excited about all this!  Enough to get me back to the blog!  Now time to return nose to grindstone and get back to the real world.