Bishop Tim has launched the Lent Challenge for 2017 with the aim of encouraging people to read the Bible with another person, and to let this start a conversation.

Bishop Tim reads the Bible with RNLI Falmouth crew member Dave Nicoll

This years ‘In2 the Bible’ challenge sees the bishop asking us to make reading the Bible part of our everyday journey as disciples of Jesus, and for this to be a journey that we share with someone else. It isn’t about a big group of people, but about two or three gathered together reading the Bible and listening to one another.

Following on from the 2016 challenge to speak out and to share your faith stories, this challenge focuses on the journey IN.

Letters have gone out to all churches in the diocese setting out the challenge and encouraging everyone to take part.

In this letter, Bishop Tim explains: “One of the great prayers of the Church of England notes that God ‘caused holy Scriptures to be written for our learning’, and asks God to help us to ‘hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them’. The prayer asks this so that through patience, and the comfort of the word, we might embrace and hold fast to the hope of everlasting life.

That prayer was written by an archbishop four hundred years ago, but it is my prayer today, and is the heart of my challenge to you this Lent.

Simply put, I am encouraging you and challenging you to see that reading the Bible is a familiar and everyday part of our Christian journey together. That word “together” is important, discipleship is a journey taken in company, so my challenge is to read the Bible together, with another person or two this Lent. To read, mark, learn and maybe even inwardly digest Scripture together.”

Bishop Tim is encouraging people to share reading the Bible in the way they would share a cup of tea or a meal; to share the feast of scripture with another person, encourage questions about the Bible and for this to start becoming a normal part of their journey together.

You can read all of Bishops Tim’s letter here.

To support you in your challenge, a booklet has been put together with six Bible passage to get you started.  It doesn’t have to be these passages that you read but we think they are interesting and have something to say. These are available at www.trurodiocese.org.uk/in2thebible.

For those of you on social media, please share a photo of you delving In2 the Bible on Facebook or Twitter.