CAROL STREAM, Ill. (July 26, 2017) – Beginning this fall, congregations of the Evangelical Covenant Church will begin a three-year Bible reading experience using Immerse: The Reading Bible. This denomination-wide initiative was formed in partnership with Tyndale House Publishers and The Institute for Bible Reading (IFBR).
Earlier this year, Tyndale and IFBR announced an alliance to introduce new Bible reading practices to the church through innovative new Bible resources. Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience is the first campaign of that alliance and the inspiration for the Evangelical Covenant Church’s initiative. The Experience uses Immerse: The Reading Bible, a six volume version of the New Living Translation featuring single-column format text but without chapter numbers, verse numbers, footnotes, and section headings. Each volume offers an eight-week reading plan, meant to be punctuated by weekly unmediated group discussions.
Immerse is an accessible way for entire congregations to read the Bible together and then, in community, engage with what they have read. The New Living Translation is considered the most readable version of the Bible in English, and the unique design of the Immerse series highlights the natural literary structure of each book, allowing readers to encounter the Bible in a new way.
Michelle Sanchez, Executive Pastor of Make and Deepen Disciples for the ECC and who announced Immerse: The Covenant Bible Reading Experience at the 132nd Covenant Annual Meeting, says, “In the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination, we have long called ourselves ‘People of the Book.’ And as People of the Book, we believe that there is no better foundation to make and deepen disciples than the Word of God. The Covenant church has a long tradition of valuing deep engagement with the whole Bible. We are committed to building upon this strong foundation for the future, and Immerse will be a marvelous resource to help us and many others to do just that.”
Tyndale House Publishers and The Institute for Bible Reading hope that other denominations and individual churches will follow the example of active, communal engagement with Scripture set by the Evangelical Covenant Church. Churches across North America are set to begin the first eight-week Immerse reading experience on September 17, 2017.
Immerse: Messiah and Immerse: Beginnings are now available for purchase. Immerse: Kingdoms, Immerse: Prophets, Immerse: Poets, and Immerse: Chronicles are available for pre-order.
Visit ImmerseBible.com or call 877-277-9400 for more information.
Tyndale House Publishers, founded in 1962, is one of the largest privately held Christian publishers of books, Bibles, and digital media in the world. Tyndale has published many innovative category-leading products such as Life Application Study Bible, The One Year Bible, The Book, The Life Recovery Bible, Hands on Bible, and Inspire Bible. Tyndale publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), the translation of choice for millions of readers. www.tyndale.com
The Institute for Bible Reading is an activist think tank uncommonly focused on providing people tools and frameworks that fundamentally change the way they read the Bible so it can achieve its mission and become that story that defines their lives. www.instituteforbiblereading.org
