September 2024 | LISLE, IL—InterVarsity Press (IVP) has announced that its first Just Show Up Book Club (JSU) will kick off on October 29, 2024. In recognition of Native American Heritage Month in November, the first IVP Just Show Up book will be the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Bible Translation of the New Testament (FNV) by Terry M. Wildman. The FNV recounts the Creator’s Story—the Christian Scriptures—following the tradition of Native storytellers’ oral cultures.
The IVP JSU Book Club is made possible through a grant from the Grace and Mercy Foundation, an organization that partners with nonprofit organizations to promoting lifelong learning through JSU Book Clubs and the Public Reading of Scripture (PRS). The JSU Book Club is a book club without homework where people gather to read, listen, and discuss great books together.
“The mission of Grace and Mercy and the Just Show Up Book Club is also the mission of IVP. We both strive to get life-changing books into the hands of readers so they can read, discuss, and grow in their understanding of faith and the world around them,” said Terumi Echols, President and Publisher at IVP. “We are so grateful for their support in offering a format like the IVP Just Show Up Book Club that will bring people together to read and discuss transformative resources like the First Nations Version.”
The FNV is a dynamic equivalence translation of the New Testament that captures the simplicity, clarity, and beauty of Native storytellers in English, while remaining faithful to the original language of the Bible. The culmination of a rigorous five-year translation process, this new Bible translation is a collaboration between organizations like OneBook and Wycliffe Associates, Indigenous North Americans from over twenty-five different tribes, and a translation council that consisted of twelve Native North American elders, pastors, young adults, and men and women from different tribes and diverse geographic locations.
On September 3 the FNV also added a resource for children with Birth of the Chosen One: A First Nations Retelling of the Christmas Story. Featuring stunning Native American art, Birth of the Chosen One is a powerful picture book from IVP Kids that illuminates the Christmas story in a fresh and new way.
And in August 2025 IVP will release the Psalms-Proverbs edition of the FNV.
“The First Nations Version is a groundbreaking, fresh translation of the New Testament filled with vivid, evocative language and imagery,” said Al Hsu, IVP’s Associate Editorial Director, Trade. “We’re thrilled with how the FNV New Testament has been received and are excited to be developing the FNV Psalms and Proverbs as the sacred songs and words of the wisdomkeepers.”
Starting on October 29, the IVP JSU Book Club will focus its first seven-week reading plan on the FNV Gospel of Mark. The book club will meet online on Tuesdays from noon to 1 p.m. Central time.
IVP will also host book clubs in January and February that feature On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living by Alan Noble (January) and Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley (February).
“We are excited to welcome people into the IVP JSU Book Club and into just a few of the impactful resources that make up the IVP library,” said Lori Neff, IVP Associate Director of Marketing and the host for the first IVP JSU Book Club. “We look forward to sharing together in both rich readings from the FNV and in rich discussion around this beautiful First Nations translation.”
Visit justshowup.ivpress.com to learn more and to sign up for the IVP JSU Book Club.
Contact: Krista Clayton, kclayton@ivpress.com
