For those of you who are new to St Thomas the Apostle, I wanted to give a little background on the Bible Challenge and to encourage you to join us in the challenge this year!

The Bible Challenge is a program created by the Rev. Marek P. Zabriskie, an Episcopal Priest. If you choose to purchase the book, The Bible Challenge (Amazon.com $18.00 soft cover or $9.99 kindle), each days readings are accompanied by a meditation written by a church leader or biblical scholar (Bishop Andy is the author of several of these meditations) . More than 50 archbishops, bishops, deans, priests, and scholars have contributed essays. The book is optional, but recommended to get the full effect of the program.

We will begin our Bible Challenge for 2017 on March 6, the beginning of Lent. Lent is to be a time of reflection and a time of sacrifice for us as we prepare for Easter Day and there can be no better avenue for personal reflection than reading the bible each and every day. I will throw in this for the personal sacrifice … I know full well how difficult it can be to carve out time each and every day to read portions of the scriptures. I encourage each of you to take part in this challenge, make time in your day to read and meditate on the scripture. I will be participating, even with my IONA School studies, I will still participate with you!! Remember, this is an individual challenge. No groups, no checking in, it’s all done on your desire and personal commitment to complete the challenge.

The template is published in full here. We will read from the Old Testament, Psalms, and the New Testament six (6) days a week (M – Sa). The readings on Sunday take care of our readings for that day. I have seen first-hand the power of reading scripture as a church has on a congregation. The more strength we gain from the Word, the more able we are to serve others. This will be the fifth time that I will participate in the Bible Challenge and I firmly believe that our lives of faith will be enlivened and expanded by continuous reading of God’s Word.

So, don’t forget … we begin on Monday March 6 . You can choose the option to just read either the OT or the NT each day as part of your challenge, but I hope you accept the full challenge. The goal is to get us to read the bible each day. If you order the book, you will be able to read the synopsis and gain even more from your reading each day.

If you participated last year you are not done, gear up and let’s do it again! You will be amazed at what you will discover as you read again!