On 24 August, Pastor Ian Aylward registered his church for the Bible Society’s Live Light in 25 Words campaign. He wanted his people to join thousands of Australian Christians who will read the Bible for 31 days in October, and who are committed to growing a daily habit.

Aylward didn’t know, though, that when he hit the “Sign Me Up” button, the campaign reached its target of 2000 participating churches.

Bible Society Programmes and Campaigns Manager, Chris Melville, says he is happy with the response from churches around Australia. “Its shows their support, and their reaction to research that showed only 2o% of Christians in Australia read their Bible daily. When we started this campaign, we asked churches and other Christian ministries to come alongside and help reverse those figures. We want to do all we can to help Christians get into a regular habit of reading their Bible.

“We’ve reached our initial target, but we’re still encouraging churches – and individuals – to sign up and download resources at 25words.biblesociety.org.au

“Let’s start this tidal wave of Bible reading come October 1.”

The Banora Point Baptist Church will integrate the campaign into Bible reading plans it already had for October.  “Every year or so we run a corporate Bible reading programme, like reading through the Gospels in three months,” says Aylward. “In the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at which resources to use from the website, and how to build up towards October.”

To encourage his congregation to participate, he’ll speak about the campaign from the pulpit.

“We’ll also use some video inspirations, and hand out material like Bible reading guides so people know what to do. One of the main things we’ll do is encourage personal testimonies. We’ll have people tell their own stories about how they’ve read the Scripture, then applied it, and have seen it working in their lives.

“Another important thing is we encourage it in the weekly cell groups. When people are in a group, there is a greater motivation to do the programme together, and to discuss what they read; and there’s a greater accountability towards one another too. We don’t want them to read the Bible or use the materials out of guilt, we want them to read out of a desire, and doing so as part of a group is a good idea.”

When asked how Christians could develop a Bible reading habit in today’s busy world, Aylward paraphrased John Wesley, “He said he was so busy he had to pray!  I’d say if someone is not used to reading the Bible regularly, then a little at a time is a good start’.

Aylward says he’ll encourage his congregation to start with 25 words, the average length of a Bible verse – which is what the Bible Society campaign is all about.

“One should also spend some time meditating on the verse or passage, and maybe discussing it with others. Also, try to summarise the passage we’ve read in our own words, as this really helps us think about its meaning.  We don’t want to use the Bible reading guide and just tick the boxes off.  It’s not about getting to the finish line in terms of quantity… it’s about getting to the point where God is speaking to us through the Scriptures.

“There’s also something called saturation Bible study,” he says. “That’s where you spend some time reading a passage – say Ephesians 1 – over and over again, and meditating on it until you are in a place where it impacts your life.”

Asked if he has a particular Scripture verse he’d like to share, he quoted John 10:10.  “Jesus said, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. That’s 24 words! It reflects the basis for our church mission, which is about life lived abundantly in Christ.”

At time of writing, 2051 churches have signed up for the campaign, and the counter continues to tick. Eternity asked Aylward if he encourages other churches to sign up as well.

“Yes, I do. But whether churches sign up or not, I would hope that they’d be encouraging their people to read God’s Word and to share it with others. It’s the foundation of our faith.”