An Education Initiative for the Fall of 2011 and Beyond

Have you ever promised yourself you would read more of the Bible? Have you ever tried to read it all, from beginning to end? Have you failed to keep these promises because it was just too hard, too weird, to do on your own? You start with Genesis, it's pretty tough going, then the Moses stories in Exodus are worth the work, but all those commandments in the second half of Exodus slow you down, and then Leviticus just does you in ...

Beginning in the fall of 2011, and continuing for two years, we will read the Bible together as a parish. That's the only way to do it: be part of a group that is doing it together, that is doing it slowly and steadily together with ample opportunities for discussion and for scholars and religious leaders to offer their insights along the way.

Starting in the fall of 2011, we'll read the Old Testament over the course of the academic year, and then work our way carefully through the New Testament in 2012-13. A schedule of reading will have you reading a few pages each day, or about twenty-five per week. Throughout, there'll be encouragement, learning, and other ways to make sense of it all. Sunday forums will feature speakers offering either close analysis of key passages or looks at larger themes that unfold over several books.

So get excited and get a Bible, preferably the New Revised Standard Version, the translation we use in church. (You could even go so far as to get the Oxford Annotated Bible edition, with great introductory essays and good footnotes for each book.) If you buy a Bible, use the Amazon link at the bottom of the home page, and St. James' will even earn a portion of your purchase price.

And get a children's Bible for your kids to do this with you (ask Vicki Hall, who has lots of recommendations for these) and we'll be off and running in September.

If you want to do some introductory reading, we recommend The Bible Makes Sense by Walter Brueggeman, who is this year's Stillman Lecture speaker. His is a 125-page book that gives a fabulous perspective on reading the Bible by one of the great Bible scholars of our time.

You can do it, because we can do it together.

For more information, contact the Rev. Craig D. Townsend, Vicar.