Bible Society Partner's Excellent Report

As you know, The Chicago Bible Society offers online Bible apps, online Bibles in over 50 languages, and online Bible Studies and resources.  One of our partners in this regard is YouVersion which recently posted this excellent report that we want to share with you today.

Worldwide YouVersion Community Shatters Records Throughout March

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When The Bible series was breaking ratings records this past Sunday, attracting nearly 100 million viewers over the course of its run, YouVersion was making history as well with a month full of firsts:

• The Bible series producers named the Bible App™ their official app of the series even before the first episode aired.
• During the first episode of The Bible, YouVersion debuted its first-evernational television commercial in the U.S. And it continued to air multiple times each week throughout the series.
• The brand new Videos feature launched, helping people experience the Bible’s stories and concepts visually from inside the Bible App.
• Every Sunday in March landed on YouVersion’s top 10 list for most installs in a single day.
• March 31, Easter Sunday (the same day as The Bible series finale) saw the most installs of the Bible App ever in a single day: more than 3.5 per second… all day.

And while each of these firsts are truly thrilling, even when we take them all together, still they don’t tell the whole story. You, the worldwide YouVersion community, broke several far more important records. Together during March, we:

• Spent more than 3.4 billion minutes reading God’s Word.
• Completed almost 671,000 reading plans, and
• Shared more than 6 million Bible verses through Facebook, Twitter, email, and text messages.

Literally millions of people all over the world discovered the Bible App for the first time during March, thanks in part to your passion for the Bible. Thank you…for reading, listening, watching, and sharing it. You are an inspiration. Together, we’re helping more people engage with God’s Word than ever before.

The Bible Comes Alive on The History Channel

If you read much from secular newspapers or TV, you would think there is little interest anymore in Christian Values, let alone Bible Stories.  The History Channel has proven this wrong this month. The following article from Business Week Magazine should encourage all who value the Bible and the work of The Chicago Bible Society


On Sunday night, the History Channel racked up huge ratings with the first installment of a five-part miniseries called The Bible. The first two-hour episode attracted 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched entertainment telecast on all of cable so far in 2013. The series, which features CGI-enhanced Biblical stories ranging from Noah’s ark to Jesus’s crucifixion, will air its final episode on Easter Sunday.
The Bible is the creation of actor Roma Downey and her husband, producer Mark Burnett, whose past credits include Survivor, The Voice, and Sarah Palin’s Alaska. “Today, more people are discussing God’s chosen people—Moses and Abraham—in one day than ever before,” the show’s creators noted yesterday in a press release.
The huge opening night can be credited, in part, to a savvy marketing campaign by Burnett and History executives. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Downey and Burnett built anticipation for the miniseries by previewing it for religious leaders at several megachurches. Along the way, the creators picked up endorsements from key religious tastemakers, including Joel Osteen.
The day before the premiere, Pastor Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church in California treated his followers to a 90-minute behind-the-scenes feature on the making of The Bible, according to the Christian Post.
In the meantime, the World Evangelical Alliance (a “global ministry working with local churches around the world to join in common concern to live and proclaim the Good News of Jesus in their communities,” according to its website) has thrown its support behind the series. On the WEA’s site, Chief Executive Officer Geoff Tunnicliffe writes that the series is “compelling, gritty at times and spiritually moving.”
According to the Christian Post, the WEA has been running ads for The Bible in Times Square since before Christmas.
The success is likely to prompt imitators, predicts James Poniewozik of Time. “Those are the kinds of numbers that get TV executives’ attention, and ‘attention’ in the TV business means copying,” he writes. “Last year, History pulled meganumbers with Hatfields and McCoys; now NBC (CMCSA) is developing a Hatfields and McCoys series. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see more religious epics coming to TV—stories aimed, like the Bible miniseries, at the comfort zone of believers

Please Don't Let Our New Media Outreach Expire

Please Help The Chicago Bible Society continue its New Media Project which is in danger of shutting down due to a sudden lack of funding


When we first started this blog over two years ago, one of our first posts told of the effort of General Douglas MacArthur to send millions of Bibles and a call for missionaries for Japan following the end of World War II

Today, if MacArthur were alive, he would note that, in light of the fact that millions of Japanese use Smart Phones and Internet Devices on a daily basis, he could distribute Bibles (using free online Bible apps) using the new technology.

For the past two years, in cooperation with Ministries such as The YouVersion Bible and Bible.is, the Chicago Bible Society has been distributing online Bibles and Bible Studies around the world in addition to its traditional programs of Bible Distribution to prisons, hospitals, and other local outreaches.

Up until now, this program has been entirely funded by a generous long time member of the Board of Directors of CBS.  Unfortunately, due to declining health and  loss of income, this good man (in his 80's) has left the Chicago Bible Society. It happened at Christmas Time and at the December Board meeting it was decided that unless an alternate source of funding were quickly found, the New Media Project would have be suspended at the very least, which it is at this moment.

If you are reading this post today, you most likely can see the value of Bible Distribution in Chicago and around the world via these Bible apps.  The New Media Department was also in the process of developing additional online ministry programs.  Now its all in limbo at present and there is no guarantee of its being restored unless some support is provided by others who share the vision.

If you would like to make a donation, whether large or small today, you can play a vital part in helping this ministry continue.  You can even make a donation safely and securely by Credit Card  or e-check using 
PayPal.  by clicking on the Join/Donate tab near the top of our website  www.chicagobiblesociety.net

When you make your donation please make a note that it is for the New Media Outreach.  Thank you and God Bless you!  Allan Winters CBS New Media Director

2012 In Review

From Chicago Bible Society Executive Director, Ken Oliver

  2012 has been a year of challenges and successes. We have expanded our work in the jails through Project Philip and have begun two new programs: Urban Literacy and Journey to the Cross, a Lenten Bible Series.


    At the same time, we have been challenged by significant cut-backs at our partner, The American Bible Society, resulting in fewer Bibles being made available for special needs. We are also facing the Challenge of a difficult economy that has adversely impacted our donors.

Our Mission - Who we are

  The word "ecumenical" can be controversial; however, it is an old and important word in the history of Christianity. It means "The Whole Church."  The whole church is who we minister to and width. We provide Bibles and encourage the study and understanding of Scripture without promoting or endorsing anyu particular doctrinal point of view. For this reason we are able to work with all Christians who believe that the Bible is God's Word.

Our Work - What We Do - Provision

  Chicago Bible Society works to cross physical, economic or cultural barriers to bring the Bible into people's lives, through written or electronic means, in a manner that they can understand and interact with the Scriptures. Bible Provision programs target those wo do not have access to the Bible due to incarceration, poverty, or cultural barriers. They include our Bibles for Jails program.

Engagement

  Chicago Bible Society encourages people to read and interact with the Bible so that God's Word transforms their lives.  We partner with prison ministries, schools, churches and tutoring programs to make God real through the study of the Word.  Bible Engagement Programs target a broad range of people in our increasingly secular society who do not know the Scriptures.  We look forward to 2013 and the opportunities and challenges of the New Year with Faith.  

Urban Literacy Project Increases Reading Scores and Bible Knowledge

CBS Pilot Project Increases Reading Scores and Bible Knowledge

The Chicago Bible Society has partnered with By The Hand for Kids - a Faith Based non-profit tutoring program - to pilot the use of the American Bible Society Mission:Literacy reading curriculum in two high-poverty communities in Chicago.

The results of the pilot project are extremely favorable. The By The Hand Club for Kids is one of the largest and most successful after-school programs in Chicago. Currently working in three locations throughout the city, By The Hand Club focuses on Children who are at the highest risk of failure in areas with high poverty and underperforming schools. Nearly 900 children participate in their various programs. In an exclusive interview with By The Hand staff members, we were told that the State of Illinois regularly bases the future increases in incarceration of new offenders on low reading scores.  In other words the State look upon students with low reading scores as future inmates in the penal system.

This points out the value of this new project's purpose and Goals:

The mission of the Chicago Bible Society is to provide access to the Bible to all people by overcoming the barriers of poverty, education, health, culture or imprisonment and to encourage the reading and understanding of Scripture. This two-fold mission can be understood as Provision and Engagement.

Today's Children have been called the "Post-Sunday School" generation. Our increasingly secular culture has diminished the common knowledge of the Bible thus making the task of evangelism more difficult.

The children in the program also have the additional burdens of poverty and poor education that limit their access to the Bible.  Poor reading skills also affect quality of life and as noted earlier have a relationship to crime and incarceration later in life.  The Urban literacy project seeks to address all these needs.

In conclusion, the Goals of the Urban Literacy project are:
1.  To increases the basic reading skill of early primary school age children most at risk of poor literacy due to poverty.
2.  To increase knowledge of the Bible in age-appropriate format in a manner where both content is retained and the children engage with the Scripture.

The results of the pilot project  showed significant growth in new Biblical knowledge after using the curriculum in both locations. Reading scores of the students were positively affected by the curriculum.

According to CBS Executive Director Ken Oliver, the pilot project exceeded expectations. "The kids just loved the Bible story books. The illustrations are of such a high quality that they grab their attention"

With additional funding, The Chicago Bible Society can expand this new outreach in the metro area. You can make a donation today using a credit card or e-check using Paypal.  Of course checks and money orders are also welcome.  Just go to our website for more information on donating to CBS  www.chicagobiblesociety.net

You will note the join/donate tab near the top of our website home page.

Chicago Bible Society Releases New Video Honoring Emma Dryer

Emma Dryer was a 19th Century Christian Educator, Bible Teacher and Administrator.  Evangelist DL Moody once called her "The Best Bible Teacher in America"

Miss Dryer started the "Chicago Bible Work" in 1873 supervising young women who visited multiplied thousands of homes in Chicago, especially in the poorer areas.  For over 25 years they ministered to women and their families and distributed Bibles and Scripture portions.

Dryer was also very instrumental in the founding of The Chicago Evangelization Society (Now Moody Bible Institute)  Emma Dryers Bible Work was eventually incorporated into the Chicago Bible Society and Dryer was a member of the CBS Board of Directors for many years.

Her inspiring Life Story is now available in a nine minute online Video and DVD produced by the Sunlite Broadcasting Network for the Chicago Bible Society.  You can view it now by clicking on the Global Bible TV icon on the front page of the Chicago Bible Society Website.
Click here  Chicago Bible Society Website

CBS - A Truly Non Demoninational Outreach in Chicago

Since our founding, over 170 years ago, the Chicago Bible Society has worked with many Christian Denominations, Churches, and ministries  in the Chicagoland area.

Our website proclaims, "The Chicago Bible Society is a non-denominational outreach that works will all Christians, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestants to increase the reading and understanding of the Bible."

A Good Example of this is our Recent Lenten Bible Study Series held at Two Downtown Chicago Churches.  The Speaker's included Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, United Methodist Chicago Temple Pastor Phil Blackwell, pictured to the right of Cardinal George (CBS Executive Director Ken Oliver is on the left) Rev. Donald Senior, President of Catholic Theological University in Hyde Park, and Rev. Christine Chakoian, Pastor First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest.

The Series entitled "Journey to the Cross" was a special 4-part Bible Study series on meaningful events in Christ's life leading up to Good Friday and the Cross as portrayed in the four Gospels.

The well attended sessions were held at St. Peter's Church in the Loop (the first two sessions) and Chicago Temple United Methodist church on West Washington Street across from Daley Plaza. You can view all four presentations by clicking on this link http://vimeo.com/channels/globalbibletv