ABS president Lamar Vest (right) and Whitney Kuniholm, president of Scripture Union.

Leaders from American Bible Society (ABS) and Scripture Union/USA recently gathered in New York City to charter a three-year alliance agreement, joining resources in the fight against ever-declining Bible comprehension and engagement.

The alliance will bring both organizations together to foster a national Scripture campaign, an initiative that will help local churches and denominations connect the Bible to today’s challenges and struggles.

Immediate Need

“The importance of the Bible in America is really too big to fail,” said R. Lamar Vest, president and CEO of American Bible Society. “We are thrilled to join together with Scripture Union to develop and deploy resources that churches in America need to help people explore and experience the best-selling, most-translated book of all time.”

“It's about helping people get the whole, integrated story of Scripture,” said Chris Thyberg, managing director of emerging programs at Global Scripture Ministries, a unit within ABS. Thyberg explained that the campaign will help pastors, military chaplains and church leaders teach overarching biblical concepts.

A Lasting Partnership

The American Bible Society and Scripture Union alliance builds on decades of collaboration. In the fall of 2004, the two organizations conducted a research initiative about non‐Bible readers in the United States.

Continuing the partnership, Scripture Union and American Bible Society began an 18‐month pilot project in February 2007 to test a new Bible readership program called “The Essential 100 Challenge” (E100). To date, more than 110,000 individuals and churches have engaged in this program. Based on the success of this program, new E100 resources have been deployed to help take this resource to America’s military and veterans.

“Scripture Union is pleased to deepen our mission partnership with American Bible Society,” said Whitney T. Kuniholm, president of Scripture Union/USA. “This agreement marks an important commitment for our two organizations to jointly pursue the critical vision of Bible reading revival. - one person, one church and one community at a time.”

Through the national Scripture campaign, ABS and Scripture Union/USA will directly address the problem of declining Scripture engagement by helping people understand biblical themes and messages. Ultimately, the program will empower people to interact with Scripture and personally experience the life-changing message of the Bible.