Is WordLive an answer to your prayers?

Results of a recent survey on Bible use suggest that WordLive, an innovation from Scripture Union, may have come at the right time.

In the study, commissioned by Bible Society, many Christians said that, due to their lack of free time and sometimes lack of commitment, they don’t dig as deeply into the Bible as they would like. Yet it was also discovered that Christians are prepared to use a wide range of resources to help engage with the Bible more as long as they can be used around their busy schedules and on their own terms. The problem is that although one in five respondents already use online resources to help engage with the Bible, with their ease of use given time constraints,  some are put off looking online by the riskiness of the quality of what can be found on the internet.

Scripture Union, one of the partners in the research, has found a solution to these problems with WordLive, which allows people to read the Bible, reflect, meditate, explore and pray using their PCs, laptops, iPods or mobile phones.

WordLive has attracted around 2500 subscribers since its launch on New Year’s Day 2008 and, from the comments on various weblogs, can be considered a useful resource for Christians. One blog says; ‘It contains many great options to help you engage with the Bible on a daily basis.’ ‘WordLive may be the answer to a lot of people’s prayers’ said another.

This free multi-media Bible reading experience has allowed users to access the resource in their own time and in their own way, either through the internet, a podcast, a daily e-mail, a RSS feed or even through their mobile phones and PDAs. As Scripture Union’s Chief Executive Keith Civval said on the launch; ‘The beauty of WordLive is the freedom to use a whole range of different approaches to the Bible, however, whenever and wherever you want to use them.’

James Burden, Head of Publishing Operations at Scripture Union, has said; ‘Scripture Union can be considered a sign of quality for those looking for Bible reading resources on the web. We have been producing daily Bible notes since 1879 and with all that wealth of experience behind us, people know they are going to a trusted source.’

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NOTES TO EDITORS

1) For more information please contact Scripture Union’s media officer: Christina Farley on 01908 856143 or 01908 856161.  Email: media@scriptureunion.org.uk

2) Scripture Union is an international mission movement working with churches in more than 140 countries to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to children, young people and families, and to encourage them to develop spiritually through the Bible and prayer.

3) WordLive can be found at www.wordlive.org.uk

4) The survey, carried out by ComRes on behalf of Bible Society in partnership with Scripture Union, the Evangelical Alliance, United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) and the Scottish Bible Society, was titled Taking The Pulse; Is the Bible alive and well in the Church today? and was answered by more than 3,500 churchgoers and church leaders. As well as the main survey, five focus groups were also interviewed.

5)  For full details and results of the survey contact Bible Society on 01793 418100