Once again, we have the privilege of offering a live five-day workshop about Scripture Engagement, teaching some principles and working together on real life issues you may face in your church or project.
Most churches don’t talk about ‘Scripture Engagement’ – they talk about reading the Bible, and about discipleship, or evangelism. Years ago, many Bible translators assumed that translating the Bible would lead to people using it.
When people don’t have the Bible in their language, it may seem obvious that translation and publication will help. Lack of understanding is clearly a huge barrier, but translation and distribution alone are not enough. Experience over many years in translations in many hundreds of languages has shown that there is a lot to think about.
Specialists in Scripture Engagement help church leaders and missionaries explore some of the different things that help or hinder people in their use of the Bible
What is Scripture engagement? It is about people’s lives being transformed as they engage with God through His Word. Sometimes this happens for a whole community, not just a few individuals.
Are you new to Scripture engagement (SE)? Or would you like to hone your SE skills and knowledge? In the pre-EMDC SE track we aim to teach you the Eight Conditions for SE. In case you have not heard of them, they are:
- Condition 1. Appropriate Language, Dialect and Orthography
- Condition 2. Appropriate Translation
- Condition 3. Accessible Forms of Scripture
- Condition 4. Background Knowledge of the Hearer
- Condition 5. Availability
- Condition 6. Spiritual Hunger of Community Members
- Condition 7. Freedom to Commit to Christian Faith
- Condition 8. Partnership Between Translators and Other Stakeholders
We use interactive teaching methods, involving much group work. This is an introductory course. Therefore, we cover a lot of topics, including trauma healing, faith and farming, digital engagement (including the use of social media), and local arts. We usually ask each group to choose one project to discuss as a case study. There will be an opportunity at the end for each group to present the results of their discussions. If you would like any other information, please write to David Gray.
So, come along and share what you know about SE, or come along and learn more about it. We look forward to meeting you!
David Gray, Peter Brassington and Tim Hatcher