Interview with @drbexl from #BigRead12
The Big Read started off as an initiative in the North East of England in 2009 as Christians from all denominations started reading the gospel of Luke together in local groups. This grew over the last few years and the project is just gearing up to launch #BigRead12 – this year, reading through the gospel of Mark. Today, I am pleased to feature an interview with @drbexl who spends some of her time working on the Big Read.
Tell me about the origins of The Big Bible Project and how you have got to where we are today?
In 2010, in North-East England, The Big Read emerged as an ecumenical initiative, which brought together Christians from across various churches to study Lent for Everyone: Luke – a book written by the former Bishop of Durham, N.T. Wright. Rev Dr. Pete Phillips, Director of the Centre for Biblical Literacy and Communication, a part of CODEC (Christian Communication in a Digital Age): a research initiative based at St John’s College in Durham exploring the interfaces between the Bible, the digital environment and contemporary culture.
In July 2009, Bex and Pete got talking – on Twitter, before/during/after #digisymp, an event held at the College. As Pete watched The Big Read – and Biblefresh – emerge, he saw the potential for there to be a national event, and contacted me to see if I’d be interested. In July 2010 I came on board with a brief to “do something digital with Lent for Everyone: Matthew.”