Gwydyr Rd, Crieff, UK, PH7 4BS

Dear Friends

By the time you read this, I hope you will also have received sheets of paper to write your part of the “Adventist Church of Scotland’s Bible”. Each of our churches and companies are assigned sections of the Bible and we hope that the act of writing out the Word will be an opportunity for us all to renew our commitment to being people of the book. Our aim is to complete the project in time for our Day of Fellowship on Sabbath 20th June.
Please read below an article by Pastor Mark Finley. Also, if you have access to the internet, take a look at the sites about this world-wide project [www.followthebiblesda.com/] which is the General Conference website, or [www.adventistinfo.org.uk/followthebible] which is the British Union site, but above all renew your daily commitment to reading and understanding the Word.

Llewellyn Edwards
Historically the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been known as “a people of the Book,” although the terminology “people of the Book” originally came from the Qur’an, referring to the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. “Do not dispute with the People of the Book: say, we believe in what has been sent down to us and what has been sent down to you; our God and your God is one” (Sura 29.45). The term “people of the book” was often used in reference to Adventists because, in the past, they studied their Bibles. For more than 150 years Seventh-day Adventist families have begun their day by reading the Bible and used its teaching for inspiration, guidance and source of encouragement for their daily living. Seventh-day Adventists promote the Bible as the voice of truth in this sinful world. Sadly, an alarming picture emerges today.
The findings of the Barna Research Study of June 2001 should concern us. In comparing seven religious practices of 12 major denominations, the Barna Study concluded that Seventh-day Adventists ranked number seven in the frequency of Bible reading, and only number twelve in prayer practices. The Barna study correlates with a survey (3,646 surveys returned) by the Institute of Church Ministry at the theological seminary at Andrews University reveals that only 51% of the Seventh-day Adventist administrators, pastors, and lay people who responded have any form of daily devotions and family worship. These studies indicate that Seventh-day Adventists in some places are no longer the “People of the Book.”
We are reminded by the pen of inspiration that “no other Book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the faculties, as the broad enabling truths of the Bible” (SC 90), and that “none but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict” (GC 593). Therefore, there is an urgent need for all leaders at all church levels to do something to increase the number of Adventists spending time each day studying their Bibles and witnessing for their Lord.
Follow the Bible is part of a coordinated initiative by church leadership to lift the vision of Seventh-day Adventists worldwide in renewing their commitment to read and share the Bible. Church leadership envisions an international Bible Route with a Bible travelling the world between GC annual council, October 2008 and GC session, June 2010. The eyes of the entire Adventist community will follow this Bible as it journeys the world. As it is brought into cities, towns, and villages, large numbers of Adventists will gather to recommit their lives to following the Bible. Millions of Adventists worldwide will participate in Bible reading marathons as the Bible passes through their areas. Church leaders will speak to large and small groups gathered to rededicate themselves to the word of God as the Bible is brought to their church or school. Thousands of evangelistic meetings will be planned to encourage seeking men and women to “Follow the Bible.”
Therefore, Follow the Bible will have the following objectives:
•    To create worldwide community awareness that Seventh-day Adventists are people who believe and follow the Bible as the Word of God.
•    To revive and encourage Seventh-day Adventist members around the world to return to the Bible, to accept its authority, and determine to follow the Bible in their daily life.
•    To involve Seventh-day Adventists around the world in personal study, small-group study, and sharing the message of the Bible to others in the community.
This will possibly be the most travelled Bible in the history of the world as it makes its journey, and momentum will build within the Adventist community. This Bible will be preached from and read in more languages than any other book in the history of mankind. All of the media ministries of the Church will cover the story. The public media will feature its journey. This initiative will surely restore the image of the Church, that Seventh-day Adventists really are people of the Book. We are truly people who follow the Bible.


Pastor Mark Finley [Vice President, General Conference of SDA]