YEAR OF THE BIBLE: 1999 TARGETED BY AMERICAN BIBLE SOCITY TO INCREASE SCRIPTURE READING

Have you read the Bible lately?

Surveys show that nearly 90 percent of Americans own a Bible, but less than half of them actually read it.

The American Bible Society thinks more people should be reading the Scriptures, so they have named 1999 the Year of the Bible.

The organization, whose purpose is to make sure that every person has a Bible in their language at a price they can afford, also sponsors National Bible Sunday.

This year's observance, "Awakening Hearts of Faith," will be marked Sunday by churches around the country as their members pay tribute to the Scripture. It is held annually on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

National Bible Sunday is the kick-off event for National Bible Week, which is sponsored by the National Bible Society.

The focus of National Bible Week will be to provide Bibles to inner cities in the United States and to citizens of Cuba and China, where spiritual questions are growing.

Locally, Gospeland Bookstore at West Park Mall is participating in a ministry that provides Bibles to prisoners.

Beginning Sunday, the "Bibles for Prisoners" program takes effect. Customers who donate an unused or old Bible to the store will receive a $5 coupon good for purchasing a new Bible.

The donated Bibles will be distributed to chaplains so that they can use them in jail and prison ministries. This is the fourth year for the project.

Programs like the Year of the Bible and Bibles for Prisoners allow churches in a community to help spread the word of God.

It's a "great way to reacquaint our contemporary culture with the Bible," said the Rev. Ronald W. Mixer, manager of the Year of the Bible program for the National Bible Society.

The program is supported by several denominations of churches, including Lutheran, Church of God and agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Year of the Bible allows churches to "take the Bible into their communities and demonstrate the desire of the church world to make a positive statement to the rest of our society about the love that God gives," Mixer said.

For more information or to participate in the program, contact Mixer at (888) 3-Bible-5.