National Bible Week Set For November 21-28

NEW YORK CITY — Encouraging everyone to read the all-time best seller – the Bible – is the focus of the 59th annual celebration of National Bible Week, November 21 through 28.

“The Bible has had an undeniable influence on our culture’s art, music, literature, laws, and even our sense of charity. For that reason alone people should want to be familiar with this book,” says Stewart Furlong, chairman of the sponsoring organization, the National Bible Association.

William E. Simon, former US secretary of the treasury, is chairing National Bible Week this year.

An interfaith observance, National Bible Week enjoys the cooperation of civic and fraternal groups and public libraries, as well as religious organizations. The sponsoring organization is solely composed of lay leaders from the business and private sectors, and has no official ties to any religious or faith community.

Remaining non-partisan, leaders from various levels of government have participated in National Bible Week since its beginning in 1941 when President Roosevelt endorsed the event. This year Senator Joe Lieberman (Dem) of Connecticut and Representative Lamar Smith (Rep) of San Antonio, Tex., are serving as congressional co-chairs and will enter statements in the Congressional Record encouraging Bible reading. Governor Don Sundquist (Rep) of Tennessee and Mayor Edward Rendell (Dem) of Philadelphia are asking their colleagues to join them by issuing Bible Week proclamations.

National Bible Week is observed in US Armed Forces bases around the world. This year Chaplain, Major Alfred W. Bridgeman at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, will receive the Witherspoon Chaplain’s Award. Local events, including Bible-reading marathons and biblical storytelling, call the attention of individuals to the importance of Bible reading.

The first National Bible Week was organized by business and community leaders 59 years ago to offer the nation a source of comfort and hope in the dark days when Europe was engulfed in World War II. As it turned out, the nationwide radio broadcast that launched that first National Bible Week was aired on the evening of December 7, 1941, as the American people grappled with the breaking news and consequent fears generated by the events earlier that day in Pearl Harbor.

For further information about observing National Bible Week in your community, contact the National Bible Association, 1865 Broadway, New York, NY 10023, or visit the Web site at www.nationalbible.org.