An international network of bloggers is now contributing to a 90-day blog tour for the new bestselling Common English Bible (http://CommonEnglishBible.com) translation. The “Common English Bible Change Your Heart and Life” tour extends from February through May, honoring the Christian observances of Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, the Ascension of Jesus, and Pentecost. Complete schedule and joining information is available at http://CommonEnglishBible.com/CEB/blogtour. You can also sign up using this form (https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=W8R37r%2AYUbcgX02O3qCg1Q).
In addition to the blog tour (Twitter #CEBtour), the Common English Bible National Public Reading Marathon is being synchronized for Holy Week (April 1-7) and Easter Sunday (April 8), conducted by churches, seminaries and colleges, and other organizations and streamed online. Readings will be scripture verses for the season selected from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year B). Information about groups hosting the reading marathon is available at http://CommonEnglishBible.com/CEB/blogtour or by contacting jpetersen@somersaultgroup.com.
Churches, bloggers, and others can also share Lenten Bible readings leading up to Easter in a free PowerPoint® presentation consisting of vivid color photography of nature scenes combined with scripture verses from the Common English Bible (Twitter @CommonEngBible – http://twitter.com/CommonEngBible).
The presentation (http://www.commonenglishbible.com/CEB/LentDownloads and http://slideshare.net/CommonEnglishBible) is comprised of nine Bible readings to observe Ash Wednesday, each Sunday of Lent, Good Friday, and Easter. It’s flexible enough to display only portions from it or all the slides, and to present them prior to or during church services, embed in blogs and other websites, or email to friends.
Along with embedding the slide presentation, bloggers can also embed a new 60-second video (http://vimeo.com/commonenglishbible and http://www.youtube.com/commonenglishbible), showing how the Common English Bible is an uncommon translation that clearly communicates in today’s terms God’s message of love to everyone, no matter what age, gender, station in life, or other personal outlook.
Beginning Feb. 22 (Ash Wednesday) and running through May 27 (Pentecost), the blog tour is an opportunity for bloggers to join together in writing posts around upcoming seasonal events using the Common English Bible, including commenting on verses from it, reviewing the Bible translation itself, interviewing the translators or associate publisher behind the translation, or discussing the translation with their readers.
Participating bloggers in the tour will receive a copy of the leather-like bound Thinline Bible DecoTone Tan/Brick Red edition, suggested themes, topics, and verses on which to write, an invitation to interview Bible scholars, and badges to place on their blogs indicating their involvement. Bloggers will have the opportunity to offer to their readers a free copy of the softcover edition: one copy per week for every week the bloggers write a blogpost that includes mention of the Common English Bible during the tour. The blogger with the most number of blogposts that reference the Common English Bible at the end of the tour will receive either a Kindle Fire or a Nook Tablet (their choice). Blogposts can be in the form of text, audio, video, and photo.
The Common English Bible text, including the Apocrypha, is available to search for free online at Bible Gateway (http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Common-English-Bible-CEB/), YouVersion.com, and the translation’s website.
The Common English Bible is a collaboration of 120 Bible scholars and editors, 77 reading group leaders, and more than 500 average readers from around the world. The translators – from 24 denominations in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities – represent such academic institutions as Asbury Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Bethel Seminary, Denver Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Seattle Pacific University, Wheaton College, Yale University, and many others.
The Common English Bible is written in contemporary idiom at the same reading level as the newspaper USA TODAY—using language that’s comfortable and accessible for today’s English readers. More than half-a-million copies of the Bible are already in print, including an edition with the Apocrypha. The Common English Bible is available for purchase online and in 20 digital formats. A Reference Bible edition and a Daily Companion devotional edition are now also available. Additionally, in the coming year, Church/Pew Bibles, Gift and Award Bibles, Large Print Bibles, and Children’s Bible editions will be in stores, joining the existing Thinline Bibles, Compact Thin Bibles, and Pocket-Size Bibles, bringing the total variety of Common English Bible stock-keeping units (SKUs) to more than 40.
Visit CommonEnglishBible.com to see comparison translations, learn about the translators, get free downloads, and more.
The Common English Bible is sponsored by the Common English Bible Committee, an alliance of five publishers that serve the general market, as well as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (Chalice Press), Presbyterian Church (USA) (Westminster John Knox Press), Episcopal Church (Church Publishing, Inc.), United Church of Christ (The Pilgrim Press), and The United Methodist Church (Abingdon Press).
For a media review copy of the Common English Bible and to schedule an interview with Paul Franklyn, please contact Audra Jennings, ajennings@tbbmedia.com at 1.800.927.1517.