Do you want a Bible with your Newspaper?Follow

Recently a local Christian group here gained a little publicity with the idea to have bibles home delivered with the local newspaper.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08132/880909-52.stm

Story:
Plan to hand out 250,000 Bibles
Sunday, May 11, 2008
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tears spring to Suzonne Smith's eyes when she talks about her effort to distribute Pittsburgh-themed New Testaments to Allegheny County residents.
"It's our hope that God's word will transform and change lives and the whole city will be impacted," said the Sewickley resident, who with her husband, Tom, is co-chair of CityReachers Pittsburgh.
If all goes according to plan, on Sept. 7 when Allegheny County subscribers to the Post-Gazette unwrap their Sunday paper, they will find a New Testament in an advertising pouch like those used for sample soaps or cereals.
The New International Version translation will have a front cover showing the Golden Triangle, a back cover photograph of Steelers kneeling in prayer and will include testimonies of well-known Pittsburghers. The goal is to reach 250,000 subscribers in Allegheny County and some border communities. If they raise enough money, they would like to add deliveries to 150,000 non-subscribers.
Mrs. Smith knows that many recipients already own Bibles, but believes the books are often unread because they look old, dark and forbidding. The "Our City, God's Word" New Testament is designed to intrigue people enough to open it and read. It's intended as much for lapsed or lackadaisical Christians as for non-Christians.
"So many Christians don't know God's word. We can't hear his voice if we're not reading his love letters to us," she said.
Pittsburgh will be the sixth city for CityReachers, a program of the International Bible Society based in Colorado Springs. After a pilot project there in 2004, the Bible society hired the Barna Research Group to measure its impact.
Based on the Barna findings, Pittsburgh organizers project that a distribution of 400,000 here would result in 36,400 people reading the Bible more often or for the first time; 19,809 making a commitment or recommitment to the Christian faith; 11.207 attending church more often; and 4,385 attending for the first time.
The Rev. Donald Dawson, director of the World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, believes those are reasonable projections.
"It should make a difference to a significant percentage of people," he said. "Every time God's word is shared, there is gain for the kingdom."
Last month, Philadelphia had an initial distribution of 140,000 New Testaments in Philadelphia and Chester counties. There are plans to distribute another 260,000 in Montgomery, Bucks and Delaware counties in November. Although it was initiated by Protestants, the Catholic archdiocese joined in the effort, as has the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
"The response has been 100 percent positive," said Kevin Mulligan, associate director for communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Organizers say it costs $2.50 for each New Testament delivered -- $2 for the book itself and 50 cents for delivery. So far they have raised $350,000, including large gifts from the Thomas J. and Sandra Usher Foundation and the Wiegand Morning Star Foundation, as well as $16,000 from a radiothon on WORD-FM. But they are well shy of the $625,000 needed for a distribution of 250,000 households. The deadline for fund raising to print the New Testaments is May 31.
Tom Smith would like to print enough to do additional distributions through colleges and hotels.
"You leave the Gideon Bible in the drawer but you can take this with you," he said......
CityReachers has used newspapers for delivery in part because it's less expensive than mailing, but also because it's seen as away to pique the interest of people who like to read.
"It's a very effective way of reaching people you wouldn't necessarily reach in a door-to-door campaign," said Mark Rader, director for CityReachers at the International Bible Society.
He acknowledged that some recipients won't want to read it no matter what's on the cover. He asks that those people not throw out the New Testament.
"We would hope that they would give it to somebody that they think might be interested or pass it to their nearest local church," he said.
To design the Pittsburgh New Testament, Mr. Rader consulted extensively with local organizers to determine what would make the book most interesting. It includes innovations not done in other cities, such as larger type for older eyes and a "spiritual history" of Pittsburgh that reviews the Christian renewal movement.
The steering committee includes high-profile local religious figures, including the Rev. Rock Dillaman, of Allegheny Center Alliance Church; John Stahl-Wert, of the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation; Bishop Robert Duncan, of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh; the Rev. Doug Portz, acting interim pastor of Pittsburgh Presbytery; Bishop Joseph Garlington, of Covenant Church of Pittsburgh in Wilkinsburg; and Bishop David Zubik, of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Due to the high Catholic demographic in Pittsburgh, organizers considered Catholic participation crucial and approached Bishop Zubik even before his formal installation in September.
He responded that it was perfect timing because the distribution comes just before Catholic bishops from around the world will meet in Rome to discuss ways to encourage Catholics to study the Bible.
For more information see www.cityreacherspittsburgh

This has led to a lively debate on both sides of the issue starting with 2 letters to the editor.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08147/884840-110.stm

Content of link:
No Bibles, please

A recent article stated that a "Christian" organization is attempting to raise money to have Bibles home-delivered with the Post-Gazette ("Plan To Hand Out 250,000 Bibles," May 11). We find this arrogant, offensive and unacceptable. A shampoo sample is one thing. A Bible is something else, and a newspaper should understand the difference. If we want a Bible, we'll purchase one. If one arrives with our newspaper, we will cancel our subscription.

REGIS R. BURDELSKY and PATRICIA A. O'MALLEY
Brentwood

Save more souls

What I find troublesome is the failure of some people to fully understand the positive effect that distributing Bibles via your newspaper would have. So what if it angers some or annoys others. The most important concern should be the "lost" and not who might be offended by this or how the money is being spent. The cost of even one saved soul is priceless.

CHARLES UTTS
Harrison City

My letter was published today.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08151/885960-110.stm

Content:


An arrogant delivery

I urge the Post-Gazette not to be part of the proselytizing actions of Christians who want to distribute the New Testament to all your subscribers ("Plan to Hand Out 250,000 Bibles," May 11).
What arrogance on the part of people who think they are the best and only ones with true beliefs! Are you planning on having your carriers distribute the Quran the next month and the Old Testament the month after and on and on?
I subscribe to the PG for the news; I take the advertising in stride, because it covers much of the cost of running a paper, though an awful lot of trees are sacrificed for advertising. The religious institutions can advertise like everybody else. Don't burden the carriers with Bibles.

EDITH BELL
Highland Park


We don't want it

I am amazed by the arrogance of Charles Utts in his May 26 letter ("Save More Souls"). He states, "So what if it angers some or annoys others" in reference to Bibles being home-delivered by the Post-Gazette. There are a multitude of faiths represented in Western Pennsylvania and not all of them want to receive someone else's holy book.
The money would be better spent on setting up a Web site where those of the same faith could request a free copy of the Bible. My wife and I will cancel our subscription if any Bibles are delivered to our home.

C. MATTHEW ROSLECK
Crafton



Do you think that local newspapers should be delivering assorted holy books with shampoo samples?

The Newspaper, as a private business, has a right to distribute them I suppose. As one letter mentioned, your morning paper might include a shampoo sample, why not a scripture sample?

If the paper is doing it charitably, I would hope that would be disclosed to the subscribers.

What would bother me most is the waste of resources to carry out the spam campaign. Try that stunt in these parts, many of the bibles would probably end up in the out-house, and not for reading material.

The Newspaper, as a private business, has a right to distribute them I suppose.

This is exactly right. Those offended enough can cancel subscriptions. Those who think it's great idea can sign up for subscriptions. Either way, from a PR angle, it's genius. I'd never heard of this paper before today, now I have.

I remember reading this. This is a waste, just like all those yellow and white page books that hardly anyone uses.

Mail order catalogue from Thailand?

No, I meant catalogUE.

Lazy 'mericans.

There was a group hanging copies of the Koran off of doors out here in the 'burbs a few weeks ago. What I found most amusing is that they started in Wheaton, IL which is like the Bible Belt of Chicago suburbia.

I'm always surprised at the outrage. I am not outraged by other faiths that do door to door stuff, they are trying to sincerely share their faith (ideally :P) This is the same thing, how is sharing what you believe, without any forced interaction a problem. Oh well, if people get that worked up it's probably indicative that the bible distributing people are doing something right.

Other type, per the news story. Just some Muslims For A Happy Accepting America style group thinking that if people owned and could thumb through a copy of the book, it might not be such a boogeyman.

Huh, never heard that. It does make sense, though, if you accept the premise that any text is sacred.

So if that soldier had used an English translation of the Koran as target practice, everything would have been peachy?


As to the topic? I don't see why anyone would be offended. The paper presumably isn't paying to do this. It's being used as the distributing agent. I'd personally much rather see a bible or a koran appear in a pouch with my paper then a sample of shampoo or whatever other silly product they might have. At the end of the day, if some organization is willing to pay the paper to put their product in there, then it's ok.

You'd have to be pretty uptight and silly to cancel a subscription over this IMO...

Beats me. I'm not a Muslim. The rules for a paper drawing of the American flag aren't the same as the rules for an actual cloth American flag but if someone printed up a roll of American flag toilet paper, I'm guessing people would still be offended.

From my point of view it's a profligate waste of resources. I'm sure that there's many people out there like me who have no interest, and would just toss it. Unless it stayed as unwelcome clutter. I have my acid-free NRSV Bible from when I studied it at university, along with the Odyssey, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita.

Even a very small print, abridged version of the bible would chew through a lot of trees if it's sent out to an entire news-paper subscriber base. I dislike unsolicited advertising, but I can't begin to count how many paper advertisement flyers would equal a whole bible.

I can see, how from the inside, someone who believes in Heaven and Hell in the literal sense would desperately want to save a single soul at any cost. But from the outside, the literal, real waste is angering, especially when you think the people responsible for it are suffering from a delusion.