2009 sees the Scottish Bible Society’s 200th anniversary and the historic organisation is seizing the opportunity to spread God’s Word to even more people.

The society is planning events and projects to run throughout the year to help people engage with the Bible in new ways, according to the latest edition of the Church of Scotland’s Life and Work magazine.

SBS also plans to give out free gifts via Scotland’s daily newspapers to reflect a different aspect of the Bible.

2009 also marks the Scottish Government initiative ‘Year of Homecoming’, celebrating the achievement of Scots around the world.

To coincide with the scheme, SBS has produced a leaflet on the lost son for churches to use in outreach to non-churchgoers. The leaflet encourages people “to think about coming home to God”.

SBS was founded 200 years ago when a group of men gathered in Edinburgh’s City Chambers to form a society to “promote the wider circle of Holy Scriptures without note or comment”.

The organisation is credited with helping to establish God’s Word in Nigeria, China, Malawi, Japan and Korea among other countries around the world.