Wycliffe Bible Translators, based in the UK is calling on churches across the world to participate in "No Bible Sunday". The initiative challenges Christians to apply the Holy Scripture in every aspect of their lives and to spread God's life-giving word to all people in the world while realising the preciousness of the Bible. In the UK, the official date will be 22nd May.

On the "No Bible Sunday" website, some downloadable free resources are offered for churches who want to organise a "No Bible Sunday" service to give them some ideas to emphasise the importance of the Bible.

All Bibles will be taken away from the congregations as they come in for service. The churches are advised to have the Bible reading in a foreign language so that the congregation can understand the difficulties of those who cannot read the Bible in their native language because the translation is not completed.

Many other activities are recommended, such as prohibiting any hymns with bible verses, replacing the sermon with inspiring stories about how the word of God has moved lives, and prayers to offer for all those who are without a Bible.

In Canada, "No Bible Sunday" is observed as part of the mission event called Celebration 2005 organised by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. In the US, there is no official date but there will be a number of promotions for the website throughout the year. Wycliffe Norway is translating resources for promoting the event in 2006, but a number of churches will start this year. Kenya, South Africa and Australia are expected to take part as well.

Last year, churches around the world marked "No Bible Sunday" on 16th May. No Bible Sunday is being sponsored by Wycliffe Bible Translators, the world's leading Bible translation organisation.

"We hope that No Bible Sunday will help the Christians in the UK appreciate and value the feast of resources God has provided us with from his word. Many people groups only have crumbs," explains Geoff Knott, Executive Director of Wycliffe UK. "We are doing this because we love the Bible too!"

"No Bible Sunday is to remind us in the church - no Bible, no life!" Mark Brown from Granshaw Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland said.

Please visit the No Bible Sunday website for further details.