February 28, 2010
Reported by Chen Wei-chien
Written by Lydia Ma

Churches have never stopped searching for new ways to get their members to read the Bible everyday and Taichung Presbytery's Hsin-Ping Church is no exception. The church recently began encouraging members to speed-read through the Bible in one year by dividing them into small groups and making Bible-reading a group contest so that members can encourage one another to persevere. It also offered meal vouchers as an incentive or prize so that members will be more motivated to read their Bibles.

Early in March, the church began promoting a Bible-reading program called "You read, I treat" by dividing members into groups of six and having them speed-read through the Bible in one year and record daily what they learned from Scripture. The program asks every individual to hand in a notebook filled with their personal reflections at the end of every quarter. If every member of a group accomplishes these tasks, the church gives the group a meal voucher as prize. However, if any member of a group fails to fulfill these tasks, the whole group fails to receive a prize.

According to the church's pastor, Rev. Tsai Shih-wei, reading through the entire Bible in one year is an enormous task and many people cannot do it. However, if this task becomes a game or a competition, it may create an opportunity for Christians to work together to reach this goal as they can encourage one another to persevere.

However, Tsai is quick to emphasize that speed-reading through the Bible cannot replace daily devotionals and both must be practiced daily. Knowing how challenging this can be, he usually gives little reminders or sermonettes every week to help his flock read and understand the Bible. He hopes that at least five groups can reach their goals this year.

Taiwan Church News