A Labor of Love and Faith

In the beginning was an audacious, yet profoundly simple idea: What if we were to hand-copy the entire Bible in a collaborative effort?

On a late Saturday night in 2020, a few weeks after the world stood still, I was still trying to find a word to preach for Palm Sunday, when a story in my inbox piqued my interest:  A colleague from my native Switzerland, Rev. Uwe Habenicht, had launched this project to copy the complete Bible by hand, as a community effort by members of his community. 

I was immediately intrigued. The idea seemed crazy — and yet so simple. And therefore exactly what was needed.

See: the COVID-19 pandemic catapulted faith communities into the digital world. As it turned out: our modern technologies proved to be extraordinary tools to stay connected. Over night, ordinary faith leaders became “televangelists” — often against their inclination and despite their lack of training. And the adaptive work we saw at play was nothing short of impressive! 

And yet, we also knew that digital-only ministry wasn’t for everyone. This is why this project so deeply resonated with me:

Writing by hand is analog, tactile, simple. An old school technology that requires nothing more than pen and paper. At the same time, it is also an ancient spiritual practice: People have copied holy texts for centuries. In monasteries, scribes spent many cold winter months in the scriptorium, lettering the text, illuminating it with illustrations, and sometimes adding peculiar comments in the margins. And those who had experience copying sacred texts kept pointing to a centering effect that transcended time and place. 

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So today, after four year, I am happy to announce Update we’ve all been waiting for:

The Nebraska Corona Bible is complete!

Our very own adaptation of this endeavor of hand copying all 1’189 chapters of the Christian Scriptures was made possible by the hands of at least 483 individuals from all across Nebraska or with some kind of connection to the Cornhusker state.

Believers of all stripes. Folks who don’t call a particular faith their own. Some as young as 9 year old. Some in their nineties. Some who have since passed on.

Come have a look!

Over the next couple weeks we invite you to come have a look at a printed version at the church:

Where and When:

Eastridge Presbyterian Church
1135 Eastridge Drive
Lincoln, NE 68502 

During office hours: M-F 8:30 AM – 4 PM
Following Sunday worship 9:30 AM

You will find simple handwriting next to calligraphy and true works of art. And yes, if you search for them, you will find typos, duplicates, or skipped lines, too. It is not a work of perfection, but a labor of love. Something beautiful we have done together.

1. Whether just the book that you had been working on,
2. any or all of the five spiral bound volumes,
3. or a digital copy of all 66 books on a USB flash drive.

Please download and print out the order form below and return it to us:: 

Eastridge Presbyterian Church
1135 Eastridge Drive
Lincoln NE 68510

office@eastridge.org