Bob Fryling and Jan Stump Join Our Board of Directors

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As we begin our fifth year of ministry, we are thrilled to welcome Jan Mortenson Stump and Bob Fryling to our Board of Directors. Jan and Bob are our first outside directors, joining our four co-founders in discerning God’s direction for the Institute. We’re so excited to have their voices at the table and expect that their experience in nonprofit ministry leadership will be a huge asset as we work to help more people become immersed in the Bible.

Jan Mortenson Stump

With thirty-three years of fund development experience, Jan understands the crucial role of mission-driven advancement to build vibrant and sustainable non-profit organizations. Currently, she serves as Executive Director of Global Resources at TEAM, a global mission organization. For most of her advancement experience has been in resourcing the Christian schooling movement through a variety of roles at The Association of Christian Schools International. Most recently, she served as the Executive Director of the ACSI Education Foundation, leading the effort to creatively resource the Christian schooling movement through thought leadership, innovation, resource development and advocacy.

Jan holds an MA in Literature from the University of Alaska and has been a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) since 2001. She and her husband, Don, live in Colorado Springs, CO, and have three sons and five grandchildren.

“It’s a privilege to join IFBR’s board because scripture has had a profoundly formative impact on my life. Most often, the Holy Spirit uses scripture to remind me who I am and empower me for what he calls me to do. I long for Christians to dwell in God’s word in ways that inform and transform their daily lives.”

Bob Fryling

Robert (Bob) Fryling was National Director of Campus Ministries with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for fourteen years and then Publisher of InterVarsity Press for nineteen years. He is the author of the book, The Leadership Ellipse: Shaping How You Lead by Who You Are.

Bob has a BS in Materials Science from Drexel University and a MA in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton Graduate School. Bob and his wife Alice have been married for forty-nine years and have two daughters and four grandchildren. They live in Monument, Colorado.

“I am glad to be on the board of IFBR because I believe deeply in its mission of increasing and strengthening the role of meaningful Bible reading in the church today.”

Upcoming Free Event: How the Story of the Bible Works

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We hear a lot about the Bible being a story. But how does that story actually work? How does Genesis work together with Exodus, the Psalms, the Gospels, Paul’s letters, and the other books of the Bible to tell the story of God’s redemption in the world? And how is it a story that’s relevant to us today?

Join us at this free event March 30-31 in Colorado Springs, CO. Our Senior Director of Content, Glenn Paauw, will be presenting.

Don’t live in Colorado? No problem. The talks will be recorded and sent out to everybody who registers.

Click here to learn more and register >>

The event is sponsored by With All Your Mind, a series of events designed to engage the mind on Christian topics.

Video Story: Immerse at Calvin Christian High School

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We created Immerse for churches, but it’s finding its way into other contexts as well. Students at Calvin Christian High School in Grand Rapids, MI used Immerse: Messiah for their New Testament Survey class and experienced the Bible in its fullness like never before.

Christian education is an emerging area of interest for us at the Institute for Bible Reading. How do we introduce kids and teens to the Bible in ways that stick with them, that form their faith, that show them the Bible’s story and help them find their place in it? The experience at Calvin Christian with Immerse shows that, given the opportunity and the right tools, teens are excited and eager to dive into the Bible.

Immerse at Calvin Christian High School

Immerse is one great resource for this space and we think it’s just the beginning. We want to do the deeper work of understanding how we can start kids on the right path from elementary school through college, helping them grow into Christ followers who love the Bible and know how to read it well.

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P.S. A few weeks after the students finished reading through Immerse: Messiah, their teacher called us to share what one of his students had told him that day. “I’m sad we’re finished,” she said, “The same way you’re sad after finishing a really good book. You miss it.”

When have you ever heard a teen talk that way about the Bible?

Free Webinar: Boost Discipleship Through Group Bible Reading

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Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest.

Join us on May 24th for a free webinar with our friends from Discipleship·org. We’ll be discussing how shifting from the traditional Bible Study model into an unmediated “book club” group reading experience can kickstart discipleship as communities immerse themselves in the Bible together.

Click here to register

From the Discipleship.org website:

“Today​,​ Bible reading has largely become a solo sport. When groups interact with the Bible, it’s usually mediated by a Bible study guide or commentary. Glenn Paauw and Paul Caminiti from the Institute for Bible Reading and creators of Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience join Discipleship·org’s Bobby Harrington to discuss the value of “reading big” in community. Pastors report this simplified approach as being one of the most transformational disciple-making tools their church has ever used.”

 

April 2018 Ministry Update

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Since our inception two years ago, we have been working hard to pioneer a movement that fundamentally changes how people read and experience the Bible. We’re happy to report that momentum is building as more people adopt this new way of reading the Scriptures and immerse themselves in God’s life-transforming story.

Below is a report we’ve put together to update you on our progress as well as the opportunities in front of us. You can scroll through it right on this page, or click the Pop-Out button in the top-right corner to view in full screen.

PS: If it’s having trouble displaying the 2nd page, refresh your browser and that should fix it :)