Thousands of modern-day scribes lend a hand in Methodist Bible transcription project

London, July 5 (ENInews)--In a process hearkening back to the
pre-Gutenberg era, when monks laboriously copied sacred texts by hand, more than
30,000
people throughout the United Kingdom recently participated in a
handwritten transcription of the Bible. The completed project was presented at the
annual Methodist Conference in Southport, England, set to conclude 7 July.

Delegates voted at last year's conference to undertake the project, the
first of its kind in Methodist history, to mark the 400th anniversary of the
King James Bible. According to a news release, guidelines were drawn up for
the 31 Methodist districts, "enabling them to organize the project as
creatively as possible in their regions." Public writing centers called
scriptoriums were set up by volunteers in various places, including prisons,
schools, libraries, airports, and shopping centers. 

One scriptorium, located outside London's Westminster Central Hall,
attracted so many people that participants were limited to writing one word per
verse of the New Revised Standard Version, the Bible chosen for the
initiative. Contributions were made in several languages, including English,
Chinese, and Welsh, as well as in Braille.