Museum of the Bible Initiatives

The Society of Bible Craftsmanship (SOBC) celebrates beauty, creativity, and innovation in the field of Bible publishing. The society’s mission is to nurture and highlight excellence in the industry, and to help the general reader discover and appreciate all that goes into the finest examples of Bible craftsmanship—in all languages, in all media. 

Through the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, Museum of the Bible hopes to promote the flourishing of contemporary Bible publishing and reading. 

illumiNations is an umbrella organization that brings together some of the world’s largest Bible translation organizations to make the Bible accessible to all people by 2033. There are around 7,000 languages in the world today, but approximately half, or 3,654, have little or no access to the Bible in their native tongue. With translation projects around the world, illumiNations is working to change that reality and eradicate Bible poverty for good. 

Since 2021, Museum of the Bible has been a sponsor of the archaeological excavations at el-Araj—the likely site of Bethsaida, home of the apostles Andrew, Peter, and Philip, and a major place in Jesus’s ministry. The excavation operates under the direction of Professor Mordechai Aviam of the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology at Kinneret College, Israel, and Professor R. Steven Notley of Nyack College, New York City. 

Blessing of the Elders was an initiative of Museum of the Bible to honor the rich history of the Black church in America by telling the inspiring and faith-filled story of the remarkable impact it has had on our spiritual life and culture. Most importantly, we desired to give honor where honor is overdue. The vision statement of the steering committee — composed of African American pastors and leaders — for this initiative was: “We seek to honor Black pastors across the United States who have been committed to their call of preaching the gospel and caring for the souls of humankind. We acknowledge and appreciate their exceptional contribution as vitally important to the development of America’s biblical values.”

On June 23, Blessing of the Elders recognized seven outstanding pastors whose impact and ministry have been remarkable. They are examples to all and an inspiration to the generations to come. They have been faithful to the preaching of the Bible and ministering to the souls in their care. By awarding these accomplished leaders, we upheld and enshrined their spiritual legacy as they passed the baton to the next generation of preachers, teachers, and pastors. The honorees were: Pastor A. R. Bernard, Bishop Charles E. Blake, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Dr. Tony Evans, Bishop T. D. Jakes, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, and Dr. John M. Perkins. To learn more about this initiative, the steering committee, and the June 23 event, please click the button below.

In 2020, Museum of the Bible was approached by Reverend Dr. Robert Turner of the Vernon A.M.E. Church and First Lady Sarah Stitt about restoring and conserving an old ledger they had recently found. The ledger is called the "Book of Redemption," and it catalogs donations from the congregation to rebuild Vernon A.M.E. Church after it was destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Riots. Museum of the Bible's chief conservator, Francisco Rodriguez, stabilized and preserved the fragile ledger, and the museum also made a facsimile of the ledger for the church to display. As a token of appreciation, Reverend Turner donated a fragment of the church's original foundation to the museum. Learn more about the Vernon A.M.E. Church's ledger and the amazing story of their congregation in two entries in Museum of the Bible Magazine. The first is an article by curator Anthony Schmidt, while the second tells the story through a video presentation. You can see the foundation fragment on our Collections page by clicking the link below.