CAROL STREAM, Ill. (WordNews.org) Feb. 23, 2017  – Coming this fall: A major campaign from an alliance formed by Tyndale House Publishers and the Institute for Bible Reading to introduce new Bible reading practices to the church.

The institute points to studies showing that in one generation, the number of occasional Bible readers fell by 20 percent—the equivalent of about 700 people per day. If this trend continues, according to the institute, by 2040 two-thirds of Americans will have no meaningful connection with the Bible.

The alliance was forged to combat that decline.

Tyndale Senior Vice President and Group Publisher Doug Knox called the alliance “a perfect match between two organizations who share the goal of helping people engage with the Bible more effectively.”

“There was an instant connection during the first meeting between Tyndale and the Institute for Bible Reading,” Knox said “It was obvious that by combining our experience, skills, and resources we could, with God’s blessing, revolutionize how individuals and churches engage with the Bible.”

The institute calls itself an “activist think tank.” It was formed by a team with a combined 75 years of experience in Bible publishing and ministry. Its mission is to “usher in a new era of Bible reading by challenging the paradigms of what it means to read and live the Bible well.

Scott Bolinder, one of institute’s four founding directors, says their team is determined to address the problem of why people stop reading the Bible.

“Christians know the Bible is important, but most of us struggle to read it well. We hope it will encourage and transform us, but over the centuries the Bible has been altered in ways that make it harder to read and understand,” he said. “The good news is that people are still hungry for the Bible, and the Institute for Bible Reading can’t imagine a better partner than Tyndale to work alongside as we help people rediscover the Bible through fresh, innovative experiences.”

Tyndale House was launched in 1962 by Dr. Kenneth Taylor with the publication of Living Letters, a modern paraphrase of Paul’s epistles. In 1971, The Living Bible was published, becoming the best-selling book in America for two years in a row with more than 45 million copies sold. Exactly 25 years later, Tyndale released the New Living Translation (NLT), a leading general-purpose translation prepared over a period of seven years by a group comprised of 90 leading Greek and Hebrew scholars.

“I see Tyndale’s alliance with IFBR as a natural extension of our mission and purpose,” Knox said.