© Barton Brigg Methodist Circuit
2009 

BIBLE READING MARATON RAISES CASH
19th - 22nd June 2008

Dedicated volunteers from all over North Lincolnshire raised money for a church's funds at the weekend Bible readathon.

More than 30 people participated as all 1,035 pages of the holy book were read aloud in the marathon session at Trinity Methodist Church, Barton-upon-Humber.

They are part of the Barton and Brigg church circuit, and began reading at noon on Thursday, with the final page read about 8am yesterday.

Readers took 45-minute shifts during the day, with longer periods covering the nights.

Bill Blythe, of Millfields, in Barton, one of the readers, said a similar task had been undertaken in the 1980s, and the idea to repeat it originated from a meeting of the church fundraising committee.

He said: "It was successful then and it was decided that it would be a good idea to do it again."

The long nights had not been a problem and he was only keeping an eye on the clock to make sure the reading would be completed by yesterday morning.

"It's not so bad reading at night time but people read at different speeds and you get some parts of the book which take a long time to read because of long words and tricky names," he added.

"Once you get further on, it doesn't take as long because things like the Psalms flow much quicker. We are going at a speed of about four minutes to a page, so the whole thing should take us around 68 hours.

"I am very pleased with how it has all gone and I have certainly enjoyed it."

Another volunteer, Christine Bellamy, of Parkdale, Barton, explained what the sponsorship money would be used for.

A member at the church since 1975, she said: "We wanted to raise funds for the chapel and for the decoration of the ladies' toilets and the entrance hall. We have not set a particular target for how much money we want to raise but any money we do manage to get will help.

"Three-quarters of an hour is a long time and, sometimes, your voice can go croaky after about half-an-hour," she explained.

"It has been enjoyable though because it has given us chance to sit down and read the Bible and it is interesting because at the same time, you are learning about ancient history."

Taken from the Scunthorpe Telegraph newspaper

.Rev. John Girling

The Trinity Bible read began at 12 noon on Thursday 19th June with prayer led by Rev. Gillian.
Rev. Gillian then began by reading from the new English Bible the first of 1035 pages.
Thirty four readers took part the majority from Trinity's membership with valued assistance from members of other churches. Each reader read for 45 minutes.
There was some concern that the object of reading the whole bible would not be achieved, but by the Grace of God at 10.10am on Sunday 22nd June the final chapter, from The Revelation to John was read by the Rev John Girling, followed by a prayer of thanksgiving.
Mrs Bridgett Marshall ensured that readers and visitors were well catered for with adequate refreshments which was much appreciated.
Money raised by the retardation will help refurbish the ladies toilet and front foyer of the chapel.

Taken fron the Circuit magazine "THE BRIDGE"

.Rev. Gillian Belford

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