What would happen if we actually read the Bible? Not a verse here or there, but the whole New Testament? What if we had a real conversation about the Bible, one that anyone could join? These are the questions Biblica are asking as they encourage churches to take part in the Community Bible Experience.

Recently, at an event in central London, Biblica announced that from autumn 2014, churches partnering with them will receive all Community Bible Experience resources free of charge.

Church leaders attending the event at Westminster Abbey came to hear Philip Yancey and other local leaders explain how Biblica's Bible engagement programme could serve their church. They heard stories from around the UK &Ireland of lives changed and churches re-energised by God's Word.

Stephen Cave, Biblica's executive director for Europe said: "Confronted with statistics and the reality of declining rates of Bible reading, leaders are looking for answers.Biblica's research has shown that much of the problem stems from only reading the Bible in fragments, out of context and in isolation. Community Bible Experience turns this on its head. It's about the whole story, read in context and shared in community.

"It's not always enough to just place a Bible in people's hands - we have to ensure they are reading and living it well. We're wholly committed to achieving this goal and have already seen at first hand the significant impact the programme is having on churches and individuals. We're inviting churches to partner with us on the journey and be open to God transforming lives, through His Word."

Community Bible Experience involves reading large sections of scripture, without the usual formatting.Verse numbers, chapter headings, footnotes and columns have all been removed, leaving the books closer to the way in which they were originally written.

Designed to allow the reader to gain a better understanding of context, by reading the books in a new order or re-united where they have previously been split, it provides an opportunity to commit to reading God's story together - meeting once a week to share in the journey.Small groups, families, young people and children can all get involved and many churches are already considering other creative ways in which the resources can be used.

Sharing about his own Bible journey, Philip Yancey said:"The Bible isn't just a record of what God has said, but what He is saying today. When we begin to engage seriously with God's Word –it literally changes everything"

For more information on Community Bible Experience