Many of you will have seen our “urgent action request”, where we took the unusual-for-Lifewords step of directly asking our supporters to give towards an ambitious goal of £150,000 in 90 days.

We outlined how reaching this target will help us to reshape the work and enable new opportunities for mission, now and in the future.

“In any organisation there are times and seasons. Right now, our season is one of real financial challenge in a tough climate, to the extent that Lifewords may have to shrink very dramatically,” explains Interim CEO, Rob Taylor. “At the same time, we are seeing great opportunities for the mission to continue in creative and exciting ways. That’s why we invited our supporters to stand with us in a refreshed vision that we believe will help us transition through this season of challenge into a more sustainable, vision-filled future.

It’s so encouraging to know that our supporters are standing with us – thank you all for your generosity. We are hopeful to close in our goal!

Working together

As we carry forward more than 138 years of Bible ministry, we are increasingly asking not simply, “What resources should we produce?” but, “How can we create resources in partnership with the people and communities they are intended to serve?”

So, we are focussing on Lifebringers – a growing movement centred on ordinary people sharing life, hope and faith in everyday contexts – living and sharing the Bible’s life words. We believe this vision resonates strongly with churches, communities and families.

Re-shaping will allow us to address some wider challenges facing mission today. Many Christians want to share their faith but lack simple, contemporary tools. Churches often struggle to find outreach resources that are both Biblically rooted and culturally accessible. Younger generations can be wary of institutions while remaining deeply interested in spirituality, belonging and purpose.

These realities invite fresh imagination and collaborative creativity. That’s where Lifewords mission of sharing the gift of Scripture can flourish in a new season, God willing.

New growth

Over recent months, we have been encouraged to see Lifewords resources being used in a wide range of contexts, from Pastor Teófilo in Chile and Pastor Geovanni in Cuba, to practitioners including Helen Shannon, Andy Murray and others ministering in estates and priority communities in the UK.

Through such partnerships, we are hearing how Bible resources are opening conversations, supporting pastoral ministry, and helping people engage with faith.

This is why we believe the most effective new resources will not just be written for people, but developed with them.

Drawing from the lived experience of those serving and living in these communities – the conversations they have, the questions people ask, the stories they hear, the challenges they navigate, and the hope they witness every day – this is not just “feedback”, it is the soil from which authentic new resources can grow.

‍Reshaping for the future

We will still make our resources available through our Resource Lifeline grant scheme, enabling churches and ministries to receive resources free of charge where cost would otherwise be a barrier. This creates an opportunity to distribute existing resources, and also to explore together what new resources might be needed.

Reshaping will help us create resources rooted in daily realities; accessible to people from diverse faith and cultural backgrounds; shaped by lived experience; sensitive to themes such as belonging, shame, loneliness, struggle and hope; and presented in formats that feel natural, engaging and easy to share.

Our much-loved and multi-language Bible booklets will still play a central role, alongside moving to digital-first (but not digital-only) formats for new resources.

Our heritage range and 50-language global offer will be available, together with new initiatives both physical, digital and experiential as we seek to find innovative ways to engage people with the Bible personally, in churches, and in the public square.

We will also continue our beatitudes focus through Ninefold Path, NINE BEATS, and other creative offerings inviting people to explore the words from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We’ll pull together offerings that look to be a gentle, creative voice in the “contested spaces” where Church, Bible, culture and faith collide.

Fresh ways

Through it all, our vision is not simply to keep on producing “another Bible resource”, but to create something that (even if it goes on to have wider use) could only have originally emerged from the communities and contexts we serve – shaped by local experience, tested in real-life ministry and refined through partnership. We believe that when the Church listens carefully to those serving on the ground, it discovers fresh ways of sharing the Bible with clarity, authenticity and hope.

Perhaps the most important resources we create won’t simply be a booklet, digital tool, or event experience. It will be a way of working together – one in which the lived experience of communities shapes how the Bible is shared, not only here, but in many other contexts for years to come.