Throughout next year, evangelical Christians and churches worldwide will be working to promote a deeper engagement with the Bible.
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is to launch the AD 2020 Global Year of the Bible next month to lay the foundation for more Christians making the lifelong commitment to live by God's Word.
The initiative will seek to encourage Bible reading by individuals and in group settings while also seeking to further translation work for people groups that still do not have God's Word in their own language.
It will also create resources to help people in their Bible reading.
The work will be overseen by the WEA's Bible Engagement Advocacy team, headed by Dr Lloyd Estrada, which will partner with national Evangelical Alliances and WEA member organisations to mobilise evangelicals around the world in celebrating the Bible.
The initiative will have its official launch at a conference to be held at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC from September 15 to 16 bringing together the WEA, Wycliffe Bible Translators, YWAM, the American Bible Society and evangelistic movement Call2All.
Announcing the initiative at the Jesus Global Youth Day, WEA Secretary General Bishop Efraim Tendero said the Bible had had an unparalleled role over thousands of years of world history.
"Properly understood, the Bible points us to the Creator whose Word is true, righteous and endures forever," he said.
"We will highlight the importance of the Bible as the enduring foundation for fostering unity, freedom, development and quality of life today and for the years to come."
