Wycliffe UK announces fresh image for new year

Wycliffe UK is to begin 2010 with a fresh look, new logo and name change in a bid to make its mission clearer to the world.

The organisation is switching its name to Wycliffe Bible Translators to reinforce its aim of having a Bible translation project underway for every language that needs one by 2025, the organisation said.

It believes the adjustment can strengthen its position in a “competitive marketplace”. The organisation said it also faced the challenge of making sure people were aware of its purpose as well as recruiting the right people to help accomplish its mission effectively.

Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK, Eddie Arthur, said the name change was a response to the “frequent public confusion” between them and other organisations that use the Wycliffe name.

“By introducing Bible Translators into our title we are quickly able to establish who we are, what we do and why we exist,” he said.

Head of Marketing and Communications with Wycliffe Bible Translators, Phil Prior, said: “The danger with the Wycliffe Bible Translators title is being seen as an organisation that only needs to recruit people with language skills.

“The reality is that we are crying out for qualified accountants, personnel staff and communications professionals willing to give two or three years to work as volunteers, on a full-time basis, at the Wycliffe offices in the UK.”

Wycliffe said it was not planning to immediately change the old logo but would phase it out as stocks of resources and material carrying it run out and are replaced by material displaying the new logo.

Wycliffe Bible Translators has been translating Bibles for more than 70 years and has been involved in more than 80 per cent of translation projects among bibleless people groups since 1999. It said there were around 200 million people speaking more than 2,000 languages still waiting for a translation project to begin.