The Minister’s Bible from Hendrickson Publishers is a Bible designed specifically to meet the needs of the Ministry and Church leaders. It includes many helps and resources to help Ministers in their daily ministry activities, perform events, and helps them answer many of the tough questions they are bound to face.
Pros
- Ministry helps
- Sharp font
- 2 ribbon markers
Cons
- Some helps include theological bias
Features
- NKJV
- Genuine leather
- 8-point font
- Black letter
- Section headings
- Center-column references
- Paragraph format
- Key Bible Promises
- Ministry Resource Guide
- 79 page concordance
- 8 color maps
- 2 ribbons
- Gilted edges
- 1152 pages
- ISBN: 978-1-59856-112-8
- 9.75 x 6.75 x 1
- $40-56
Cover and Binding
The cover is genuine leather. It has a nice look to it. The binding looks glued, but it does have a sewn portion in the front and back. The liner looks like a vinyl-covered paper that is glued to the cover.
Paper and Print
The paper is fairly thick, but not as opaque as I’d like. It has a cream tone, which is my favorite shade for paper. It makes it much easier to read. If it were a little more opaque I would say the paper is perfect. It’s not bad; it’s just more noticeable than I’d like. It’s not enough to keep me from using it. The show-through is partially due to the boldness of the print.
The font is 8-point semi-bold. It is very readable and consistently dark.
Layout
This Bible has two sections. The first section is a reference Bible. The second section is the Ministry Resource Guide.
The Bible portion is printed in 2-column, paragraph format with poetry set in verse. Old Testament quotes are offset and printed in a different style of font to make it obvious that it’s an OT quote. It looks like the standard layout for NKJV, which is one of my favorite layouts for a Bible.
References and Translation Notes
References and notes appear in the center column. They are keyed to the text with letters for the references and numbers for the notes. The center column includes the chapter and verse numbers so they’re easier to find. I’m not sure how many references there are, but there are a lot. Genesis 1:1 includes 14 references.
Section Headings
There are lots of section headings. They are printed in bold. They include references to parallel passages, which are printed in semi-bold. The headings help break up the text on the page.
Key Bible Promises
The Key Bible Promises section is a topical section that includes a topic and a list of verses for each topic. It has 4 pages and includes promises in 3 key areas:
God’s Promise Of includes references for love, salvation, peace, joy, strength, growth, etc.
God’s Promise When You includes references for feel guilty, are afraid, are weak, obey, doubt, etc.
God’s Promises When includes reference for you need comfort, desire revenge, you struggle with lust, you are in a position of responsibility, you are jealous, etc.
Ministry Resource Guide
The Ministry Resource Guide is what sets this Bible apart and is its key feature. This section is essentially a 59 page appendix that includes questions, answers, and helps in 7 topics:
- Pastorial Events
- Church Events
- Family Events
- The Christian Life
- Life’s Tough Questions
- Helping People Cope With Change
- The Unique Role of a Minister
Ministers have a unique job. This section is where the Minister will find help and guidance in their ministry activities. Ministers are often called upon to perform weddings, funerals, provide counseling, answer questions, lead others, etc. The purpose of this section is to provide Ministers with guidance, resources, and the tools they need to perform those roles and functions. This is some of the best helps that were developed specifically for the Minister that I’ve seen in a Bible. Some of the information will apply to everybody. The section on The Christian Life helps with discipleship, prayer, fellowship, etc. Some of the information includes more than one view, such as the section on Baptism- which gives information about baptizing infants. Other sections only include information on one doctrinal view. As with any study Bible, I urge readers to be cautious and do their own study.
Concordance
The concordance is 79 pages and includes 3 columns per page. There is a little more in it than I expected for just 79 pages. It includes 38 references for ‘God’. They’re not separated into noun and verb, but that’s still more than many concordances that I’ve seen.
Maps
There are 8 full-color maps printed on thick, glossy paper.
Conclusion
With a good layout and a good list of Ministry helps, the Minister’s Bible from Hendrickson Publishers is a good Bible for Minister’s on the go. It has many helps to support their work in the ministry – including building disciples, counseling, answering questions, and performing events. It is a good resource for anyone active in Christian work.
Hendrickson Publishers provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review.