History, Heritage and Faith

Lifewords teamed up with the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick (and Dame Judi Dench!) for Shakespeare's 400th anniversary and a Bible giveaway.

Lifewords teamed up with the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, to share 6,000 Bible resources during their major exhibition in honour of Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary.

The exhibition offered a rare opportunity for visitors to view two iconic texts: the Shakespeare First Folio (1623) and a first edition of the King James Bible (1611).

“We believe this was an incredible opportunity for mission and evangelism, to introduce or re-introduce visitors to the gospel and the love of Christ,” said Alycia Smith-Howard, exhibition curator. “We wanted to provide each visitor with a copy of Scripture to take away with them – and were ideal.”

The launch event was opened by Dame Judi Dench, who shared her passion for Shakespeare and her love for the English language. “Dame Judi was struck by the tremendous generosity of Lifewords,” said Alycia, “and acknowledged [its] efforts to share the Word and love of God through our project as a beautiful act of charity.

“The addition of Lifewords resources to our exhibition materials was a Godsend. It lifted our project from being merely a cultural undertaking to a rare opportunity for unique and strategic evangelism. It gave our work the crucial centre and focus it needed."