Orthodox Pocket Gospel Book

In visiting many Orthodox parishes in other countries, you will likely find a small-format Gospel book, about the size of a prayer book. It may be kept at the confessional, or it may be used for outdoor services and house blessings. Likewise, many Orthodox families have small Gospel books at their home prayer corner, alongside their prayer books, designed for daily reading.

(Image: Simulation of the printed Gospel book in hand.)

At the present time, there are no options in the English-speaking world. those who are serious about hearing a word from the Lord daily must either use a bulky study Bible (which certainly has its place in the context of study, but is not really designed for use at the home altar), or a pocket New Testament (which may fit within a collection of pocket-size prayer books, but again, is not designed with the Church’s liturgical cycle in mind).

We aim to fill this gap with the first small-format Orthodox Gospel book in English that we are aware of. We have worked hard to design the layout to work for both everyday reading and for church liturgical use—as there are many cases when a Gospel book is needed, but a bulky altar-size volume may not be the best option.

(Image: Sample  interior pages—still undergoing revisions, but representative of the completed work)

We are planning for a gorgeous foil-stamped cover which features Christ and symbols of the four Evangelists on the front cover, and the holy Cross on the back. The story of our salvation will be beautifully typeset in red and black and printed on the highest-quality paper. Several ribbon bookmarks will be included as well. Such a high-quality Gospel book is fitting for the dignity of those pages which contain Our Lord's life and teachings, and nothing like it is available today.

We are already talking with well-known distribution channels, so we think this project will be fruitful in getting this beautiful collection of the holy Gospels into the hands of Orthodox Christians for personal and liturgical use.


Goals and Details

- 5x7 size, with approximately 400 pages
- Two-color printing on high-quality archival paper (inspired by Holy Transfiguration Monastery's excellent publications)
- Attractive cloth-bound hardcover with foil-stamped designs: Christ in glory (front) and the Cross (back)
- Four ribbon bookmarks
- Extensive Pan-Orthodox calendar of readings for saints' days and differences in Byzantine and Slavic uses
- Calendar of moveable feasts through the year 2100, with both Julian and New Calendar dates
- Detailed notes and instructions

Translation

We have secured the rights to use the Eastern/Greek Orthodox Bible (EOB) translation, edited by Fr. Laurent Cleenewerck. This is a modern English translation of the official Patriarchal Text used by the Orthodox Church. Its style is dignified yet understandable, designed with both liturgical use and personal reading in mind. And unlike many common translations used in the Church today (such as the NKJV, RSV, and others), the EOB was made by and for Orthodox Christians, using the authoritative Orthodox texts as their main source. 

This is where you come in. 

For a run of 2,000 copies using high-quality standards, the bare printing costs have been quoted for just under $14,000. 

The internal layout of the Gospel book is already nearly complete, so we hope to move into the printing stages soon after the project is funded. 

Who is this for?

We envision this Gospel book as an ideal gift for students heading off to college, for a new Orthodox Christian at his or her baptism, or for a newly-ordained member of our clergy. It is ideal for priests making home visits. It would be a perfect addition to any home prayer corner, as well as any church analogion. With your help, we hope to make it available to you, too.

How it compares

The old adage, "The best Bible is the one that you read," is true. That being said, we desire to go above and beyond what is currently available, and honor the words of Christ by framing them in the highest-quality book possible, in a form factor that is useful and easy to use. Here are some of our goals, and how it compares to other publications: