The Bible in Women's Voices

What does the entire Bible sound like when read aloud by women?  Want to find out?  Women friends, if you are willing to record yourself reading a book or several chapters of the Bible aloud, let me know.  Let's speak the whole thing, including Alpha and Omega, begats, cubits, and ephods, smitings, hens, nursing mothers, blessed are the... for they shall..., tongues of fire, and everything else in the record of God's urge to be with us.

FAQ

What is The Bible in Women's Voices about?

The Bible in Women's Voices is a crowdsourced, free audio collection of the Bible, read by women, using public domain translations.

Why is this project needed?

As far as I can tell, all available audio versions of the Bible are read by men.  I want to know how the Bible sounds when read by women.  Will we hear the Holy Spirit in new ways?

Who can participate as a reader?

You are eligible to be a reader if you:

  1. Are a woman.  It should go without saying, but just to be clear, by "woman" I mean a person who self-identifies as a woman.  Women of all ages and all styles of English speech are encouraged to read.  For that matter, if someone wants to read in a language other than English, have at.  Just find a public domain translation to read.
  2. Relate to the Bible as Holy Scripture.  What it means for the Bible to be Holy Scripture is an open question.  It should go without saying, but just to be clear, I hope Jewish women will record English translations of Tanakh.  If you are an actor wanting to practice voiceovers, but don't regard the Bible as a sacred text, this project is not for you. 
  3. Are willing to read an entire book of the Bible.  It's ok to choose a short one.  Hopefully sooner or later someone will record Leviticus and Numbers.
  4. Have a computer/smart phone/tablet and are tech-savvy enough to save your recording and store it in a Dropbox folder. 

I'm not a woman.  Can I participate?

Yes!  You can provide original translations, do tech support, give money for building a fancy website to house the project, refer women you know who might be interested in reading, or post our work to your feeds.  If you have another idea, contact Shirley.

How can I fund the project?

At this point, contributors can give any amount at www.paypal.me/shirleymaybanks. Important to know: The project is not incorporated for profit or as a nonprofit. Contributions are not tax deductible. As the project grows, we're hoping to get to that point. For now, all we're operating on is trust that contributions will be used for direct project expenses, such as cloud-based storage and management subscriptions.

How does it work?

Once you have decided to participate, Shirley will send detailed instructions. Here are the basics:

  1. Choose a book of the Bible to read aloud. Let Shirley know by filling out this form.
  2. Become familiar with the recording app on your computer, phone, tablet, or dedicated recording device.
  3. Choose a quiet time and place. Turn off noisy things. Warm up your voice. Pray.
  4. Read slowly and clearly, using the public domain text provided. Create a new file for each chapter you read.
  5. Save the file to the Dropbox folder. 
  6. Optional: Provide 50-100 written words about yourself, such as your name, website, work, faith tradition, whether you are lay or ordained, general location, why you decided to participate, or anything you want the world to know about you. Leave out anything you want kept private. You can also include a picture. These bios will go on the project's website.
  7. Project volunteers will wave their hands and everything will be appear on the website. The Word will be spoken by women into the great web!

What books already have readers? Can I read something that someone else has spoken for?

Since the project seeks to include a variety of women's voices, feel free to record any book of the Bible you want. Here's a list of the books and how many women have signed up or completed a reading.  

I'm in! What's next?

Great! Complete this form and get started!

Or maybe. I have more questions.

Contact us. We will never use your contact info for anything else.