Bible Correspondence Course
 The Bible Correspondence Course for adults is being conducted by the Bible Institute since 1993. It is a  two years course. The whole course consists of 22 booklets covering from the introduction to Bible and the book of Revelation. Every month one lesson is being sent to the students. The participants will read and send us the answers to the question which are printed at the end of each lesson (booklet). At the end of every year contact seminar are conducted in various centers. Finally diplomas, signed by the Bishop – Chairman of the Tamilnadu Bible Commission, are distributed to the participants. In every cycle more than 4000 candidates do this course and even those people from outside the state of Tamilnadu are also taking part in this programme. This programme is conducted for a minimum charge.

Bible Exhibition / Museum
St.Paul’s Bible Institute conducts Bible Exhibition from 1989 onwards. After the renovation of the old exhibits Bible Exhibition is conducted every academic year in many parishes of the archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore and some parishes of the other Dioceses of the region. Wherever the Bible Exhibition is conducted we also distributed questionnaire for which the participants find answers from the exhibition itself. The Bible Institute, on invitation, is conducting this Exhibition in the Dioceses, especially when there is annual feast of the shrines so that many more people would benefit from this. In the Bible Institute, Poonamallee Bible Museum, in consultation with some biblical experts, has been setup with the help of professional artists. This is of great help to students and also to lay people and school children, who come to visit the Institute regularly.

Vivilia Virunthu – a Tamil Bible Monthly
The Bible Institute is publishing a Bible Monthly in Tamil by name: Vivilia Virunthu. This monthly treats every month a separate book of the Bible and articles are written by experts in simple language so that ordinary people may understand the meaning of the passages of the Bible. I has become very popular within a short span of time so much so 7000 subscribers are receiving the copies every month. Among the subscribers there are about 500 from Srilanka and 500 from Tamil speaking Catholics of Malaysia. The annual subscription of this monthly is only a minimum cost of Rs.60/-

Publication of Books on Biblical themes
Besides the publication of Vivilia Virunthu and the booklets of the Bible correspondence Course the Institute is Publishing  many books in Tamil on Biblical themes. In January 2002 it published, for the first time, the concordance to the Tamil Bible. It is a unique publication among the Indian languages. It is very much  of use for the Charismatic groups and the bible Preachers.

Our Lady of Bible
The Bible Institute has popularized the concept of Our Lady of Bible, so that people may be motivated to live the Word of God in the Model of Mary, our Heavenly Mother.

Members of CBF
The Bible Institute is also an associate member of the Catholic Biblical Apostolate. The Director of the Bible institute is at present the South Asian coordinator of the CBF.

BIBLE ANIMATION PROGRAMME:

Vacation Bible School
The Vacation Bible School (VBS) is conducted in the month of May at the Parish level for ten days covering a specific theme of the Bible. This programme is very popular among the Children, both school going and the drop-outs, as it is conducted with midday meals, distribution of medals and badges and with various competitions on the Bible. For the  last ten years this VBS is conducted in all the 16 catholic Dioceses of Tamilnadu and there is an increase in the number of participants year after year. In 2002 summer ( April – May) the VBS was conducted in which more than 60,000 children participated and benefited. The lessons for the children, guide book for the teachers, audio cassettes and the other materials are prepared every year with much care and attention by a select group of experts.

Basic Bible Seminaries
The Bible Commission is regularly organizing for the last six years the basic Bible seminars in dioceses and some centers. It is a ten months programme in which the whole Bible is covered in ten full – day seminars. The lay people, both men and women , coming from various nearby parishes, would participate in this programme and the are given text books also as learned material on the subject. At the end of the ten months Diploma is awarded to the regular participants. Every year the commission takes up at least four centers and in each center at least 100 people take part. By this programme a lot of biblical awareness is created among the simple people.

On-going Biblical Formation
From 1996 onwards the Bible Commission is organizing in the regional level the
On – going biblical formation for the lay people and religious sisters.
The system of the Formation: Lay leaders and biblical animators who are actively involved in biblical apostolate are to be selected by every Diocesan Bible Commission. There will be a two-day seminar every two months (on Saturday and Sunday) on current biblical themes in different venue. The participants, after a small examination are awarded with a diploma by the bishop Chairman on the last session. For lay people the course is fully subsidized by the Commission and for the religious it is part – financed. The topics covered are:
Interpretation of the Bible in the Church
Prophets of the Old Testament
Jesus in the New Testament
Pauline spirituality and Mission
Revelation and Christian Life.

The Commission is also taking up other Bible Classes and Seminars for various other people, thus covering more than 3500 people in a year.

Summer Bible Diploma Seminar
The Bible Commission has been conducting the Summer Bible Diploma Seminar since 1976 at TNBCLC, Tindivanam . More than 200 Participants took part every year. It is a three year cycle course in which we cover the whole Bible. Each year the seminar is conducted in Tamil , the local Language, for 5 full days and the talks are given by trained Bible professors of Tamilnadu. Diploma is awarded to those people who take part in programme fully.
In 1999 the Summer Bible Seminar was conducted in two centers of Tamilnadu: Tindivanam, covering the northern part of Tamilnadu and in Sivagangai for the southern part. However in 2001 one more center at Palyamkottai was introduced for the people of South most dioceses. In 2002 again another center at Salem was introduced to cover western diocese of Tamilnadu. By this increase of centers not only long travel is reduced but also more possibilities are given for many more people to benefit from this programme . In every center at least 100 people participate for full five days.

Bible Sunday/Bible Week
Since 1974 Bible Sunday is celebrated all over Tamilnadu by the initiative taken by the Tamilnadu Bible Commission. As years went on, along with the Bible Sunday, Bible week is also celebrated in most of the parishes in the state in the month of September every year. The theme and posters, pamphlets and other materials on the selected theme are distributed to the Dioceses by the Regional Bible Commission. By this a great interest is created among the people on Bible so much so that each Catholic family has a copy of the Bible.
Every year the Commission selects an appropriate theme for this celebration and accordingly the special Eucharist Celebration and accordingly the special Eucharist Celebration, Posters and other literatures are prepared to help the parish priests for meaningful celebration. Also special biblical articles based on the theme are published in Thozhan, a biblical, liturgical and catechetical monthly of the Catholic Bishops of Tamilnadu.

OTHER BIBLICAL ACTIVITIES:

Arulvakku Mantram
It is an organization of the people both scholars and others who are interested in biblical apostolate. Through this association biblical knowledge is promoted to the people, especially by publishing Bible Commentaries in Tamil as well useful books like Gospel parallels, comparative bible studies. It functions from St.Paul’s Theological Seminary at Trichy, South India. Recently this association has started a big Bible project of publishing a series of 45 commentaries to the whole Bible in Tamil and it is an ecumenical production, for the first time, in Asia.

Tamil Community Bible
The Commission is encouraging the publication of the Community Bible in Tamil, undertaken by Taminadu province of the Cleritian religious society. It is not a translation of the English Community Bible Prepared by Fr.Bernardo of Chile (first published in 1985) but an independent preparation based on the local context of South India. However the format will be in the model of the original community Bible. The Cleritian society is planning to publish this Bible in the early months of 2003.

Bible Diary/ Calendar
The Commission is preparing and distrust every year Bible Diary and calendar with short comments on the daily liturgical readings. These are very useful for the people to follow the daily liturgical readings meaningfully.

Audio/Video Cassettes on Bible
The Commission is cooperating with the Santhome Communication Center run by the Catholic Bishops Council. The Center is producing many audio and video cassettes in Tamil on Biblical themes. Also it is dubbing in Tamil the video cassettes on Bible produced by the Lux International (Italy). The videos like the story of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and Jeremiah are very popular among the people. This is an effective effort to disseminate the knowledge of the Bible among the illiterate.

Bible Conventions
The Commission is organizing from time to time Bible Conventions in which more than 1500 people attend every time. Each time some special biblical themes are selected and delivered by well known speakers. Through this type of conventions we are able to motivate the people to have much interest for the Word of God and also we are able to distribute the Bible materials to a large number of people of the state.

Bible Quiz
Bible Quiz is being conducted all over Tamilnadu by various initiatives. Magazines like NamVazhvu, Vivilia Virunthu and Thozhan are publishing regularly Bible Quiz and giving prizes for the winners. In the Diocesan level and inter-diocesan level too this programme is conducted in many places. This helps people and especially the children to gain Bible Knowledge with much interest.