Hamilton, Ontario, Canada – Bridget Ker is perhaps one of the most astoundingly dedicated advocates for sharing The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition as it lives today.
Ker is the Coordinator of The Saint John’s Bible and Archives Technician for Bishop Farrell Library & Archives at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, making her one of the only people outside of the Heritage Program whose full-time position is to tend to the Heritage Edition.
The Diocese of Hamilton comprises 117 parishes, 291 schools, 28 missions, and more than 665,000 Catholics. So, while the Diocese Library acts as a home base for the Heritage Edition, it is definitely not a final destination. In fact, the Bible might spend as much time traveling to schools, universities, bookmakers, calligraphy groups, and other parishes as it does in the Library. It’s Ker’s job to share the Heritage Edition with each of these organizations and more.
Sharing the Word in this way is a big job – the Diocese of Hamilton is the second-largest English-speaking Diocese in Canada. That being said, Ker is more than up for the task.
“You don’t get tired when you’re out with the Bible,” said Ker. “I am always surprised and delighted by how people respond to it and how open they are. When we do open viewings, people talk to each other and ask about what they see and they have a lot of questions for us. It makes them super curious. They’re bringing the energy and you just have to sit back, listen and provide them the time to talk through what they’re seeing.”
Ker has long understood the power of great art to ignite imagination and conversation. In fact, she began her career in the museum world. She earned a master’s degree in Museum Studiesfrom the University of Toronto, where she met the current director of the Bishop Farrell Library and Archives. Throughout her career, she’s had a healthy mix of museum and nonprofit experience. She was an exhibit coordinator at the Canadian National Exhibition Archives, an organizing committee member volunteer with Doors Open Hamilton, a collections technician at St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canal Centre, and a volunteer and community outreach coordinator for the Ontario Lung Association before becoming an archives technician, and eventually, coordinator of The Saint John’s Bible for the Diocese of Hamilton.
“I’ve been working with The Saint John’s Bible since 2017, and every time I talk to someone about the Bible, I’m confronted with something new that I haven’t thought about,” said Ker. “Every person who interacts with the Bible brings their whole self to it. Being able to provide an opportunity for people to open up about something familiar presented in an unfamiliar way is really special. We often start talking about the Bible and end up talking about someone’s experience in church when they were a child or the time they went to Italy and saw frescoes. The inability to anticipate how people are going to respond is fantastic.”
Though Ker is the first point of contact for anyone who is interested in visiting The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition or booking programming with the Bible, she has two incredible docents on her immediate team, Luisa Rossi and Brian Craig, who are nothing short of integral to the program.
“We wouldn’t be able to run any of the program we have without our docents,” said Ker. “They are incredibly immersed in scriptures. Brian is a minister, and Luisa has a master’s degree in religious education, so they know the Bible back and forth, and their enthusiasm comes through in all the work that they do.”
Igniting Environmentalism, Artistry, and Connection Across Ontario
There’s no limit to the vastness of experiences that Ker and her team offer in regards to the Heritage Edition. That means a large part of her duty at the Diocese is getting creative.
For example, when a K-12 school comes to her asking to book the Heritage Edition, she has a breadth of programming for them to choose from. One art-focused program allows students to recreate or reimagine an illumination from The Saint John’s Bible. The activity follows a presentation that takes students through the artistic process behind the work. There’s another program about the use of stamping in The Saint John’s Bible, where students look at how the artists made the stamps, what inspired them, what the original sources were, and more. Then, they make their own stamps.
A program called Bugs in the Bible is especially popular among young children. After experiencing the Heritage Edition, teachers take the students on an insect safari to identify creatures around where they live. The program inspires the children to envision their own lives as art.
The list goes on.
“We also developed a program to connect the Bible to Laudato si (a book on environmentalism written by Pope Francis),” said Ker. “It starts with a nature look, with centering yourself in creation and creating a work of art based on that. We also tie in environmental history.”
Last, but surely not least, she offers The Saint John’s Bible experience at its most fundamental level: a community gathered around the Heritage Edition, asking questions, engaging in conversation, and building relationships.
“There’s a huge value in quieter events with the Heritage Edition,” said Ker. “Having one staff member who’s really well-versed in the Bible sit down and talk about how it was made is a really impactful experience for others. It doesn’t have to be huge. It doesn’t have to be a ceremony with choirs and all seven volumes on display. Just having someone who has spent the time to learn about the Bible facilitate a conversation is a really, really valuable experience.”
The Diocese also garners a lot of interest from artists such as bookmakers or calligraphers. “One of my favorite bookings was with a group of bookmakers who were curious about the binding of the Heritage Edition,” said Ker. “They wanted to know what style of binding was used and what kind of thread was used. So, I reached out to the bindery behind the Heritage Edition, Roswell Bookbinding, and gathered all of those details. It really got me thinking about the complexity of the choices that were made to create the Heritage Edition.”
Ker and her team ended up developing an entire program around the craft element of the Heritage Edition based on this first conversation. The program is available to anyone who’d like to book the Heritage Edition.
Because of the profound interest in booking the Heritage Edition in Ontario, Ker sometimes schedules bookings one year in advance, especially during the school year. If you or someone you know is interested in booking the Heritage Edition through the Diocese of Hamilton, click here. If you’d like to experience it yourself in the Diocese Library, contact The Saint John’s Bible team at the Diocese at library@hamiltondiocese.com for updated dates and times when it will be available.
The Saint John’s Bible: Ignite the Spiritual Imagination
For more stories similar to this one, visit the Heritage Program blog or subscribe to the e-newsletter, Sharing the Word.
To learn how you can bring The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition to your community, click here.