Jennifer Holloran, President & CEO of the American Bible Society, on the Life-Changing Power of the Bible to Heal Communities (Ep. 144)

Jennifer Holloran, President and CEO of the American Bible Society, is an avid lover of Scripture and an expert in strategic leadership, operational excellence, and innovation. Jennifer was raised in a Christian home with lots of exposure to the Word, but it was in college that she learned to approach Scripture as a source of grace instead of condemnation. Jennifer’s career took an unexpected turn after college when God led her to combine her professional skills and love for the Scriptures at Wycliffe Bible Translators. She spent over twenty years there, starting as a typist and eventually becoming Chief Operating Officer before taking over as CEO of the American Bible Society.  

The American Bible Society has a rich history dating back to 1816, and is involved in nearly every aspect of Bible work, from translation to global distribution to engagement and advocacy. Jennifer has an amazing perspective on the power of God’s Word, how it is moving in the world today, and how the Church can help people everywhere be transformed as they get more engaged with the Scriptures.  

Major Topics Include:

• Jennifer’s faith and career journey
• How she fell in love with Scripture
• Her surprise introduction to Bible translation through Wycliffe
• Leadership principles in unexpected Bible stories
• How God prepared her for work at American Bible Society
• An overview of American Bible Society’s 209 year history
• Helping people engage in the Scriptures 
• ABS’s framework of access, engagement, and advocacy
• Various aspects of Scripture access
• Their “end-to-end” process—a multimodal approach to Bible access and engagement
• The story and heart behind the ABS Trauma Healing Institute 
• Helping people overcome barriers to Scripture
• Finding solutions to inspire younger generations to engage with Scripture
• AI as a tool for Bible engagement
• How to move from Bible engagement to advocacy
• Creativity in Bible distribution in hard-to-reach places
• Effectiveness of a collective impact alliance in reaching Bible distribution goals

QUOTES TO REMEMBER

• “It wasn’t long after I finished college that God brought me to Wycliffe Bible Translators, and that opened up a whole world of understanding Scripture in a completely new way.”
• “I found that the more that I began to dig into Scripture, the more there was to discover.”
• “We want to move people from that place of just having access to the Bible and have them step into engagement, and that starts with curiosity.”
• “Today, we at the American Bible Society still get to be involved in translation and distribution, but we’re looking at the whole Scripture engagement journey and how we can come alongside the Church to support the ministry of helping people to take the next step with Scripture.”
• “We need to understand where Gen Z and Gen Alpha are coming from and what speaks to them as unique groups with unique values, preferences, and barriers that might keep them from Scripture. Then we can work together with the Church to help co-create solutions to reach that generation.”
• “There’s something amazing about having the Bible as a foundation that we can come together and have conversation around and learn from one another across faith traditions.”
• “Our vision is ‘God’s Word transforming all people.’ That’s what I want to see happening, and I think the more we can get the Church engaged and we can work together on this, I believe that it’s possible.”

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• Julie Wilson, President of Women Doing Well (see our past interview here)
• American Bible Society
• Wycliffe Bible Translators (see our interview with CEO John Chesnut)
• The Digital Bible Library
• Audio Video Translation Tool
• Jesus Film Project (see our interview with Executive Director Josh Newell)
• LUMO Project Films
• Faith Comes by Hearing (see our interview with VP Morgan Jackson)
• Talking Bibles International
• Trauma Healing Institute
• IllumiNations Bible Translation Alliance (see our interview with