IT IS an ambitious plan, to deliver by hand an illustrated copy of St Luke's Gospel to every home in Derry, and all the main churches are behind it. Earlier this month, the church leaders (right, from left to right) the Bishop of Derry & Raphoe, the Rt Revd Ken Good; the Superintendent of the Methodist City Mission, the Revd Peter Murray; the Clerk of the Presbytery, the Revd Dr Robert Buick; and the current RC diocesan administrator, Mgr Eamon Martin, together with the organising team, received 40,000 free commemorative copies of St Luke's Gospel from the printers.

The project, "A Free Gift for All", has been paid for by all four churches from their central funds, and the book was designed and produced locally. The organisers are hoping to recruit up to 1000 volunteers to help with the distribution. More than 300 turned up recently for a special training evening.

The scheme was launched with the presentation of an inscribed copy to the Mayor of Derry, Kevin Campbell, in the city's Guildhall, by the four church leaders. It happened to be Mgr Martin's last official public duty before he moves to Armagh as Coadjutor Archbishop.

One of the organising team said that he was delighted that the Mayor had accepted the gift. "This is the first step in our distribution to all 40,000 households in our city . . . a unique coming together of the church community in our city to give a gift to our fellow citizens as a celebration of our designation as the UK City of Culture 2013."