This program unit of the NCC promotes and continues the legacy of The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV), copyright 1989, and the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright, 1952, which were produced under the auspices of what was then the National Council's Division of Christian Education.

The purpose of this program ministry is to provide contemporary, ecumenical, accurate English translations of the Bible, and to promote the use of the Bible in public worship and education, and in private study and devotion. The latter ministry includes programs on Biblical literacy, translation, and interpretation, and a scholarship program –through the Fund for Theological Education under the auspices of the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada – to support African-, Asian-, and Hispanic-American students in Biblical studies at the doctoral level.

The Bible Translation and Utilization program ministry seeks:

to encourage the widest possible use of the NRSV and RSV in their various editions,

to maintain the purity and integrity of these texts, and

to provide a plan whereby all who profit financially from the use of the various editions of the NRSV and RSV will participate in the cost of further Bible translation and utilization under the NCC.