For about 80 hours, day and night, the word of God will fill an Abingdon church.

From 10am on Wednesday until 5pm on Saturday, members of the congregation at Christ Church in Northcourt Road will read the New International version of the Bible from cover to cover.

The marathon reading, starting with Genesis and ending with Revelation, will launch the church’s 50th birthday celebrations.

To mark its half-century, the church is also planning to convert barns on the site and open them up to the public, with a new coffee shop.

Former primary school headteacher Janice Gordon, 64, from Abingdon, who has been attending Christ Church since 1987, said: “There are about 160 people involved in reading but there will be about 300 people from the church involved because the doors will be open day and night and we need people there to welcome members of the public.

“Mike Badcock, the mayor of Abingdon, will read at midnight on Wednesday and on Friday morning we will welcome Nicola Blackwood, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, and the Rev Andrew Proud, the Bishop of Reading.

“John Moore, the curate who started Christ Church in 1961, who is now in his 80s, will also give a reading and most people will read for about 15 minutes. We are still looking for volunteers.

“This event has partly been inspired by the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, which took place this year.”

Mum-of-two Ruth Savage, who lives off Fitzharrys Road with husband Carl, daughter Joanna, 15, and Daniel, 12, came up with the idea .

She said: “I thought it would be really cool to read the entire scriptures from end to end, which of course you need the whole church to do.

“The youngest readers will be aged eight or nine while the oldest will be in their 80s or 90s.

“It is kind of crazy but as one of our team said ‘God is not a nine to five God’.

“There will be something very powerful about reading the Bible at night and I’m sure there will be a very special atmosphere.

In September last year, the church launched a £2m scheme to renovate two 400-year-old barns at the church site.

The converted barns will include community facilities, and are expected to open by 2012, with the barns accessible from Northcourt Road.

Roman remains were discovered during the summer when an archaeological dig was carried out in the car park.