The Unlikely Evangelist

- We tried one once, but it ended after a few of weeks because only a couple of people came

- We do one at lent with Churches Together, but our members only come when it's at our church

- I read the Bible at home ... sometimes ... isn't that enough?

If these or other reasons why your church doesn't have a regular Bible Study sound familiar, then read on ...

Bible Study for every Church

These excuses and more could all be heard at Heald Green United Reformed Church before we tried a different style of Bible Study, one I now believe could work in every church!

Over the last three years our Bible Study Group(s) have gone from strength to strength in a number of ways.

How it all started ...

Like most churches, when the new minister enthusiastically announced there would be a Bible Study group starting on Monday evenings, most people appeared supportive. However, when it came to actually attending, numbers were not as impressive as they might have been, just the minister and three others. Sound familiar, well here's the exciting thing, two years later we have two Bible Study groups! One meets on a Monday evening with an average attendance of 16 and one on a Tuesday afternoon for a group of around 9. Twenty-five people attending a weekly Bibles Study. Amazing!

So how was it done?

The first lesson we learnt together was KEEP GOING! So don't give up just because the group is small. If there is just two or three people willing to come along every week, then they will soon start to tell their friends in the church (with a little encouragement) and eventually the group will start to grow. So don't be disheartened by a small group, it may well turn out to be a mustard seed!

But it wasn't just patience which grew our group, it was a new format for Bible Study, based on the Revised Common Lectionary.

Get Connected!

Ever sat in church and wondered what on earth the Bible passage was about, then struggled through a Sermon which either assumed you knew the details of the passage well or avoided the complicated bit everyone was wondering about? Then start a Bible Study Group and get re-connected!

Our groups meet on Monday evening and now Tuesday afternoon, at the beginning of the week, as near to the previous Sundays service as possible. This is because our meetings start with 20 minutes discussing the previous Sunday's service. A chance to ask questions, make comments and share ideas. This isn't a time to gripe, with comments like, 'I didn't know the second hymn' or 'the children were noisy this week', but an opportunity to share how the service made you think and feel, what was your reaction to the message.

From here we take about 10 minutes to read to ourselves the Lectionary passages set for the following Sunday. We read to ourselves for several reasons. First, many people are embarrassed at reading aloud and can find it really stressful. This is one reason we found why people didn't come to Bible Study groups, so we stopped doing it, simple! Another advantage however, is reading to yourself allows you to read at your own speed, pause when you like to consider a particular point, which gives you space to find your own meanings and questions in the story.

After everyone has finished reading, as a group we then share any links we have spotted between the readings. Each week the Lectionary offers four readings, one from the Hebrew Scriptures, a Psalm, an Epistle and a Gospel passage. Often, (but not always) the passages have a common theme, or themes. This is what we are trying to discover here.

After around 10 minutes we select as a group which passage we would like to look at in more detail. It's often the Gospel, but not always, and most weeks the other passages chip in from time to time.

The next 30 minutes or so form the main discussion part of our meetings. No one is made to feel like they have to speak, but equally all are free to contribute any thoughts, feelings, comments or questions into the discussion. It's amazing what we discover together when we simply share our own thoughts rather than find a big book or a minister to be the expert in the group.

That's not to say as minister I don't contribute, or read a few commentaries before the meeting, I do. But I'm careful to try and not contribute till everyone has had chance to speak or if the passage is particularly difficult and the group needs some help to get going. I try to be a member of the group, there as a resource to draw on if needed, not as the expert or leader who dominates the discussion. These factors all encouraged people to join, knowing they could just sit and listen if they liked, they wouldn't be put on the spot with any questions or made to feel stupid. All contributions are most welcome!

As the discussion starts to draw to a close, we spend the remaining 20 minutes or so addressing the biggest question of the meeting. The 'So What?' question!

Has this just been an enjoyable chat for an hour and a half, 90 minutes academic exercise, or has there been a further point to it all? Has our relationship with the Bible grown as a result of our meeting? Have our relationships with each other strengthened and will our life be changed, if only a little by what we have learnt and shared together about God's ways? This is always the most challenging and rewarding part of the meeting.

We each go home with much to ponder in the coming week, looking forward to Sundays service with even greater interest. Will the preacher use my Idea? Will I understand the Sermon more than usual? Will the service connect with me in a deeper way?

The answer for those who attend is often yes! That's why now, instead of a weekly chore, Bible Study is a weekly highlight, as important, or in some cases, more important than the Sunday Service itself.

Then, at the beginning of the new week, the cycle continues, as we learn and grow and make connections together.

Final Reflections

It took a little under a year to develop the format and for attendance on a Monday to reach double figures. Soon after, sufficient interest for an afternoon group was shown and both groups have continued to grow in one's and two's over the months. But the numbers are not the most important thing. Seeing people grow in their faith is much more important.

As peoples faith and understanding has developed and matured this has not just shown in the Bible Study itself, an amazing further benefit has been the quality of contribution to church meetings. The overall mood has changed from 'I think this' and 'I want to do that', to 'shouldn't we take this minority view into consideration?', 'the story of ... in the Bible suggests we should think of it like this ... doesn't it?' Our discussions and decisions have greatly benefited, and now with over a third of the Sunday morning congregation attending Bible Study every week, that can only get better. But our challenge is still to achieve 100%, not necessarily everyone attending these Bible Studies, but now our challenge as a church is to find other ways of reaching those who this format hasn't reached.

After a year I asked the original four members of the group why they came in the first place. Three said because in the early days they felt sorry for me and wanted to offer the new minister some support, but now they wouldn't miss it.

And finally, what one member went on to say will always stick in my mind. It's not what I've learnt about the Bible which has been the important thing. (And she was clearly someone who had learnt a lot), it's what I've learnt about God.

Amen to that.

I hope this story inspires you, and soon, we'll have a Bible study in every church!