Leading Bible Study: Part 1

This year in the JP2 Group, more and more people have been stepping up to lead Bible study. This has been wonderful, and has brought with it a number of benefits.

Firstly, the variation in leadership has added some real diversity and insight to our Bible study sessions and helped keep the group fresh.

Secondly, in our community we often have people who attend JP2 for some time and then move on to another city. It is my hope that, by having led at JP2, these people will have the confidence at their new parish to support similar ministries or, if such ministries do not exist, then start them!

Finally, as the number of leaders in a group increases, the group becomes more self-sustaining, reducing the pressure on the group’s original leader, thus freeing him or her up to spend more time crocheting and playing the banjo…

Mistakes, I’ve made a few…

I’ve led Bible studies, in some form or another, since about 2004. In doing so, I’ve made all kinds of mistakes. Seriously, name a mistake, I’ve done it. In fact, not only will I have done it, I’m pretty sure I’d have done it in far more spectacular fashion than you! :-p

Therefore, drawing upon my vast wealth of mistakes, in an effort to help those readers who are also involved in leadership, I’ve compiled a list of Do’s and Don’ts for leading Bible Study.

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Leading a Bible study: Part 4

Today I thought I’d post the fourth part of my five-part series on leading a Bible study. In the earlier posts (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3) I discussed some Do’s and Don’ts of preparation, beginning the meeting and starting the discussion. Today I would now like to continue to discuss some suggested Do’s and Don’ts of guiding the discussion…

DON’T: Sit inappropriately close. It’s kinda creepy 😉

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Leading a Bible study: Part 6

Today is the final post in my series on leading a Bible study (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5). Here are my concluding Do’s and Don’ts:

DON’T: Forget the heart
I’m a very “head” oriented person. When I study the Bible I like to pull apart texts, examine the words, look at the historical background and get straight to the meaning of the text. It is only after I’ve done all this that I’m ready to engage with the Scripture on a “heart” level. However, I know that in this I am an oddity! I find that most people engage with Scripture on an emotional level much earlier in the process. Therefore, to lead an engaging bible study I must accommodate this and allow people to respond emotionally to the Scripture before we’ve dissected every technical detail of the text.

DON’T: Forget the head
…having said that, don’t neglect the exegesis. I have been to Bible studies before which have been nothing more than a “feeling sharing group”. That was all anyone ever talked about, how they felt about the text! The actual meaning of the text wasn’t even examined.

DO: Keep the hippy, tree-hugging stuff to a minimum… 😉

A balance must be struck between head and heart.

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Leading a Bible study Feedback: Part 1

Last month I published a series entitled Leading A Bible Study. I wrote those posts for two reasons. The first reason was to clarify in my own mind some of the lessons I had learned from leading various church groups. The other reason was to provide a resource for those beginning similar endeavours.

Upon completing the series, I sent out requests for feedback. I contacted friends, other Bible study leaders, as well as some random people on the Internet!

suggestion-box-shredder

In response to the feedback I received, I decided to write a few follow-up posts on this subject. I will devote a post to each area of feedback, quoting the feedback received and offering my own comments in RED.

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