Leading a Bible study Feedback: Part 2

Today I’m going to continue looking at some of the feedback I received from my series on Leading a Bible Study. Yesterday I considered the meeting location and today I’m going to look at the comments concerning the discussion itself.

The Discussion

alan55 said:

Most of the value that people get from a bible study comes from reading the scriptures and trying to understand what they’ve read. Catholics tend to be far too afraid of misinterpreting the scriptures in a way that is at odds with the Church’s official teaching. They don’t want to hear the opinions of others in their group, or even to come up with their own opinion — they want the “correct” interpretation, one that is officially sanctioned by the Church.

I would agree with this analysis.

Unfortunately, that approach shuts down adult bible studies before they start and tends to turn a bible study into a lecture by an “expert” (preferably a priest) that is received passively by the rest of the group. It also limits the amount of learning that can take place.

Absolutely, this is a real problem. While it does reduce the probably of people being swayed by a rouge interpretation of the Bible, it unfortunately cuts down on critical thinking. Those present are far less likely to develop the tools needed to help them understand Sacred Scripture and this would become an impediment to their love of God’s Word.

Of course, all of this does also assume that the person leading the group, priest or laity, actually knows what he’s talking about! (This is unfortunately not always the case)

Adults learn best by wrestling with the subject matter and sharing what they’re thinking and feeling with others. A good bible study leader is a facilitator, not an expert.

Bingo! I think this is probably the biggest reason for people not stepping up to lead. They think that they have to be great Biblical scholars when they really don’t.

They don’t hold themselves out as an expert but delight when there is a good discussion and everyone has something to add to the discussion.

I would also suggest that if the group perceives that there is an “expert” at the meeting, they will avoid sharing and instead simply wait for the “expert’s” opinion.

Most parts of the bible have no official interpretation. If the bible study leader has a good basic understanding of church doctrine, there are very few opportunities for participants to engage in anything approaching heresy.

Yeah, I’d say this is generally true. And if there is a dispute or an unanswered question, great! The leader simply has to make a note of it and find out the answer for next week. That’s also a good time to  call in the parish priest for some assistance.

I do think that good bible study guides for use by Catholic small groups are in short supply, which makes the job of a bible study leader more difficult. The ones that are sold in most Christian bookstores are written by evangelical protestants and probably shouldn’t be used.

This really bug me. There does appear to be a shortage of simple, affordable Catholic Bible study guides. There are some good ones, but they are usually pretty expensive.

(I’m currently working on a project to specifically address this issue)

creole54 said:

Teach the students how to use their bible. It’s not something a lot of Catholics are very good at. I realize it’s faster for the teacher to print off the study verses on a piece of paper instead of waiting for a student to fumble through their bible in search of the right passage. I think if people become comfortable with using their Bible, it will follow that they’ll use it more.

I would say that it’s true that many Catholics are not very good at navigating their Bibles (although, to be fair, in my experience, this is far from a Catholic-only problem). In fact, it was because of this that I wrote a post the other day about The Structure of the New Testament and how understanding this can help you easily navigate through it.

While I would say creaole54‘s advice is good, I would suggest that it is better suited to Bible studies which aren’t based upon the Lectionary. At the JP2 Group we study the upcoming Sunday Readings using the missalettes from the pews. While it would be good to get people to bring their own Bibles and look up the passages, I foresee a few problems:

1. Everyone would have to remember to bring their Bibles (and there would have to be some spare Bibles for new people)

2. Everyone would really have to bring the same translation. A variety of translations can add to the discussion, but it can also make it quite unwieldy.

3. The Lectionary often jumps around in order to make an individual Reading more self-contained.

4. It would be harder to flip between the Readings. This is particularly important to show the common themes and the Biblical typology.

5. All that fumbling around would probably add a good 5-10 minutes to the Bible study.

So while I agree with creaole54, I think that advice is better suited to non-Lectionary based Bible studies.

Another thing is, the reason I go to bible study is to learn about the bible, so if the teacher asks me ‘What does this passage mean” or “What’s going on in this chapter?”…well, I probably won’t know…that’s why I’m in the study to begin with.

Here we have a divergence of opinion as this conflicts with what alan55 said above.

I would suggest that one of the main purposes of Bible study groups is to help teach people how to read the Bible, which begins with ascertaining the general level of Biblical literacy of the members, in order to build on their current understanding. You can only really do this is people tell you what they initially understand from the passage.

I often ask the question: “What’s going on in this passage?” because it actually forces people to read the text. I’ve often encountered people who just sit there waiting for the leader give them “the answers”. A study group should be about encouraging textual analysis and critical thinking.

Teacher’s need to watch that student’s don’t feel put on the spot and embarrassed.

Absolutely. If something like that happens, that person may well not come back!

Having said that, if someone has been attending Bible study for several weeks and not said a word, I’ll quite often ask that person a simple question at some point to try and draw them into the discussion. However, the question I’ll ask will be of the type “you-can’t-answer-this-incorrectly”.

joeQ said:

Other good questions to ask to help foster discussion: Why do you think the author of this passage chose to include this specific detail? What overlying message do you think God intends to relay to us with this passage? This passage was written thousands of years ago. How does it apply to us today?

Great suggestions.

If you have a steady group and you generally know who is going to be attending, you know people’s comfort levels, interests,
struggles, etc with the scripture or life in general. It’s good to “know your audience.” When thinking of questions to help foster discussion, think about who will be there, what sort of things they’ve brought up in the past, what they might positively respond to, and especially what they might negatively respond to. The leader should think about the the “enzyme” that might catalyze some the the quieter group attendees to share their thoughts and questions.

In the case that the bible study group is so new or fluid that the leader has no idea who will be there, it’s good to error on the side of safety when trying to “know your audience” until trusting relationships can be developed where the leader can ask more aggressive and challenging questions.

An overarching understanding one must have with any bible study is that everyone participating in the group comes from a different background, has a different degree of theological education and understanding, and is on a different level in their spiritual journey with Christ. That being said, a leader (or any contributor for that matter!) must not be afraid to speak Truth, but also must be sure to do so with charity.

That’s a really good principal to keep in mind: “Know your audience”.

On the topic of situational awareness, the leader definitely needs to be aware of the group’s body language too. Does everyone look bored? Are people perking up when a certain topic or question is raised. What are people’s reactions to others’ comments or questions? Body language speaks volumes and needs to be just as charitable as the discussion itself.

I guess we could call this principle: “Pay attention to your audience”.

Name tags… depending on group size and dynamic, I sometimes find it helpful when when people wear little “hello my name is” name tags. Yes this sounds dorky, BUT in the case where new people might frequently come and go within the group, it might be hard for veterans to remember the new people’s names for the first few weeks, or the new people might be so nervous about being new that they don’t remember everyone’s name after the introduction. Name tags could eliminate awkwardness with “Thanks for sharing…err… what’s your name again?” I think it’s helpful to know people’s names during group discussion because it fosters a more personal connection.

I’m not completely sold on this idea. I can see your point though. I think it would work best at large Bible studies where there’s a lot of new names each week.

Perhaps after some time of prolonged silence, if the leader has a good go-to person, someone they know who is confident and not shy, it might befit them to propose their question to that go-to person directly.

I think this a great point and a really good strategy for leading the group out of silence and back into discussion. I would suggesting using this person sparingly, for fear that this person becomes “the expert” and everyone just sits around waiting for that person to give the group the “correct” answer.

If you offer people dessert, they will not take it. If you put the cake in front of them, they will eat it.

Sometimes it pays to be pushy 🙂

One tricky aspect of being the leader of a bible study is diffusing tense situations. Two or more people might be very adamant about their positions/interpretations/etc and it makes it awkward, uncomfortable, and unproductive for the rest of the group. The leader needs to have good situational awareness to diffuse confrontation and steer focus back onto the scripture or move on to the next reading.

It’s difficult to do, but it’s something of which the leader must always be vigilant.

TimothyH said:

Have a “Parking lot” for questions that you can’t answer, and try to find the answer if you can’t figure it out at the study. Don’t be afraid to admit when something stumps you and then pray about it and seek an answer outside of the study.

Great advice. Don’t be afraid to say when “I don’t know”, and don’t let a tricky question derail the entire evening. 

Tomorrow I’ll finish this series by looking at some of the comments I received concerning the end of the study session.

Original Series | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3