How do you start a Catholic Bible study?

[bwilliams1958]

I am not sure how to start something like this so I though I would start here. I am researching the process on how to start a Catholic Bible study group where the focus group is the general public. One of the purposes is to attract non-Catholic Christians who are interested in learning about the Catholic faith. Since I used to be one myself, I feel a desire to spread the gospel to others. Any help that someone can provide would be appreciated.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

If you’ve never done anything like this before, I recommend that you focus on Catholics who want to study the Bible from a Catholic point of view. Including non-Catholics is a commendable idea, but impractical for a start-up group. Once you have an established group and are comfortable with the logistics, members could be invited to bring an interested non-Catholic.

The first task would be to talk to your pastor. The pastor will need to give permission for the group to meet on parish property, and he may be able to recommend a group leader. (If you’ve never done this before, the group leader should not be you.) Then the group has a couple of options. You can either (1), buy a pre-packaged study on a book of the Bible you want to read, or (2), you can read the book together as a group with a knowledgeable teacher to guide the discussion. I just finished a Scripture study on the Book of Ruth with a group using option 2 and far preferred that to the somewhat “pre-determined results” of a packaged study. Nevertheless, a packaged study may be helpful if you have a large group and/or do not have an experienced teacher to manage the flow of discussion and pose good questions.

If you need a packaged study, Ignatius Press, Emmaus Road, and Our Sunday Visitor all offer options.