So, its roughly 2 months since the original post and I wanted to come back and bring closure to the thread in case someone else tries to do research like me.
In short, the scripture study class went so well that we are trying to work in one last 4 week course before Thanksgiving. Our group is only six strong, but I truly think this is God’s plan at work as any larger and we could have been in trouble initially (which I will explain later). (My home parish pulls between 30-60 each session!).
We proceeded with Little Rock Scripture Study which worked incredibly - After the initial introduction meeting, we really fell into a rhythm. 3-5 Minutes of Opening Prayer and Thanksgiving, 45 Minutes to discuss our lesson for the week, 3-5 Minutes of Closing/Intercessory prayer, and 20 Minutes of wrap up video. In and out in 1 Hour 15 Minutes, then off to work we go.
None of us had any real experience with the Bible, we were lucky we could look up passages. We started with the 6 week course “Introduction to the Bible” which was mind blowing. We learned SO MUCH and how we approach what we read from the Bible now is totally different. I HIGHLY recommend starting here. Now, we moved on to our first “real” study - “The Infancy Narratives of Jesus” which is only 3 weeks long. However, that “Introduction tot he Bible” helped me dramatically for this next session.
The coursework is designed for you to work about 20 minutes a day answering questions, reading passages from the Bible, and reading assigned commentary. Then you take what you have studied and discuss it in group before the wrap up video is played for the week. I did this daily before work started while the office was dead quiet. Others would hammer it out in two hours over the weekend. If anyone got real stuck, they just made sure to read the commentary before attending so they can participate.The format doesn’t punish those who didn’t get all the assignment done.
I also reccomend the Leadership Training materials and course. Being the only “lead” I read them all through and then started watching the DVD. Took an hour or so in the evenings before bed for a few nights. At first I thought it cheesy and common sense, but there were some real useful pieces that helped tremendously. Especially things to watch out for. The leader is not a theologian and not a teacher. You are strictly a coordinator and can be as clueless as the rest of your group.
Learn from my mistakes and experience:
- Don’t narrow down the group name as it scares people off. I would have been much better advertsiding the group as “Sacred Heart Scripture Study” instead of “Business Professionals Business Study” (which targeted the men and women that commute to the city for work). That narrow name scared many people off.
- Stay small that first session - cap the group at 8-10 max. This allows the primary leader to learn the ropes. This also helps you form a group who are familiar with the study so when you “open it up” to the parish (and say double your attendence the next go around) you have a few comfortable with the format that can help others. You also have time to identify someone in your group to approach as another leader. (i.e. at about 8-10 you split and start another table/group with a seperate leader).
- Use your leadership training - it helps you keep an eye out for managing the disussion. You never “control” the group, but you do help steer things back when off course and help manage personalities (i.e. the shy person, the talker, the control freak, etc). It’s actually not as dramatic or scary as it sounds.
- Order extra books, you can return them for a refund or credit as you will go two weeks without sign-ups and then have a rash of them only a few days before you start.
- Check with Little Rock to make sure they have plenty of what you want to use in stock. If you advertise for 3 weeks and call for 20 study sets, they may be running low and you start late.
- Give yourself 7 business days to get your books, allthough they are usually much faster.
- Stay in contact with phone calls - I called each the night before to introduce myself and answer questions and get them excited. If someone missed a meeting I always called to check on them.
I think that is it. I can’t tell you how rewarding an experience this is and I can’t relay exactly how much my spiritual life and personal life has benifited from this. The short amount of time I put in each day is returned to me exponentially. The support of the group, the depth of the study, the reward I recieve - it’s awesome.
So if anyone out there felt like me when I started - scared, unsure, and woefully inatiquate - please put your faith in God and take that step forward. It is definately worth it.
And if there is any questions or advice i can give to help another, please PM me here.
to meet his children,