Tips for leading Bible Study

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Most of the value that people get from a bible study comes from reading the scriptures and trying to undersand 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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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.
 
Alan55 said:
Most of the value that people get from a bible study comes from reading the scriptures and trying to undersand 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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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.
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I’ve rambled on across several posts in this thread, but I agree and repeat the information of The New Jerome Biblical Commentary that there are few official interpretations of scripture.

Not only is that true as stated, but it is also why 1) there is no volume or set of volumes that HAS this hoped-for interpretation, and 2) why the Pontifical Biblical Commission wrote a short volume (“Interpretation of the Bible in the Church” around 1992 or 1993) to tell us HOW to interpret scripture – because there is NO such reference guide of Catholic Bible interpretation.

My experience agrees with this post I’ve quoted, that people want just what Alan says - don’t want to make a mistake, don’t like others’ opinions (he or she seems to have that my-way-or-the-highway interpretation.)

Want an example of this dilemma? Only two people showed up for this Bible study meeting that I was visiting on a trial basis. The lady in charge was giving a reason why Jesus would heal somebody and then tell them not to tell anybody.

HER interpretation was that Jesus told them that to preclude persecution, because Christians were persecuted. NO, I SAID, the persecutions came somewhat later in history. Jesus said this to discourage people from coming to be entertained by the spectacle of the healings. Jesus healings were a form of teaching, and fulfillment of scripture. WELL, NO she said, that wasn’t it at all. So, there you go. That’s the other thing that happens in bible studies – disagreement. I addressed “disagreement” in a previous post.

Nevertheless, this study group leader stuck to her guns about her opinion. After all, she had been trained by no less than the late bishop himself. Perhaps (maybe I’m being too snarky here) that’s why nobody showed up for this bible study.
 
Crumpy said:
Nevertheless, this study group leader stuck to her guns about her opinion. After all, she had been trained by no less than the late bishop himself. Perhaps (maybe I’m being too snarky here) that’s why nobody showed up for this bible study.
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I actually haven’t noticed any correlation between orthodoxy and attendance levels - it seems to me that the most popular Bible studies are the ones where everyone just shares their feelings, mostly.
 
“everyone just shares their feelings, mostly.”

God forbid.
 
Our priest and I recently led a interesting bible study(according to the attendees)
We based it on biblical parallels. The New testament is concealed in the old, and the old is revealed by the new.

We hit parallels on Mary, the Trinity, ect ect.
 
My parish did a “Great Adventures Bible Timeline Seminar,” a day-long event with a great speaker that gave an overview of the entire bible. It was heavily promoted and ended up attracting 430 people from all over the diocese. We followed up with home-based adult bible studies using the “Great Adventure” DVD lectures and discussion guides that involved over 100 adults over the course of one year, with some groups continuing for additional studies. The “Great Adventure” seminars and home-study materials are available from Ascension Press.

My parish has had a long history of small groups, some based on reading and discussing the readings from the weekend mass, others based on reading and discussing various books on religious topics. That foundation was important for the success of the “Great Adventure” effort. I note that this success required strong lay leadership, months of planning, preparation and promotion, support from the pastor and lay pastoral council, and a big budget. I didn’t always agree with the Great Adventure’s scriptural analysis, but it was very aware of and supportive of Catholic doctrine and gave many of our parishioners a good biblical foundation on which they can build.
 
“I didn’t always agree with the Great Adventure’s scriptural analysis”

That’s interesting; do you remember any instances in particular?
 
kkollwitz said:
“I didn’t always agree with the Great Adventure’s scriptural analysis”

That’s interesting; do you remember any instances in particular?
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I think that the Great Adventure folk strained to take a salvation history approach that made more of a linear story out the the OT than the books of the OT really support. It’s been a few years, so I don’t recall any point in particular. However, when it comes to a one-day seminar, they did a great job overall. Most people came away from the day very enthusiastic and motivated to dive deeper into the bible – including the Old Testament – and for that I am very thankful. The kind of noodling that goes on in OT scholarship these days would make for a very dull and unedifying seminar for most people.
 
“made more of a linear story out the the OT than the books of the OT really support”

I like that and can see what you mean.
 
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