Tips for leading Bible Study

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Hello!

(Admins, if you don’t think this is appropriate, please feel free to delete this Thread)

In the Young Adult group which I lead we are trying to help more of our members feel comfortable with leading Bible study. I therefore wrote a series of posts containing my “Do’s and Don’ts” of leading Bible study:

restlesspilgrim.net/blog/2012/06/25/leading-bible-study/

I’m looking for more feedback so that I can produce the best training material possible. I figure that if there’s any group of Catholics which attend and/or lead Bible studies, it’d be the people on this forum!

I’d therefore invite you to take a look and either comment at the end of the posts or here on the forum. Things you disagree with, nuances, additional tips…I’d welcome them all.

Thanks,

David.
 
One thing I would like to suggest would be to encourage all bible study teachers to 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.

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. Teacher’s need to watch that student’s don’t feel put on the spot and embarrassed.
 
To me, what ruins group Bible studies is people giving out their personal opinions on Bible verses, theological issues, Church history, politics, social trends, and so on.

Somehow, you have to banish all that from your group. That’s hard. There always people who want to lecture and teach others with all of their supposedly gigantic wisdom.

One way is to perhaps have a rule that any view expressed must be backed up by a verse form the Bible or from an official document of the Catholic Church.

Best wishes!
 
No real feedback to add but I just wanted to say that’s an awesome blog! 👍
 
There is a difference between leading/facilitating a Bible study, which I do weekly, and teaching.

A facilitator makes sure everyone is comfortable, that everyone has a cup of coffee and a place to sit, and that everyone has a chance to speak and offer opinion. A good study like those from The Great Adventure will teach for you. Teaching and facilitating are not the same thing.

For facilitators:

Do it in your home. You will not regret it. There is nothing wrong with doing it in a classroom at the Church, but doing it in your home means that you will practice hospitality and self sacrifice, opening your home to strangers. People will get to know you better in your native surroundings, and thos strangers will become your friends. Its also a great excuse to finally clean the house.

Make it a social occasion. Have popcorn and coffee, cheese and crackers and a bowl of M&M’s. Invite people to come a little early and just socialize for fifteen minutes. I sometimes invite a couple or someone to come an hour early for dinner. We had a barbeque night one night last summer while studying the Gospel of Matthew.

Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray…

Pray that God sends people to your study, then pray that he finds some bar stools and directors chairs for a dozen people to sit on after he answers your first prayer!

Ask people what they want out of the study during the first session, and make that the basis for your prayer, that the Holy Spirit give them what they desire - closeness to Jesus, a better understading of the Mass readings, ability to defend the faith against Evangelicals - whatever. Pray for what they ask for.

Take fifteen minutes to write a prayer for each session. Print it out and pray it aloud when you start. Here is the one I wrote for the second session of our study this past Tuesday…

***Lord God, we place ourselves in your presence.
We believe that you surround us,
that you are present inside of us,
and that you are in Heaven listening to us now.

We adore you with profound reverence.
We acknowledge you as creator and redeemer of the universe,
and ourselves as nothing apart from you.

We know that we are broken vessels,
and so we come to you for help
and ask that you grant us the grace and peace needed to make this time of study fruitful.

We place this night into the hands of our Holy Mother, Mary.
If we bring any pride or agenda with us tonight,
we ask that she take it to the foot of her son’s cross where it may be purified.
If we bring any good to this study tonight,
we ask that she take it to the foot of her son’s throne where it may be an offering.

Grant us Lord, the gift of your Holy Spirit.
Help us to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit here tonight as we study your living word.

We ask this all through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. ***

Don’t be afraid of silence. Sometimes there will be a awkward moment of silence, when no one wants to pick up the next question or when someone has just spoken for a little too long. Don’t be afraid of that silence and don’t be in a rush to fill it. Breathe and pray a Hail Mary, and God will guide someone to speak.

If the Church is not sponsoring the study, then make sure your pastor knows about it. Invite everyone to Mass together the week before the study starts. Some of us went to confession and Mass before we started this study three weeks ago, and Father gave us a special blessing after Mass.

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.

That’s my advice. I’m sure I’ll think of more. Facilitating Bible study is one of the most rewarding things I do.

-Tim-
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
To me, what ruins group Bible studies is people giving out their personal opinions on Bible verses, theological issues, Church history, politics, social trends, and so on.

Somehow, you have to banish all that from your group. That’s hard. There always people who want to lecture and teach others with all of their supposedly gigantic wisdom.

One way is to perhaps have a rule that any view expressed must be backed up by a verse form the Bible or from an official document of the Catholic Church.

Best wishes!
Click to expand...
This will be minimized in one of the well structured commercially available studies. Time managment is key, and setting ground rules up front is important.

When I facilitate, I make sure that everyone knows that the study is faithful to the magesterium. I make sure they understand that we are not here to debate dogma and doctrine, but that accepted teachings of the Church are a given, and that we will move past anyone who wishes to argue about whether Adam and Eve are real people or whether a priest really can absolve someone of sin. Those are good examples to use, and everyone knows that such things are taken for granted before the study even starts. Arguing about doctrine and dogma is not the purpose of the study, but studying the word of God is.

The studies I have done always include the Catechism along with, and supplemental to the Bible. That helps a great deal.

-Tim-
 
CastingCrown said:
Hello!

(Admins, if you don’t think this is appropriate, please feel free to delete this Thread)

In the Young Adult group which I lead we are trying to help more of our members feel comfortable with leading Bible study. I therefore wrote a series of posts containing my “Do’s and Don’ts” of leading Bible study:

restlesspilgrim.net/blog/2012/06/25/leading-bible-study/

I’m looking for more feedback so that I can produce the best training material possible. I figure that if there’s any group of Catholics which attend and/or lead Bible studies, it’d be the people on this forum!

I’d therefore invite you to take a look and either comment at the end of the posts or here on the forum. Things you disagree with, nuances, additional tips…I’d welcome them all.

Thanks,

David.
Click to expand...
I think your tips are very good.

I would just add a few comments about environment. Make sure it’s comfortable. Don’t put out more chairs than you need - it makes the room feel empty. Don’t worry about not having enough chairs in case extra people come - you can always get out more chairs as needed, and the action of getting out more chairs will make the meeting feel exciting and popular. 🙂

Make sure there’s time for a break, and have simple snacks available.

If you keep the snack simple, this will encourage people to volunteer to bring the snack for the next meeting. Nobody wants to upstage a brilliant cook, but anybody can buy a box of cookies from the store on their way in to the meeting. (If someone surprises you by bringing something elaborate, allow it to unfold that the next volunteer will fail to bring the snack the following week, for fear of not being as good as the brilliant cook - the person following him will be praised and thought brilliant, then, even if he only brings a box of cookies, and you will be back on track.)

The rest seems to have been covered - I would just highlight that it is absolutely essential to begin and end on time, and it is absolutely essential that everyone feel welcome and respected - that your study is orthodox is understood, and that you are using a good, tested program is also understood.

If you are running the Bible study under your own auspices, it’s fine to have it at your house, but if it is meant to be open to all members of the parish, then it should take place on parish property, to avoid the appearance of a “clique” being formed.
 
Awesome thread! I will be paying attention because this upcoming school year I will be leading one for the first time for students on my campus :bigyikes:

I will have FOCUS missionaries “showing me the ropes” but I am still quite nervous! So yes please keep the advice coming! 👍
 
Also, I am in a unique situation. Most, if not all, of the students in my study will be from my football team, hence why FOCUS wants me to lead the study. The catch is most of the players on my team aren’t Catholic.

So tips on keeping the Bible study faithful to Cathilic teaching, while having discussions with Protestants and non-denominationals would be of great value to me.
 
Bartolome_Casas said:
To me, what ruins group Bible studies is people giving out their personal opinions on Bible verses, theological issues, Church history, politics, social trends, and so on.

Somehow, you have to banish all that from your group. That’s hard. There always people who want to lecture and teach others with all of their supposedly gigantic wisdom.

One way is to perhaps have a rule that any view expressed must be backed up by a verse form the Bible or from an official document of the Catholic Church.

Best wishes!
Click to expand...
There are very few official interpretations of the Bible (source: The New Jerome Biblical commentary). I study the bible independently. I don’t think I could lead a group without bringing in at least 60 to 75 pounds of books, so I can whip out those quotes that you want. I have this inclination.

So, say you want to discuss Is chap 7, about the controversy between the translation as “young woman” versus “virgin.” The Jewish Study Bible definitely comes down on the side of “young woman” as the translation, but then hits a dead wall about the meaning of the “sign.” This verse highlights one of the major controversies in the Bible.
 
I can’t write an exhaustive comment to cover all of my concerns. But, here’s some ideas
  1. READ the scripture during your session. This makes a level playing field for those who may not have had time to prepare
  2. Consider a WRAP UP by the leader at the end of the meeting, to acknowledge special ideas that came up, but more important, to mention any points that may NOT have come up. Have a handout if possible.
  3. At the beginning of a study group, make sure everybody looks at their Bible table of contents and can get to it quickly, to look up the location of a cross reference we may be following. (I had a lady who didn’t realize John wrote three letters as well as a gospel, so she glazed over on “first John chapter one” versus “John chapter one.”
    4.have a plan to handle if somebody is wrong. One guy said our good works get us to heaven. Welll…no.
  4. I’ve never led a group, but I’ve always thought it was important to make sure your study, as Scott Hahn says, is a life-changing experience. No one is neutral on the “sola scriptura” issue. I think it’s important to let people know early why we’re not “sola scriptura.” See my next post.
 
Rev 22:18-19 tells about not adding or taking away words from the prophecy “of this book.” Protestants like to apply “this book” to the entire Bible. That’s probably not what John intended when he wrote it. If anything, he was probably refering just to Revelations, itself.

But, keep in mind, that Protestants view these verses as the basis of “sola scriptura.” Think about it. That’s why they condemn the Catholic Church for “tradition” because we’re “adding” to the words of scripture.

But wait.

What about 2 Thess 2:15 which says to hold on to the traditions which were given by word or by [Paul’s] epistle. This verse is paraphrased at the end of Paragraph 82 of the Catechism.

There’s a lot of arguments against sola scriptura, but this seems to be the easiest to explain. Scripture itself says it’s not “sola scriptura” right there in that verse. The preceding verses compliment each other, and do not annihilate each other.

2 Tim 3:15 says that “all scripture…is profitable…” Well, this verse was probably referring to the Old Testament, but has been modernized to include the new testament, as well. This is an issue for real bible exegetes: What did scripture mean THEN, and what does it mean NOW?
They say, every generation has to write its own commentary on the Bible. (to what new things does the Bible apply?)

But there’s more. get your bible and read 2 Thess 2:15 for yourself. It says to “hold on” – this is a Biblical command (which Protestants side-step one way or another). There’s a lot of hot button issues out there – guess what? the biblical command is to “hold on” to Church teaching.

Even though you’re studying the Bible, we have to listen to what the Church says. It’s a command in scripture itself.
 
I was in group bible study for several years until I decided to “take off” studying on my own. I can study the Bible at my own pace, which often means reading faster than any group does.

I can go off and look at several other sources to expand on some subject, such as a verse that I’m interested in.

The Catechism should be a part of every bible study, group or private study, to stay on course with Church teaching.

The difficulty with group study that I’ve been in, is that it’s too fast (like 3 chapters of a book per night) – no time to delve into verse-by-verse analysis.

Catholic bible study programs like Little Rock are packed with so much passed off as commentary, which is often just a paraphrase of the scripture itself. It seems like they don’t want anybody to ask a question or state an opinion about anything.

Example: Jewish commentaries are of a single mind that Ester is a book in the comedy genre, it’s a riotous farce with a religious moral. Its opening chapters are so burlesque and provocative that it barely got into the Bible, except for the religious aspect of it, in the establishment of the feast of Purim. This is significant, because this was the first Jewish feast that was not in the Torah. It opened the door for other Jewish observances.​

example: the Jewish commentary makes a point that in the book of Ruth, the marriage of Boaz and Ruth is NOT a levirate marriage. The New Jerome Biblical commentary makes the emphatic point that it IS a levirate marriage. chew on that.​

In the centuries of Jewish commentary on scripture, disagreement is common, almost the rule. The Talmud puts these contrasting views side by side. They kick the can down the road to posterity to advance the cause, either way. Clearly stated disagreement isn’t bad. Instead of correcting somebody who is wrong, maybe all you need to do is present the other side of the story – what the Church says, for example, and leave it at that. Let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting.​

Judaism has no official interpretation of any scripture, like the Catholic Church (few offficial interpretations ( source, New Jerome Biblical Commentary).​

take a look at Jaroslav Pelikan’s “Whose bible is it?” (book) Various interesting observations in it. If somebody doesn’t think that tradition is important in understanding the bible, better read this. Issue: Hebrew has no vowels, punctuation, indentation, footnotes, chapter numbers, verse numbers, etc. All of that stuff in YOUR Bible is “interpretation” and “opinion” of the translators and publishers. Example: Genesis has 50 chapters. Really? there are 12 sections of verses in Genesis – delimited by certain Hebrew words. That division is TOTALLY lost in the translation and numbering of verses and chapters.
 
Crumpy said:
I can’t write an exhaustive comment to cover all of my concerns. But, here’s some ideas
  1. READ the scripture during your session. This makes a level playing field for those who may not have had time to prepare
Click to expand...
I would actually limit the homework, and I wouldn’t make it a reading assignment. Instead, I would challenge the participants to one simple action that they can do during the week, in the course of their ordinary activities, to live out the Scriptural message that they have heard that week. (For example, if the reading was about “The Lost Sheep,” I’d ask them to watch for times when they’re looking for something important that has gotten mislaid, and after finding the thing, remember that God feels that same anxiety over us when we sin, and that same relief when we go to Confession and come back to our faith.)

The opening conversation the following week can be about whether they did it, and how things turned out.

I’ve led several different kinds of groups. I always found that nobody ever did reading assignments - people today are far too busy and distracted. I would keep all of the main activities of the study within the hour or 90 minutes of the session itself, rather than rely on people preparing ahead of time. If people are setting aside time each day for Bible reading, I would encourage them to reflect on the passages that we’re doing in the study, but I wouldn’t require it or expect it.

I typically give out calendars at the beginning of the year showing which topics will occur on which days, and I have created handouts that people can pick up if they miss a session, but I almost never assign any actual homework.
 
When my wife & taught RCIA, at the end of each class we’d distribute a 1 or 2 page handout to “have a look at” before the next class. That worked well.

I teach 6th grade now. I don’t expect them to read anything outside (or inside) of class; that works well, too.
 
The main activity of Judaism is study of the Torah. The Jews are “the people of the book” in paragraph 108 (or thereabouts) of the Catechism.

The Torah is the first five books of the bible. In the larger sense, the Torah is all the hebrew scripture. But, don’t stop there. The Torah in the widest sense is the Pentateuch (first five books), all the other biblical writing, and all the Jewish commentaries (talmud “study”) written to explain the Pentateuch. Even in Judaism, there is hesitancy that too much is considered “inspired.” This was also Jesus’s complaint, that the Pharisees were putting too many burdens on men.

The Pentateuch has a certain amount of tension in it, as the Chosen People do not reach the Promised Land** IN **the Pentateuch. They get there in Joshua (irony? = Yeshua = Jesus).
the first six books of the bible = the Hexateuch.

Jesus never said “I am God” but he said many other things that were equivalent to it. Have to look at all the things he said about himself. I can’t remember the “prooftext” for this. But, in general, what Jesus claimed about himself shows that he claimed Divinity. it is unmistakeable to a Jewish reader.
 
according to the Jewish Annotated New Testament, Paul, of course, was against circumcising gentiles as they converted to Christianity. But, Paul never told Jewish converts to abandon their Jewish customs or practices.

I haven’t tracked this down (fact checking) but I seem to have read that although Paul was against circumcision, he actually did circumcise one gentile convert himself, Timothy. this caused some problems for Paul in his ministry.
 
I think a successful parish level bible study is really a matter of the group dynamic, of how people interact. I saw a successful bible study at a Christian Reformed Church which was led by some retirement age people who were really enthusiastic and simply encouraged everyone to participate.

In such a forum, there may be one “designated” expert, the group leader him-/her-self. I think you have to take it for granted, unless proven otherwise, that everybody is there to learn something to enrich their life.

I saw a Catholic group study led by a priest, where it was obvious that most of the people were just trying to get quality time with the pastor. When he had to be someplace else, most of the crowd didn’t show up.

I sat in on what I recall was a Methodist group, where it was pretty much the same, for several ladies to get close to the new pastor, for the most part.

People go there for different reasons.
 
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