How can Bible studies be made more engaging & interesting?

[mike]

Very few churches are sitting down with the Bible, and reading the New Testament together, and making adjustments in their practices and lifestyles based on what they read together. Most Bible studies are just reconfirming what is already believed and practiced and making excuses for what is not.

I think this may be one of the reasons that Bible studies such as Sunday School classes might sometimes not appear to interest many of the attendees. The underlying attitude is that nothing much that is new will really be unearthed anyway.

What can be done, or what are some of the things that should be in place, for a Bible study to be interesting and engaging to those attending?

[Heirbyadoption]

Very few churches are sitting down with the Bible, and reading the New Testament together, and making adjustments in their practices and lifestyles based on what they read together. Most Bible studies are just reconfirming what is already believed and practiced and making excuses for what is not.

I think this may be one of the reasons that Bible studies such as Sunday School classes might sometimes not appear to interest many of the attendees. The underlying attitude is that nothing much that is new will really be unearthed anyway.

What can be done, or what are some of the things that should be in place, for a Bible study to be interesting and engaging to those attending?

Step one, quit using that little quarterly book... Step two, consider moving your Biblestudies out of your Sunday services and into homes and smaller groups, perhaps...?

What does an unengaging or uninteresting Bible study currently look like, in your setting?

[mike]

Very few churches are sitting down with the Bible, and reading the New Testament together, and making adjustments in their practices and lifestyles based on what they read together. Most Bible studies are just reconfirming what is already believed and practiced and making excuses for what is not.

I think this may be one of the reasons that Bible studies such as Sunday School classes might sometimes not appear to interest many of the attendees. The underlying attitude is that nothing much that is new will really be unearthed anyway.

What can be done, or what are some of the things that should be in place, for a Bible study to be interesting and engaging to those attending?

Step one, quit using that little quarterly book... Step two, consider moving your Biblestudies out of your Sunday services and into homes and smaller groups, perhaps...?

What does an unengaging or uninteresting Bible study currently look like, in your setting?

Primarily, lack of response or engagement from the audience. A teacher recently mentioned that his last lesson felt like he was "pushing a rope." It can also look like a teacher who presents few original ideas or questions beyond what is written in the lesson book or teacher's guide. They certainly aren't all that way, but too many times, we do seem to struggle for participation other than by a handful of people who sometimes should talk a little less than they do.

I do like your ideas.

[Heirbyadoption]

What does an unengaging or uninteresting Bible study currently look like, in your setting?

Primarily, lack of response or engagement from the audience. A teacher recently mentioned that his last lesson felt like he was "pushing a rope." It can also look like a teacher who presents few original ideas or questions beyond what is written in the lesson book or teacher's guide. They certainly aren't all that way, but too many times, we do seem to struggle for participation other than by a handful of people who sometimes should talk a little less than they do.

Why do you think think the audience isn't engaging the discussion and chance to dig into the Word together? What is behind the lack of participation or enthusiasm? Is it the formality, the expectation the teacher will just keep pushing the rope, a worry that they may get put in the lot for engaging too much?

[mike]

What does an unengaging or uninteresting Bible study currently look like, in your setting?

Primarily, lack of response or engagement from the audience. A teacher recently mentioned that his last lesson felt like he was "pushing a rope." It can also look like a teacher who presents few original ideas or questions beyond what is written in the lesson book or teacher's guide. They certainly aren't all that way, but too many times, we do seem to struggle for participation other than by a handful of people who sometimes should talk a little less than they do.

Why do you think think the audience isn't engaging the discussion and chance to dig into the Word together? What is behind the lack of participation or enthusiasm? Is it the formality, the expectation the teacher will just keep pushing the rope, a worry that they may get put in the lot for engaging too much?

As to the last question, not at all, we just had a double ordination and neither person who was ordained has spoken up much at all in Sunday school since I've been there.

So I don't know. I think it's a combination of the lesson basically being a canned thing, geared to generating canned responses to canned questions; the obvious fact that most people don't actually do the lesson ahead of time; a culture that has been created where it's not really expected that most people will speak up; and the formality of the thing. Add to that a culture where for the most part the heavy thinking, responsibility for the direction of the church, and speaking to the church is relegated to the ordained men, and you have a situation where many lay people don't feel obligated, gifted, or expected to participate.

I think our church is getting better at it, but we have some way to go.

[Bootstrap]

Very few churches are sitting down with the Bible, and reading the New Testament together, and making adjustments in their practices and lifestyles based on what they read together. Most Bible studies are just reconfirming what is already believed and practiced and making excuses for what is not.

I think this may be one of the reasons that Bible studies such as Sunday School classes might sometimes not appear to interest many of the attendees. The underlying attitude is that nothing much that is new will really be unearthed anyway.

What can be done, or what are some of the things that should be in place, for a Bible study to be interesting and engaging to those attending?

If the attitude is that nothing much is new, I think a starting point is to teach that the Holy Spirit always has something new for us, and that we should seek that together, in prayer. And perhaps it would be useful to dive into Scripture that most Christians do not know well, e.g. the Old Testament.

I find it helpful to emphasize that the Bible is so much more than any of our simplified summaries. It is not a set of rules or a systematic theology or a black and white answer to every question. It shows people wrestling with the hard questions, having to trust God when they cannot see him delivering for them, wrestling with what the right thing to do is when it is often not clear, wrestling with each other. It shows Israel and the church sometimes failing and getting things wrong. And all of this is older and stranger and harder to understand than we would often like. To understand any part of the Bible, it is helpful to understand the rest.

The Bible is an old, strange, long book, written to people in very different cultures than we live in today, in languages most of us do not understand. Even scholars who know these languages well and are constantly studying the cultural background keep learning new things. Part of the challenge is understanding what it was like for them then. Once we understand that, we ask what that means to us now, but that is sometimes harder to answer than we would like to admit for some passages.

Do they think they understand it because really what they want from the Bible is a set of rules to obey and they already know those rules? I am struggling with the notion that anyone can study the Bible and find nothing new ...

[Heirbyadoption]

I think it's a combination of the lesson basically being a canned thing, geared to generating canned responses to canned questions; the obvious fact that most people don't actually do the lesson ahead of time; a culture that has been created where it's not really expected that most people will speak up; and the formality of the thing. Add to that a culture where for the most part the heavy thinking, responsibility for the direction of the church, and speaking to the church is relegated to the ordained men, and you have a situation where many lay people don't feel obligated, gifted, or expected to participate.
I think our church is getting better at it, but we have some way to go.

I'm not sure how you divide your Biblestudy or SS groups, but smaller groups also tend to have more conversation than larger ones... Another thought, do you think if you revamped your system to use lay brethren more regularly and with more expectation of involvement, rather than just having your ministers, your deacon, and one lay brother as the SS teacher for the year as those who do the primary speaking/teaching/participation, it could help your congregational members grow into more active engagement?

[joshuabgood]

I would advocate for more sustained passages. For instance taking John 13-18 altogether is quite insightful. Have the reading/annotating and scaffolding questions done ahead of time. (Dispense with the 8-12 verse stuff). Taking the text in larger chunks really, for me, provides messaging and theme that short passages do not.

Also, go for a larger view than the "microscopic" word studies. What are the larger themes? What questions are raised?

[mike]

Do they think they understand it because really what they want from the Bible is a set of rules to obey and they already know those rules? I am struggling with the notion that anyone can study the Bible and find nothing new ...

I don't think people generally think through the issue at all, and certainly wouldn't say any of those things. We do believe in our heads that the Bible is not just rules to obey and that of course there is always something new to discover. I think what we are dealing with is subconscious attitudes and long-standing culture rather than a few wrong ideas that can be easily pinpointed.

[mike]

I think it's a combination of the lesson basically being a canned thing, geared to generating canned responses to canned questions; the obvious fact that most people don't actually do the lesson ahead of time; a culture that has been created where it's not really expected that most people will speak up; and the formality of the thing. Add to that a culture where for the most part the heavy thinking, responsibility for the direction of the church, and speaking to the church is relegated to the ordained men, and you have a situation where many lay people don't feel obligated, gifted, or expected to participate.
I think our church is getting better at it, but we have some way to go.

I'm not sure how you divide your Biblestudy or SS groups, but smaller groups also tend to have more conversation than larger ones... Another thought, do you think if you revamped your system to use lay brethren more regularly and with more expectation of involvement, rather than just having your ministers, your deacon, and one lay brother as the SS teacher for the year as those who do the primary speaking/teaching/participation, it could help your congregational members grow into more active engagement?

We actually do cycle through most/all lay men for SS teaching, each teacher is only scheduled for 2 weeks. So that's a good thing, I think. And I do think our participation is probably not as bad as some places.

I place a greater responsibility on the teacher than I do on the audience for lack of engagement, but in the end, the audience has to do its part in preparation ahead of time and participation in the class itself.