The Minister's Letter On Bible Study

What do you think of the Bible? Better yet, do you think of the Bible, and if so, when, where, why, and how?

I have to confess that I grew up in a rather Bible-neutral household. Let me explain: although my father is a Methodist minister, he and my mother are obviously of an age and a culture that doesn’t talk exceedingly openly about matters of faith. Don’t get me wrong! One of my earliest childhood memories is of the great illustrated Bible storybook my Dad read to me each night, and I do remember being taught to say my prayers. But somehow, when I reached a certain age, such things stopped being much of a topic of conversation. We had a tradition of Bible readings at mealtimes around the Advent wreath, and always said a blessing before our meals, but there was never a strong tradition of reading the Bible or praying together as a family. Bible was something we did at church.

I remember going through confirmation classes and deciding that it was about time I read through the whole thing. I did, too – and what a long, miserable slog it seemed! My reading of the whole Bible at about age 13 is but a fuzzy memory – mostly of getting lost in lists of Old Testament names. The familiar stories of Genesis were a welcome start but soon left behind, and again the stories of Jesus in the New Testament seemed all too quickly replaced by the twisting logic of Paul’s letters. By the time I’d reached Revelation, I’d clearly gone numb.

It was only much later, at university, that I began to appreciate the Bible for what it is: God’s remarkable ongoing conversation with humanity – not just across the 1100 years or so in which such things were actually put to paper, but really the continuing exchange between God and people of faith right up to this day. The Bible is not so much a record of what God said as what God is saying – at least for those “with ears to hear.”

Yet most of us still struggle with the Bible. According to Naomi Starkey, a recent Bible Society survey revealed that “more than 90 per cent of church leaders (lay and ordained) believe that the Bible provides ‘the basic framework for our relationship with God’ and ‘shows us who God is, what he has done and what he is like’ – yet less than half (47 per cent) feel ‘very confident’ in their knowledge of the Bible. Just over half of non-leaders (57 per cent) believe that the Bible should shape their daily life ‘a great deal’ – but just 14 per cent say that they feel ‘very confident’ in their Bible knowledge.” (Starkey, Naomi. “A Guilty Secret” in Biblefresh: It Could Change Your World. Authentic Media, 2010. p. 20.)

Would you be surprised to hear that only 58 per cent of church leaders read the Bible daily, while no more than 35 per cent of non-leaders do so? Or perhaps, like me, you’re a bit relieved to find that others struggle too?

So, let me return to my earlier question: What do you think of the Bible – and when, where, why, and how? Does it impact your life? Is it part of your routine? Do you wish you knew more about it? Would you like to love it more? How could we at Banner Cross help support and develop your engagement with and appreciation of scripture? How could you and those close to you help one another share the Bible and make it yours? If you have ideas or suggestions, please speak to me our our co-ordinator for Intentional Faith Development, Lawrie Ginn. Please pray with and for those sharing the Disciple journey this year, those preaching and teaching from the Bible week by week, and all those who pick up The Good Book for the first or the fifty millionth time.

Perhaps you would pray with me the Book of Common Prayer’s collect for the Second Sunday in Advent:

‘Blessed Lord, Who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:
Help us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them,
That through patience and the comfort of your holy word
We may embrace and ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life,
Which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.’
Amen.

I’m delighted in the success of our recent Disciple Bible Study course. I really wondered whether anyone else would be willing to take up the challenge with me of 34 weeks of intensive Bible study. Disciple assumes you will find time for 30-45 minutes of Bible reading and reflection daily, and be willing to attend a 2 ½ hour session to share and discuss your learning each week. Disciple looks at the whole Bible as God’s story meeting our story, and challenges us to follow these threads through the entirety of scripture to come to a deeper sense of God’s involvement in and power over our lives.

Seven others joined me (and Rachel, as much as she was able) in this epic journey from September 2009 to July 2010: Clinton Caine, Jackie Dunn, Eric Hall, Shirley Rowe, Janet Southgate, Joyce Waterhouse, and Andrew Watchorn. Not only did we learn much about the Biblical texts themselves, we learned even more about ourselves and each other as we experienced the transformative power of God’s Word. I will be the first to admit that I didn’t manage to do all of the reading required for each week! Nevertheless, re-encountering the Biblical story from beginning to end, including all its joys and disappointments, twists, and turns, was extremely refreshing and invigorating.

I enjoyed the opportunity to read and teach from the Bible so much that I decided to offer the course again, and I’m very pleased to have about 10 brave souls signed up so far! (If there are one or two more out there, they would be most welcome to join us in the next week or two). This time, quite a number of folks from other circuit churches are coming along for the journey, and I hope that Disciple might become an annual opportunity for growth across our circuit.

I do recognize that for many, Disciple is simply too big a challenge, or at least too big a commitment of time and effort to make over a period of nine months. We need to have other ways of encountering the Bible on a regular basis, sharing it, wrestling with it, and hearing from it what God might be saying to us today. In 2011, Christians across a range of churches will come together to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James translation of the Bible –perhaps the most influential and beloved English Bible of all time. This “Year of the Bible” (though really, what year isn’t?) could prove to be a fresh opportunity for us and others to return to our Biblical roots, hear the stories anew, and encounter God’s power to transform through the living power of the Word. One initiative being supported by the Methodist Church is called “Biblefresh” and it invites us to rekindle a confidence and passion for Scripture in ways large and small.

Find out more at www.biblefresh.com