Imagine you are about to join a new a small group Bible study. Eight people are in the group including the leader. The first thing that the leaders gives you is a small sheet of paper with this continuum on it.
The leader then asks the group to mark what they are looking to get out of this time together. What is the reason you have joined this group? Is it for the fellowship aspects of the time together? Or the study aspects? Or some combination of the two?
One of the recurring themes I hear from Bible study leaders and participants (and people who stopped participating) centers on a misalignment of expectations related to this continuum.
Some people are in the group to study, and they get annoyed when the group gets too distracted by personal stories that have little or nothing to do with the study. Others are there for fellowship, and they might feel a bit empty if every time they try to talk about real life the leader stops them and moves on with the study questions. Others are there for a mixture of the two and want a balance of both study and fellowship.
Knowing why the participants have chosen to attend is key to how you lead a Bible study. It affects the type of questions you might ask. It affects how long you let a tangent go for. And it might affect how much time you choose to gather for.
Know a Bible study leader? Feel free to share this with them if you found it helpful.
It’s very unlikely that everybody is going to mark the continuum in the same place. The simple acknowledgement of people’s differing reasons for joining the study can provide clarity and understanding amongst the group and reduce frustrations.
Do you have other questions about leading Bible study? Feel free to message me or put them in comments. I’ll gladly address them in a subsequent post.
Thanks for reading!
Andy
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