WINTER 2019 Winter 2019 • $8.95
Journal of Children, Youth & Family Ministry
Why Nobody Wants to Do Bible Study Anymore 1
100% COVERED SEMINARY TUITION A new scholarship for innovative leaders Going to seminary doesn’t have to mean going into debt. Gain practical expertise in Luther Seminary’s Children, Youth, and Family Ministry degree program. The Jubilee Scholarship covers all tuition costs for admitted M.A. and M.Div. students. Find a program overview at luthersem.edu/cyf. For more about scholarships visit luthersem.edu/jubilee.
2
WINTER 2019
PUBLICATION INFORMATION Published by: ELCA Youth Ministry Network www.elcaymnet.org
CONTENTS Welcome! 4 Todd Buegler Succeeding at Bible Study in a World Without Bible Readers 5 Leigh Finke
Biblical Storytelling as Entering into the Word 7 Phil Ruge-Jones
Interview with Savanna Sullivan, Director of Young Adult Programs 9 Leigh Finke
Eight Ways to Make Bible Study Engaging for Kids 12 Kathie Phillips
Bible Study: The Role of God’s Word in Our Lives 14 Heather Hansen Subscription Information: call 866-ELCANET (352-2638) or visit: www.elcaymnet.org connect@elcaymnet.org
Design and Layout: Michael Sladek Impression Media Group www.impressionmediagroup.com
Managing Editor: Erin Gibbons
Connect Editorial Board: Todd Buegler, Nate Frambach, Erin Gibbons, Dawn Rundman, Michael Sladek
Cover Photo: Michael Sladek www.msladekphoto.com
Sitting with God: Reading and Hearing Scripture in Community 15 Nate Frambach
12 Tips for Bible Studies That Don’t Suck 16 Marc Olson
And Then There Were Six (Always Six) 18 George Baum
UPCOMING CONNECT ISSUE THEMES:
Falling Forward (Spring ‘19)
ELCA YOUTH MINISTRY NETWORK BOARD Becky Cole: Board Member
Kinda Makini: Board Member
Kelly Sherman-Conroy, Board Member
Sue Megrund: Board Member
Dan Fugate: Board Member
Tom Schwolert: Board Chairperson
Rev. Regina Goodrich: Board Member
Rev. Todd Buegler: Executive Director
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network exists to strengthen and empower adult youth ministry leaders in service to Christ as a part of God’s mission. 3
WELCOME!
NEWS BITS
Dear friends,
NETWORK NEWS
My family lives in a community that places a high value on music, theater and the arts. Our two teenage boys both participate in band, choir, orchestra and, this year, theater productions. It is amazing to watch them develop as musicians.
CONGRATULATIONS TO REV. LARRY WAGNER, who was honored at Extravaganza 2019 with the Tom
The ensemble directors at our high school do a phenomenal job. I really believe our program would compare favorably to any in the state. I walked past our oldest son’s (trombone) bedroom not too long ago, and I heard band music playing from within. He had gone to YouTube and found some of the band pieces that the concert band was playing and was listening to them through a Bluetooth speaker. I asked him why he was listening to it, and he looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “Because I like it.” I love that our band, choir and theater directors teach technical skills. I love that our boys are better musicians because of their work. But do you know for what I am most grateful? I have deep gratitude that Pete, Chris, Sandra and Erik have taught our boys to love music and theater. They love to play. They love to listen. They love music. And that is a gift they will carry with them forever, regardless of whether they continue playing, singing or acting. Sometimes I think we approach the reading of scripture technically. We study. We compare translations. We exegete. We examine tenses. We translate. And we search for the meaning as if we’re detectives looking for the next clue. There is nothing wrong with that—it is one of the ways we dig deep into the meaning of scripture. But sometimes I wonder if we have missed a step. To read scripture, to really take it in, shouldn’t we love it? Shouldn’t we love the arc of the story? Shouldn’t we read it with passion and joy? While there is certainly academic discipline involved in the study of scripture, we always begin with the love of God’s Word. And when we share it with those whose faith we tend, we share it with joy and passion.
Hunstad Award for Excellence in Children, Youth and Family Ministry! Larry is the retired senior pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California and kept youth ministry in his job description through his entire career.
MAKE SURE YOU’VE DOWNLOADED THE ALL-NEW NETWORK MOBILE APP! We have rebuilt the app from the ground up. It has new features and is full of helpful resources and information. Download it wherever you get your apps, or go to elcaymnet.org/app for more information.
THANKS TO DR. JEREMY MYERS, who finished six years serving on the Network Board of Directors. His wisdom and passion for ministry, especially for connecting the Network to minority
We don’t just teach scripture. We teach people to love scripture. And it is the love of scripture, paired with the study, that brings it to life for all who experience it.
and under-represented communities has strengthened our community!
Networked in Christ,
Todd Buegler Executive Director – ELCA Youth Ministry Network Pastor – Trinity Lutheran Church; Owatonna, Minnesota Todd@elcaymnet.org
BE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE TO 3RDTUESDAY CONVERSATION, the Network’s monthly podcast. In upcoming months we will be featuring interviews with special guests who were with us at Extravaganza 2019.
4
WINTER 2019
SUCEEDING AT BIBLE STUDY IN A WORLD WITHOUT BIBLE READERS
by Leigh Finke
Most people don’t read the Bible—not at home, not at church. They just don’t. This isn’t to say that they don’t believe in its value. Most Americans do. According to Barna Group’s “State of the Bible 2017,” 81 percent of Americans believe the Bible is the “inspired Word of God,” though that group varies in interpretation (from literal to funneled through the writers’ perspectives). Given the number—the very high number—of Americans who believe the Bible is the Word of God, one could be forgiven for thinking that a similarly high number of Americans read the Bible. But alas, it is not so. To figure out why engagement with the Bible is so rare, specifically in congregational Bible studies, I spoke with two pastors of ELCA churches: Pastor Priscilla Paris Austin, of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington (weekly Sunday attendance of about 80), and Pastor Matthew Fleming of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota (weekly Sunday attendance of about 1,100). Pastors Austin and Fleming have both led successful Bible studies in their churches in recent months, and I asked them to share how they got to success, what challenges they had to overcome in doing so and why so few people want to read the Bible in the first place. Despite the varying sizes of their congregations, and their demographic and geographic differences, both shared a number of important insights for increasing Bible study turnout, and more to the point, biblical engagement in church.
WHY DON’T CHRISTIANS READ THE BIBLE? (THREE PROBLEMS, DEFINED) According to Pew Research, only 32 percent of Christians, across all denominations, engage with Scripture study or religious education groups once a week. Forgive me for crossing the study streams, but this means that 81 percent (Barna) of the country has ac-
cess to the inspired Word of God, but only 32 percent (Pew) deem it worthwhile to dip into that inspiration. The numbers for mainline protestants are much worse. Only 19 percent weekly engage with Scripture, according to Pew. Bible study groups are among the most common ways in which Christians read the Bible, and these numbers are reflected in churches around the country. When it comes down to it, most people just don’t read the Bible. The reasons behind this lack of biblical engagement are many, but pastors Fleming and Austin agree on three. First: life. It’s busy. It just keeps us from doing many of the things we may wish to do. And when life is busy, Bible study can feel like just another commitment in an already overcrowded schedule. “Time presses on us,” Pastor Austin says, describing with a flourish the reality of so many American lives. In addition to a lack of time, there’s also simple disinterest. It’s not safe to assume that people want to read the Bible in the first place, according to Pastor Fleming. “We can’t assume that people have any desire to learn the Bible, or they have any need for the Bible, that it has anything to say to their lives.” Even if they want to read it, though, Pastor Austin thinks many Christians do not feel equipped to do so. Which brings us to problem number two: authority. Fleming says that 20th-century Christianity “professionalized faith formation” in a way that left individuals feeling inadequately prepared for reading Scripture. Austin explains that, for Luther, church was for community, worship and sacraments, “but faith was taught at home.” In the past 100 years, however, teaching faith has become once more a professional endeavor, and “whole generations felt not competent to teach faith at home. They lost connection and any sense of authority of over Scripture.” 5
That lack of authority is less prevalent in young people, according to Pastor Austin. The youth and young adult members of her church are not intimidated by Scripture, like many of their parents. “They won’t allow Scripture to be up on an unreachable pedestal. They engage it differently,” Pastor Austin says, adding, “They’re willing to name the parts that are really messed up.” The messed-up parts lead us to the third challenge of creating 21st-century Bible studies: politics. In today’s American culture, politics intersects with all aspects of life, including church (this isn’t new, really, but it is more pronounced than it has been for years). Though their congregational make-ups differ on politics (pastor Austin’s church is largely politically aligned, pastor Fleming’s divided), both acknowledge the pervasive political invasion daily in spiritual life. Some lines in our political division today are drawn over corresponding religious lines. St. Andrew in Eden Prairie and Immanuel Lutheran in Seattle both have congregational members raised in conservative churches. “In large evangelical churches, they’re doing these Bible studies constantly,” Pastor Fleming says. “And they have one reading.” The “one reading” understanding of the Bible has a dark history, though, one that churches should not ignore. “We know the Bible has been used to justify slavery,” Fleming says, “and the suppression and exclusion of women.” “If we are ceding that ground,” Pastor Fleming argues, “we’re not helping our people.” Not ceding ground to evangelical Bible study is important, especially for the “exvangelicals” that occupy mainline spaces, many of whom are, according to pastor Austin, questioning what they’ve been taught about the Bible.
SUCCEEDING AT BIBLE STUDY (YOU WILL HAVE TO TRY.) So, now that we’ve named the problems mainliners face regarding Bible study—life, authority, politics—it’s time to find solutions.
First up: life. People are busy, yes, but if given the opportunity, according to Pastors Austin and Fleming, they want to spend time with Scripture. If it seems valuable on a personal level, that is. This means sales. “Package it in a way that speaks to the interests and desires of your people,” Fleming says. He noted the success of Bible Bookends which brought folks together to read and study Genesis and Revelation. The study drew about 180 participants across several time slots, and Fleming notes its selling points. “The hook in Bible Bookends is Revelation. So much curiosity, misinformation. It’s a book we almost never talk about.” So he talked about it. And people wanted to be there. For Austin, engaging in the Bible had to look different than it had. “The old model doesn’t work,” she says, noting that people aren’t interested in “sitting down, reading Scripture and having someone talk away at them.” She tries to do short studies and schedules as much as possible for Sundays, “when a lot of folks are going to be here anyway.” The big takeaway, though, is be thoughtful of people’s time. Make it convenient, worthwhile and applicable to the daily life of those participating. Next up: authority. “People don’t feel like they have access to the Bible anymore,” says Pastor Austin. Luther wanted to get the Bible in to people’s hands, but we’ve gone the other way, she says. Which is why the most successful Bible studies at Immanuel Lutheran are lay led. Letting lay members of the congregation lead has been “a huge key piece” of successful Bible engagement, Austin says. “It demystifies Scripture.” Which isn’t to say that Pastor Austin relinquishes any pastoral role. She’s still there, in the room, “for the Greek. And context.” At St. Andrew, Pastor Fleming has found a different experience. His most successful Bible studies have been led by pastors. But only those the congregation knows personally. “We’re finding our people care less about hearing from experts. We brought in teachers, who I think are the authorities, and our people, a lot of people, just want to hear from their pastor, the person they know and trust.” That
works, Fleming says, because he becomes a member of the study with his people, or as he says, “laying my credibility on the line.” Which brings us, at last, to: politics. When asked about how to approach political division in Bible study with youth and young adults, Pastors Fleming and Austin agreed. Face it head on. Part of the attraction of Bible Bookends, Fleming says, was that it took aim at today’s political environment. “You can’t separate faith and politics and read Revelation,” Fleming says. The book demands political conversation because “it draws a line in the sand and asks, where do you pledge your allegiance, the Kingdom of god or kingdom of earth?” At Immanuel, Pastor Austin stresses the importance of bringing a community together, despite any political division that might arise. “Folks here are clear on our core values,” she says. “We have R and D in the room, but the agreement is that the Word of Jesus is that to which we hold ourselves accountable.”
WHAT ABOUT YOUTH? All of these solutions hold true for youth and young adults. Today’s kids are as scheduled as anybody, with school, extracurriculars, homework, sports and, yes, their friends. They need to feel that Bible study is relevant to their lives, just like adults. They need to be given the room to approach the Bible as participants, engaging honestly and not through the distancing of adult access-only leadership. And they need to be allowed to approach the political in the Bible with honesty. Pastor Austin says, “Our kids know what’s happening, today. They can make those connections. The biggest thing is not to underestimate Youth and YA (young adults) as we engage them in Bible study.”
PARTING WISDOM: LET THE OLD MODELS GO Perhaps the most important take away from talking to Pastors Austin and Fleming is as simple as it is radical: Do what works. Do not allow yourself to become beholden to old models of Bible study that are driving Christians away from Scripture.
6
Whether that’s intergenerational Bible study (“When the youth would speak, there was awe around the table,” says Austin), or accepting that there may not be answers to the mysteries of God’s Word (“Make lots of room for the ‘I don’t know’ answers,” says Fleming), just make sure your open to the thing that your community needs. And remember, as Pastor Austin says, “Snapchat is a valid space for Bible study.”
Leigh Finke is a reporter living in St. Paul, Minnesota.
WINTER 2019
BIBLICAL STORYTELLING AS ENTERING INTO THE WORD by Phil Ruge-Jones A woman has committed the entire Gospel of Mark to her memory. As she tells the two-hour story, a two-year-old plays by her mother’s feet. Sometimes she watches, sometimes she plays quietly with toys, other moments she gets a bit restless. When the storyteller begins the story of the blessing of the children, suddenly the child is completely attentive to the story. When Jesus blesses the children, she smiles brightly and claps her tiny hands together. She leans back against her mother’s legs and closes her eyes. During Epiphany a family spends time every morning reciting together the story of Jesus’ visit to the temple. The parents discuss the anxiety Mary and Joseph must have felt. Their son notes that sometimes a 12-year-old has an opportunity come up that is so exciting that he or she forgets to communicate about it with the parents. The story of Jesus holds the stories of their lives with all the parental and youthful challenges therein. After revisiting the story so often they know it by heart, they divide it into sections that each in turn shares with their congregation on Wednesday night. Once more Jesus’ story opens up to receive the stories of other adolescents and their parents. The story becomes the place where they energize and focus their relationships. Jason partners with a friend who has learned a story. She tells her story, and Jason deepens it with his digital storytelling. He edits in scenes from his favorite movies where similar emotions are in play. For example, when a decree goes out to enroll in the birth story, the video cuts to “Schindler’s List,” and the viewers remember political dimensions of the story they may have forgotten. Or, more humorously, when the leper is cleansed in Luke’s Gospel, suddenly Ron Burgundy from “Anchorman” is on the screen, stating, “I look good. I mean, really good. Everyone! Come and see how good I look.” Those who follow ANKOSfilms are moved by the story itself but also come to know that God’s Word and their cultural world can inhabit the same space.
These are but a few of examples of how biblical storytelling becomes a lively way of engaging the living Word of God. Those preparing to tell a story have a found a concrete spiritual discipline that deepens their relationship with God and God’s Word, and that equips them to share the Word in a profound way. Those who hear the stories feel directly engaged not only by God’s Word, but by God Godself! When these stories are learned in community, the participants discover in a visceral way that God’s Word is a mansion with many dwelling places in each story and not a rule book dispensing simplistic morals or messages. The Word becomes capable of holding the messy complexity of our real, lived life.
I would do this with the whole passage and use a new return justified left when I notice the narrator catching his breath and moving in a new direction. Looking at the page I could see the broad rhythm of the story. In the margins I would sketch stick people drawings to visually show me the order of episodes. Four people trudging up a mountain, then a shining Jesus, then Jesus with Moses (holding the 10 commandments) and Elijah (eating a grasshopper) and so on. Each sketch sits in the white space to the left of the corresponding text. Carry this page with you wherever you go and look at it during down moments: While your oil is changed, when you are early for a meeting, during a commercial in the middle of binging on whatever.
PREPARING TO TELL A STORY Preparation to tell a story varies from storyteller to storyteller. Thinking of the process as internalization rather than memorization is helpful to many of us. Too many people remember that time they stood up to recite the poem they had memorized only to find that it had left them. Internalization is a whole body practice including running through the story daily over a stretch of time. It incorporates gestures, thoughtful reflection on the story, recognition of repetition in the story that facilitates learning, imaginative engagement and intertwining of your personal stories with God’s story. Here are some things I have found helpful as I internalize a passage of Scripture: Retype the text in such a way that shows the shape of the language. Trying to learn straight out of a published Bible with its margins justified on both sides is very difficult. The contours of the story are hidden in a display of forced uniformity. If I were preparing to tell the Gospel for the last Sunday of Epiphany, I would lay out its first sentence like this: Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on a mountain to pray. 7
My friend Dennis Dewey calls the practice of going back to a story again and again “marinating in the Word”. Over days or weeks, you become infused with the Word. My sense is that the longer you take to internalize the text, the longer it will in turn stay with you. I know people who can learn a text in a day, bless their hearts. But most of us need time. I have also found it helpful to copy by hand my story according to the contours mentioned above. I speak it aloud as I write each word, and am amazed how much I absorb. Do this three times and see where you have internalized it and where you need more work. Close your eyes and visualize it. Imagine how all of your senses would have perceived what was happening. As Jesus and the disciples climb the mountain, feel the stones under their feet and the wind blowing in their hair; notice if they are a tight group or if James is a straggler. How bright is the sun? Does this mountain look like some place you have climbed? Do you hear birds chirping? Remember that if you see a car crash, you don’t require notes to tell that story. You’ve seen it happen and thus internalized much of it. Simulate seeing the biblical event in your own imagination.
As you explore the story, notice its particularities: narrator, characters, setting, plot, surprising twists and difficult expressions. Why does the narrator tell us the disciples are sleepy? How can you say Peter’s word in such a way that the listeners will hear that he doesn’t know what he said? Why does this take place on a mountain? How does this story relate to the trip down the mountain and the encounter with the demon-possessed boy? Perhaps do some research and find out that Elijah and Moses talk to Jesus about his upcoming “departure” or “exodus”. How might you connect Moses’ exodus with Jesus’? Play with the story. It has lasted a couple of thousand years, and it won’t break! Try out different tones for Peter’s words: sleepy, confused, panicked. Imagine the voice of God in the cadences of someone who makes you feel loved. Speak Jesus’ words about the faithless generation in anger, then in frustration, then grief. How is each different? The final tip I have might be the first you apply. Commit to a date and event when you will tell the story. Knowing that your efforts are driving toward a particular opportunity is a great motivator. When you choose the opportunity, remember that different times come with different expectations. Maybe you don’t want to do your first telling as the Gospel “reading” on Easter Sunday. I often think the best place to present the first time may be in a children’s sermon where there is no expectation for verbal accuracy. This will allow you the freedom to do your best even if some parts of the text get dropped. Or wouldn’t it be great to tell the transfiguration story on a bluff at a church camp? Or you could tell that same story on a mission trip and reflect on moving to places where you serve along side of other people with their gifts and needs? Or maybe after a powerful event the story reminds your youth that they cannot stay in that moment but must come down into life again.
USE OF STORYTELLING IN MINISTRY Several videos of people doing biblical storytelling are available online. The Network of Biblical Storytellers, International offers several high quality videos on its webpage that could be used in Bible Study. The most obvious way to use this form of ministry is to practice it yourself. Any place you are accustomed to using the Bible could be a place to bring in storytelling. Once you have done it for your youth, you may find some youth willing to join you in the practice. Often you will find someone who has been involved in performance competitively in high school (we used to call it forensics, but its name varies from state to state) or theater. An ambitious but excellent project is to find five or six youth willing to learn and tell the passion narrative for Palm (or Passion) Sunday. This year Luke 23 would be about 10 verses each for a team of five. Share with them the learning practices outlined above. Meet several times as a group and share the stories. Have the performers present for the youth group before they present for the whole congregation. Since much of this story is familiar, it is a bit easier to learn than other parts of the Bible. And what a story for our youth to carry! My favorite ways to allow storytelling to enrich a community is to have several people learn the same story and then present their versions on the same night one after another. Perhaps you might choose something short: “When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots to divide his clothing.” (Luke 23:3334) After each person performs, have them say one thing they liked about the way it was performed. After watching several performances they will realize how spacious the
The Network of Biblical Storytellers, International is the primary site for developing this spiritual practice. http://www.nbsint.org/ with special attention to “Watch a Story” and “Biblical Storytelling Behind the Scenes” produced by ANKOSFilms. They have an amazing annual event every August called the Festival Gathering.
Word is—taking in many meanings. They will hear how a slight change in intonation shifts the impact in important ways.
FINAL WORDS One of the beautiful things about storytelling is that it is intergenerational. The clapping toddler and the oldest member of the community each can enter a story with their own experience and find meaning. While this may seem like a new practice, it is likely that more people in the early church heard the Scriptures recited aloud than read it for themselves from a scroll. And even before that, the book of Deuteronomy made suggestions for internalizing the living Word which God has given to us: “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead,and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Trust the Word to guide you, and God will use you to accomplish God’s purposes. Live into this great story of love, and you will find yourself living it out in turn.
Phil Ruge-Jones is an Associate Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His performance of the Gospel of Mark is available online at his Youtube channel <Phil Ruge-Jones> on the playlist “I Tell You, This is the Way It Is”.
The most helpful book on the theme is Thomas Boomershine’s “Story Journey” which can be purchased on Amazon.
8
WINTER 2019
INTERVIEW WITH SAVANNA SULLIVAN, DIRECTOR OF YOUNG ADULT PROGRAMS
by Leigh Finke
camps, involved in Lutheran Campus Ministries at Clemson, participated in Young Adults in Global Mission in Rwanda after graduation. As she says, “I ran the gamut” of Lutheran programs. All of which makes it easy to understand why Sullivan is in the position she is. She’s done it all and clearly has a love for all that she has done. The community of young people that comprise the Lutheran church is, and has always been, her community. So, when you ask her why she thinks young adults need a more prominent role in the church, it’s no wonder when she says, “It’s kind of like a no-brainer.”
A lot of the biggest struggle around HIV now is stigma, and what people do and don’t know about the disease and what public policy looks like in relationship to HIV and AIDS. So, the practical and applied ethics piece really helped a lot. When I was in that position I formed a young adult coalition with Lutheran Campus Ministry and ELCA World Hunger to take five undergrad students and two World Hunger leaders, all of whom are young adults, to the U.S. Conference on AIDS, and those students have returned to their home contexts and have been big advocates in their local contexts and synods in HIV education and destigmatization, and the work that we Christians are called to in light of the HIV epidemic.
Young adulthood—that murky phase of life when adulthood is just starting. Or, maybe should be starting but just quite hasn’t. Or, perhaps it has, despite one’s best effort to avoid it. It’s hard to know just what “young adult” means these days, even for those who make young adults their very livelihood. Savanna Sullivan, director of Young Adult Programs at the ELCA, has just as much difficulty knowing exactly who she serves.
I spoke to Ms. Sullivan recently about how she found her way to the role of program director, how she feels about the declining numbers in church attendance and why she has hope for the future of ELCA young adult programming.
Sullivan defines young adults as, generally, 1830 years old. “Pretty solid on that lower age cutoff,” she says, “but upper age limit is kind of fuzzy.” That fuzziness represents a changing cultural landscape. Sullivan says, “There are whole cultural studies on people getting married later and moving out later and being financially independent later, and those are the traditional markers of adulthood.” There’s also the shifting identity within the ELCA church.
Savanna Sullivan: I am a lay professional. I majored in biology and philosophy, focusing on applied ethics in undergrad. I’ve been at Churchwide for about two years now. Originally, I started off as a recruiter for Young Adults in Global Mission. And then I was the manager of strategy for HIV and AIDS, and then about a year and a half ago, I started off in this position. CJ: How did you end up with the HIV/AIDS job?
CJ: How did you make the transition from strategy on HIV/AIDS to your current position as director of Young Adult Programs?
If there’s one advantage that Sullivan has in serving today’s young adult Lutherans, it’s that she is one of them. At 26, Sullivan is the youngest program director in the ELCA. Her life story reads like an advertisement for Lutheranism: child of a pastor, attended Lutheran summer camps, staffed Lutheran summer
SS: When I saw the job come up for the strategy in HIV/AIDS I was really excited to talk with them about what managing that strategy might look like, especially in how we might get young people involved in educational and advocacy work within and on behalf of folks living with HIV.
SS: I’m really passionate about the work the church is doing with young people because it has deeply and personally affected me. Because of my experience with the strategy for HIV and AIDS, we’ve been able to really partner with that desk still, so there were youth ministry students who went to the
This conversation has been lightly edited. Connect Journal: Tell me a bit about your background.
9
CJ: Was that work specifically on LGBTQ efforts, or was it on a higher-level scale than that? SS: It did have specific LGBTQ implications, and we started to work with folks in the LGBTQ community who are also Lutherans who are really passionate about HIV education and destigmatization. So, a number of the students we took were LGBTQ identifying, and that is on purpose because we know that it’s really important for people to have a seat at the table themselves. We developed worship materials around both HIV and LGBTQ inclusion. And worked with ReconcilingWorks to create a conversation guide for congregations about HIV and AIDS.
international AIDS conference in Amsterdam last year and who helped write all the content this year. So it’s been really fun to stay connected to that work . CJ: Can you talk a bit about your relationship to your job? You said you’re a lay professional. Do you feel a calling to your work? SS: Yes. My dad was a pastor when I was growing up, and I have seen the church when it’s at its best, and when it’s at its not so best. The only way you can survive in this work is to really have a calling to it because the church is so life-giving, and also sometimes it’s really hard to work with an institution that is flawed, just like any institution. So, I definitely feel called to this. I feel called to learn from young people in the church. I feel called to help the church better include and better serve the young people that are already here. And to make the church more accessible to young people who feel pretty disillusioned by what they imagine the church to be or what it has been to them in the past. I think young people have something really prophetic to say to the world and especially to the church of the ELCA, and, so, that passion keeps me going and being able to equip young people to do that. And to equip the church to receive what young people are doing, I feel that is a really deep call for me.
SS: It’s hard. I understand the church has hurt a lot of young people and/or been irrelevant. I think both of those things just as much as the other lead to an exodus by young people from the church. But I really believe in the power of the communities that the ELCA has provided to my life, and I think that young people are hungry for that. I think numbers tell a lot of different stories, and that the story of the age demographics might not be fully reflective of the way that young people are engaging in the church. I mean, less and less young people are showing up on Sunday morning, but less people across the board are showing up on Sunday mornings. I don’t think that shows that young people are less faithful, less curious about the divine or their vocation or spirituality. Young peoples’ desires to ask those questions, to be part of communities that ask those questions, and wrestle with those things, is not diminishing at all.
CJ: What are you working on that has you the most excited about the future? SS: I don’t know if you heard last year about the National Young Adult Discernment Retreat. We opened it up to 50 people that filled up in, like, 48 hours, and within a week, we had a waiting list over 200 people long. We held that first retreat in Georgia. We had 35-40 percent young adult people of color, and all seven seminaries represented, as well as Young Adults in Global Mission, Volunteer Corps. We had time to talk to Bishop Eaton, and we had synod bishops there. But what got me excited was seeing the response. Young people really are here. These aren’t all people who are connected to a congregation, but they are hungry for community, which is what gives me hope. CJ: What else are you doing that’s exciting?
CJ: Do you think there’s something positive you can see in that desire?
SS: There’s a lot of facets to that. But any human institution at its worst looks hateful. I don’t think our church is there. The worst I’ve seen in the church is saying things and not acting on them. Faith without works is dead. We profess to have faith in something, like in the leadership capacity of young people, and then we don’t as a church act like that’s true. And that leads to a lot of toxic situations and leads to that disillusionment.
SS: I see some hope that the church has an opportunity. Instead of acting out of fear that what we have known is not always working, the church has an opportunity to say, well, this is not keeping people here, so we have an opportunity to be creative. To see what can be born out of what is, in some places, diminishing. We’ve seen that. We’ve seen some really creative communities and some really impactful communities that are relevant in young peoples’ lives form up. I think Young Adults in Global Mission, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, Lutheran Servant Corps kind of paint that picture a little bit. We have young people clamoring to get in these programs. Because they’re relevant, because they’re not perfect and don’t purport to be perfect and because they create authentic communities
CJ: It’s clear you have passion for the work young people are capable of, but we also live in a time when numbers in the church are showing fewer and fewer young people attending. So, how do you relate your work to those numbers?
I can go on forever about it. But I think numbers are scary, and they’re scarier if we let them be. But the story is not one just of death and dying, but also one of hope and opportunity, to live with the mindset of abundance and
CJ: What do you think the church looks like at its worst?
create something beautiful, if we can let go of what’s not working.
10
SS: Another thing that’s really exciting to me is the collaboration. The program directors in Youth Ministry, the Gathering, kids ministry and Children’s Ministry—together we formed this little First Third of Life group at the Churchwide Expression. So, birth through young adulthood—how is the church affecting the lives of young people? Working with them has been really life-changing. Because they get it. They really believe that young people are important to the church. So, we are collaborating together at the youth Extravaganza to let people know about all the resources we have for the first third of life and to collaborate on workshops with people who are curious about how we get a youth or young adult ministry started. So, the collaborative work we’re doing is really exciting to me too. CJ: When you have a conversation with young people who are not in the church, you hear the same kind of things about LGBTQ inclusion, race, issues that operate on a cultural level. How much of your work is involved in that side, and what do you see happening in these areas?
WINTER 2019
SS: I think all people, and especially young people, are looking for a church that’s relevant. So, our program and the resources we produce definitely address race, power and privilege, inclusion, general social issues. For example, Young Adult Ministries has a partnership with our Peace Not Walls Campaign, which leads pilgrimages to the Holy Land to learn more about the conflict in Israel and Palestine. We also have border immersion retreats, for people who want to learn what’s really going on at the U.S./Mexico border, facilitated through Lutheran Servant Corps. Young Adults in Global Mission and Lutheran Volunteer Corps and Urban Servant Corps have a lot of content about social issues because the church is in the world. So, I think there’s a lot of exploration, a lot of question-asking. The church should be, I believe, a place to have hard conversations. CJ: What are the main barriers to achieving the success you’ve described? SS: There are a lot of things that we can prioritize as a church, and I think sometimes we don’t prioritize our young people as one of the many. Giving lip service to the fact that it’s important that young people lead, and actually including young people in leadership, are two different things. I want to see more young people in the leadership of the church, and I think until their voices are more meaningfully at the table across the board, there’s not going to be as much movement as there could be in the work we’re trying to do.
CJ: If those are your barriers, what are your goals? How would you measure success in the work you’re doing? SS: Success would be more young people in leadership in synods. It’s more programming available to young people, more leadership opportunities available to young people in synods. It would be a big measure of success for me. I think robust offering of programs at the national, regional and local level for young adults would also be a goal. And I think intergenerationally, too, young people forming meaningful relationships and being spiritually fed where they are. I think there’s so much good that comes from intergenerational relationships, and I would love to stop hearing about young people from older folks in a disparaging way and to hear young people talk about themselves and to see the power of those intergenerational relationships with young people when they’re healthy. CJ: Is there anything you think the readers of Connect, people who work in churches with youth and young adults, should know about your work? Anything you want to pass along to those readers? SS: I just think the relationship between, especially, people who work with children, youth and young adults is really important. And that we can’t give up. They know that young people are already so important to this church. I would say thank you because that’s such important work. But we cannot give up on our young people when they leave high
11
school, when they leave our congregations. I would encourage them to connect, to help young adults do some research and connect them with campus ministry, or a camp or ask a synod what’s going on for young adults in your synod. To really be an advocate for young adults because it can be a really great, wonderful and confusing time in life, when not a lot is really nailed down yet. I think the church can step into that spiritual void and really provide community, and provide support and refuge for people. If our churches who have strong youth ministries can connect young adults to that next step, I think that would be really powerful.
Leigh Finke is a reporter living in St. Paul, Minnesota.
EIGHT WAYS TO MAKE BIBLE STUDY ENGAGING FOR KIDS by Kathie Phillips As leaders invested in the spiritual formation and discipleship of kids, we desire to see kids grow in their relationship with Jesus. We pray that all of the time and energy that we pour into preparing lessons for them and building relationships with them bring them closer to Christ, not just in head knowledge, but in heart change. One of the ways we accomplish this is by inviting children to dig deeper into God’s Word. Sure, our weekend and midweek programming should make God’s Word front and center, but limited time and irregular attendance can make the study of God’s Word a challenge. Designing space for kids to study the Bible can seem a daunting task. We adults tend to view Bible study as an “adult thing.” But what if we viewed it and approached it differently? What if we viewed Bible study as a discipleship tool instead of an obligatory thing to do as a Christ-follower? What if we approached Bible study from a learner’s perspective, instead of an instructor’s perspective? Here are eight ways to help you make Bible study engaging for the kids you serve.
1. CONSIDER CALLING IT SOMETHING OTHER THAN BIBLE “STUDY.” Do you know what most kids equate with “study”? School and homework. Children already spend most of their week at school and doing homework, so draw kids in with an exciting name for your group. When doing this, keep in mind the ages of your target audience. Preschool-age children would be drawn to a cute name—preteens, not so much.
2. EXPLORE FUN THEMES/ TOPICS WHEN YOU ARE CHOOSING YOUR CURRICULUM. The sky is really the limit when creating a study group. Get inspired through popular movies, toys, video games, seasons, gadgets, etc. Talk with the kids about what they love right now and use that as your inspiration.
3. HOST YOUR GROUP IN A FUN LOCATION. You know that Bible study doesn’t have to be confined to a church or a living room, right? You can host your group at a park, in a backyard, at the pool or in a room transformed with fun props and lighting.
4. CHOOSE AN AGE-APPROPRIATE BIBLE. There are many options when it comes to Bibles for kids. From story Bibles to study Bibles in a variety of translations, take time to explore options to see what might be the best fit for your kids and your curriculum. For the youngest kids, illustrated story Bibles engage kids with colorful art and easy to understand language. For older elementary kids, consider which Bible translation might be easiest for them to read and engage with in Sunday school and on their own.
5. TEACH AS CREATIVELY AS YOU CAN. This probably goes without saying because in my opinion, children’s ministry leaders are some of the most creative folks on the planet, but I don’t want to overlook this critical piece. Remember, kids are not little adults. They are kids. Kids have short attention spans. Kids like to move. Kids fidget. Knowing these things about kids (who are our target audience) is imperative in keeping them engaged. Here are a few tips: Be aware of learning styles, and include some of each style into your study. • Visual learners learn best through visuals. Bring in pictures, graphs, maps, slideshows, videos, etc. • Auditory learners learn best through what they hear. Use audio recordings of Bible passages, play worship music, etc. • Kinesthetic learners learn best through hands-on experiences. Allow kids to mold play dough or modeling clay as you teach. Allow them to bend pipe cleaners or do science projects to supplement the lesson. Oftentimes, kids who learn best this way can use their hands to create and listen at the same time. 12
Bring in fun props to allow kids to act out a skit. Use puppets to engage preschool-age children. Use familiar objects to lead an object lesson. Utilize online tools/applications. Our culture is technology-driven, and you can use technology to help kids go deeper as they study God’s Word. Have them quickly search the passage you’re studying in another translation. Help them take a virtual tour of the location where your lesson passage takes place. Used well, technology can open the eyes of your kids in brand new ways.
6. CRAFT GREAT DISCUSSION AND APPLICATION QUESTIONS. Some people really enjoy lecture-style presentations, but most kids I know do not. Alternate between your voice and theirs by periodically pausing and asking questions such as: • What do you think [name of person] was feeling in this passage? Do you think you would have felt the same way? Why or why not? • What was confusing about that story? What was surprising? • What does this Scripture passage show/ tell you about God? The best way to get talking is to ask openended questions, questions that cannot be answered “yes” or “no” and questions that encourage them to think. If you have a large group (10 or more children), encourage discussion by having them split up into smaller groups.
7. ALLOW TIME FOR REFLECTION. So often we rush to absorb Bible knowledge, and we don’t take time to reflect on what we’ve studied. Provide space for your kids to sit quietly for a moment and think about what they’ve read and studied means to them. You can do this in a variety of ways, including, sitting quietly, journaling and/or drawing, offering a worship response or prayer station or playing a worship song.
WINTER 2019
8. OFFER AN ELEMENT OF SURPRISE. Kids tend to love surprises, so throw in an unexpected surprise! This could include a field trip, a Bible-times snack or a visit by your pastor or another leader or church volunteer who can lead a question-and-answer session around what you’re studying.
Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that God’s Word is alive and active. Let’s help our kids see this up close and personal every time they study the Scriptures.
Kathie Phillips serves as Director of Children’s Ministry at Central Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a blogger, conference speaker, freelance writer and published author. She and her husband, Lance, have been married for 23 years and have two adult children.
3RD TUESDAY CONVERSATION: THE PODCAST 3rdTuesday Conversations are monthly podcasts, produced by the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. 3TC provides opportunities to: • take a break from the daily routine of ministry and grow in our vocation • learn from colleagues and experts in the field • participate in conversation with peers who can reflect on ministry, based on the content discussed 3rd Tuesday Conversations are open to all.
Learn more at elcaymnet.org/3tc 13
BIBLE STUDY: THE ROLE OF GOD’S WORD IN OUR LIVES by Heather Hansen
FOCUS TEXT: JOHN 20:30-31 Objectives: • Help students understand the role of Scripture in their lives • Encourage students to explore and discover in the Bible • Have fun with Scripture
INTRODUCTION Begin with a prayer: Holy God, we thank you for your Word and the role it plays in our lives. Give us the desire and the will to learn and study your Word, so that we may come to know your deep and gracious love in our lives. Amen. Share with the students that today’s focus will be on why we study the Bible, then read aloud John 20:30-31.
ACTIVITY Make sure each student has a Bible. As individuals, or in pairs, challenge students in a race to flip through their Bibles and figure out the first person who saw Jesus after the resurrection and the first person Jesus spoke to after the resurrection. When they figure it out, they can close their Bibles and raise their hands. If your group is struggling, tell them where to find the Easter story in the Gospels: John 20:1-18, Luke 24:1-12, Mark 16:1-8, Matthew 28:1-10. Reward the first person or team who gets the correct answer. Keep in mind there are multiple correct answers to this search, so you may reward the team that discovers this, every person who provides a correct answer, or the team that comes the closest. Discuss: • What did you learn as the correct answer to this challenge? • Did you know there were four accounts of the Easter story? • Why do you think the accounts are a little different? • What other stories do you think you know really well in Scripture?
• Share a time that you learned something from the Bible that you thought you knew, but then upon closer look, you saw something deeper.
LARGE AND SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION Set up a whiteboard or chart paper and invite a volunteer to be the writer. Brainstorm with the group a list of what the Bible has to teach people. Generate ideas for about three minutes. Break the students into groups of three or four, and give each group a sheet of paper and a pen. Give them five minutes to decide which five things on the list are the most important for people to learn and write them on the paper. Invite each small group share their list of top five with the large group. Give them the opportunity to share why they felt these reasons were the best reasons to study Scripture. Share with the students a few thoughts from theologians on why it’s important to study Scripture. You may choose your own theologians/books/websites to do this, or if time is constraining, use some of the following websites: https://www.5minutesinchurchhistory.com/ luther-and-the-bible/ https://www.quora.com/Why-did-MartinLuther-translate-the-Bible-to-German https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/ the-bible-and-theology-don-carson-nivzsb/ https://www.thewellboise.com/blog/post/ why-study-biblical-theologyRead John 20:30-31 again. Discuss: • What does the focus verse tell us about studying God’s Word? • What have you heard or learned from today’s discussion and activities about studying God’s Word? • What is the benefit of studying God’s Word regularly as you grow?
14
• What can you do to study the Bible more often? • Is it better to study the Bible alone or with a group? Why? • How has this study today inspired you to look more closely at Scripture? Finish the Bible study by having the group decide on what they might want to study next as a group. Close with Prayer: Holy God, we thank you again for your Word and for the inspiration you have given us today to study it and grow closer to you. Love us, teach us, and show us how to teach others about your grace and truth and to live lives that reflect your Word each day. Amen
Rev. Heather Hansen currently serves as Pastor at MacArthur Park Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX where her call focuses on worship and youth ministry. She has 26 years of youth ministry and teaching experience and her most recent adventure is setting up a non-profit organization for environmental education, called Red Hawk Ranch, as a place to connect her theology of what God is up to in the world with her passion for caring for the earth. Heather lives in San Antonio, TX, is married to Mark and loves hanging out with her two children Hannah and Alex, and the family pets, Hopper, Okie, Captain Whiskers, and Michael (a gecko).
WINTER 2019
SITTING WITH GOD: READING AND HEARING SCRIPTURE IN COMMUNITY by Nate Frambach
I’m sitting on a simple wooden stool in a small, spartan room in the Taize community in France. I am here with a group of students from Wartburg Theological Seminary for a Jterm pilgrimage, and it seems a fitting place to write about an open and inductive approach to reading the Bible in community. Though I have been teaching in a seminary community for many years now, I served for 10 years as a parish pastor. I remember a moment in one of the congregations where I served, sitting with a small group of confirmation students with a pre-fab, boxed-set Bible study that was going nowhere fast. And then Patricia said something like, “This is going nowhere fast. Why don’t we just have people read the Bible passage out loud, ask a lot of questions and talk about the things that we don’t understand?”
Regardless, it’s important that the group: • Has a sense of openness and trust and a willingness to risk asking questions. • Is focused and committed to the purpose of gathering—to read and hear Scripture together. • Meets in a clearly defined and comforable space that fits the size of the group and the purpose of the gathering (e.g., avoid a small group sitting around a table in folding chairs in a fellowship hall or a group that has too many people for the space and feels overcrowded and stuffy). The following values and principles are intended to help you better understand this particular approach to reading and hearing Scripture.
CORE VALUES Voila! It certainly wasn’t a miracle cure, but it was a moment within a moment that moved us a little bit down the road from stuck and awkward toward a more participatory and curiosity-driven approach to “Bible study.” I just put “Bible study” in quotes because what I wish to propose here (nothing at all new and not at all complicated) is a very inductive approach to reading and hearing Scripture together. This approach also reflects what I consider to be a healthy disposition for the Christian life, to borrow an old Latin phrase attributed to St. Anselm, “fides quaerens intellectum” or “faith seeking understanding.” There are many ways to study the Bible. This is only one approach, yet it is all too often overlooked—perhaps because it is simple (but not simplistic), yet often takes time and patience and perseverance to establish as a practice. I mean, you really only need two things: people and a Bible. I have found that this approach tends to work better in a smaller community or with small groups or leadership teams.
As obvious as it may seem, we trust that God is the primary agent wherever and whenever we gather. The promised Holy Spirit inspires and guides our reading and hearing of the Bible. We read the Bible first not to understand, but to hear what it has to say. In other words, when we approach the text our first posture is deep listening, paying attention and noticing what is actually there in the text. A nice question to frame this up is: What does the text want to say? We don’t dismiss content, nor the historical background, when reading the Bible. But we are open first to being encountered by the living voice of the gospel. God speaks in and through the stories of the Bible. First we listen, then we seek to understand and dig deeper. We hear echoes of various reformers through the ages (including but not limited to Martin Luther), that the Bible is that which bears
15
Christ. We read and hear Scripture because it holds up Jesus Christ for us to see and hear.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES This particular process is characterized by openness: to the presence and prompting of God’s Spirit, to one another, to differences of opinion and to questions. This particular approach to reading and hearing Scripture is open to and appreciates genuine inquiry. This Bible study process is designed to offer a safe place where questions are expected and honored, especially if there are few responses, let alone “answers.” “Content” (e.g., “What is this text about?”and “What does it mean?”) is not at all dismissed. If the group is not able to adequately respond to one or more questions, participants are invited and encouraged to take responsibility for finding additional perspective and information and bringing that back to the group. There are many resources and people that can be consulted. In fact, this is an excellent way to foster intergenerational faith conversation. The role of the leader in this process is much less information guru and much more facilitator and guide. The primary leadership task is keeping the group open to listening, asking questions and engaged in the process. An Inductive Approach to Reading and Hearing Scripture (or, a Version of Lectio Divina) Open the group time with prayer, asking God’s Spirit to lead, inspire and guide your encounter with the biblical texts and stories. 1. Invite everyone in the group to read the text silently. Throughout this study process honor moments of silence if they happen (I mean, I am writing this from Taize). 2. Ask someone to read the text out loud,
slowly and clearly, and ask the rest of the group to listen and pay close attention. You may want to pause for a few moments and then have someone else read the text a second time out loud. 3. Ask: What do you notice as you read and hear this text? What gets your attention, makes you curious or raises a question? What questions do you have about this text? 4. Ask: What do these verses say to us? What message do you hear? What does this text mean for you, for us right now? 5. Ask: What are these verses suggesting about who we are and what we are called to do?
Nathan Frambach serves
6. Ask: Is this text calling us to some specific actions? What is this text inviting us to do in the world on behalf of Christ?
as Professor of Pastoral Theology at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.
Close with prayer, thanking God for the opportunity to dwell in God’s presence and for the opportunity to be together in community and asking God for the guidance and strength to live as a beloved child of God.
12 TIPS FOR BIBLE STUDIES THAT DON’T SUCK by Marc Olson
1. TAKE A DEEP BREATH.
3. LEAN INTO THE WEIRD.
First, relax. You don’t need to be an expert to read the Bible, or even to lead a discussion, so don’t hold yourself to some arbitrary standard—and certainly don’t try to fake it. Let your own interest in finding stuff out, your gratitude for God’s grace and your love of the people you’re sitting with set the table and the tone.
This is related to tip #2. Lots of Bible studies start with themes or aim for takeaways as a way to focus the talk and the time—and to avoid getting stuck in the weeds by some of the Bible’s stranger stuff. Smart and skeptical kids, just like their adult counterparts, will be drawn to the opaque, odd or intriguing elements of the Bible’s world, though, and they’ll notice when these things are skipped or slighted. Engage miracles and prophecies—not to mention the occasional bear mauling, sea parting and episode of adultery—with curiosity. You don’t have to explain these things, but you will benefit from beholding them.
2. LET THE BIBLE DO ITS OWN THING. It’s tempting to start with a theme—even something cool and important like forgiveness or community or love. Resist this temptation, as it often reduces a rich story or section of the Bible into a less interesting thing, with fewer dimensions. Start with the story, or the letter or the list—read it carefully and see what it offers you. Think of the Bible less like a paper-flat roadmap and more like a living landscape, with its own topography and climate and creatures. Pay attention to the words and the world they shape. Explore it together. This may take more than 20 minutes, so slow down.
4. DON’T SIMPLY SEARCH FOR RULES AND LIFE LESSONS. The Hebrew Bible holds more than 600 commandments, about everything from behavior to belief to what kind of foods are ok to eat. You probably know about 10 of these off the top of your head and maybe a few innovations and revisions on those themes from Jesus and the folks that followed him in the New Testament. That whole big Bible isn’t just a wrapper for these rules, however. Tamp down (or 16
better yet, let go of) the urge to wrestle some nuggetty moral or set of must-have manners from every story. This is a written word that reveals so much more than rules for righteous living. It’s the story of God: who God is, what God loves and how God does all that loving.
5. FIND THE FUNNY BITS. It’s there, despite what you may have been told or experienced. Youths and kids turn out to be wiser than the teachers, widows and young women wield subversive power and the guys who think they won the war end up with hemorrhoids and houses full of mice. Humor in the Bible includes the puns and reversals and surprises that upend the expected and reveal the world-changing love that God has for the underdog, the unwanted, the secondborn and the scorned. It’s not always hilarious, but it can be satisfying and sustaining—which was usually the intent.
6. LEAVE THE COVER CLOSED FROM TIME TO TIME. See what stories you already know. Everybody at your Bible study has a scriptural story or two stored up someplace in their memory
WINTER 2019
and imagination—no matter how mangled or mashed up with an episode of the “Simpsons” or themes from “Harry Potter” they might be. Start with Noah and his ark, or the creation of Eve, or the Good Samaritan or Saul on the road to Damascus. Take turns telling stories aloud before you even open the Bible. Talk about what makes for a memorable story, and what meaning sticks in the mind and heart. The material that went on to become the Bible lived and lasted by memory and telling for centuries before any of it was written down.
7. EMBRACE AMBIGUITY. Make friends with polyvalence and the reality that the Bible was authored and assembled by an unknown (but rather large) number of human beings with various interests and agendas and arguments over a span of centuries in a set of lands and spate of eras that are utterly foreign to your present moment. Resign yourself to knowing that there are at least a handful of theologies at work among the Bible’s 66 books, and the order in which these books appear is not the order in which they were written. Bend your modern mind around the reality that some passages of ancient prose were intentionally crafted to be alluringly opaque and ambiguous. Admit that each of the Bible’s many moments was aimed at a specific audience with a set of intentions and aspirations for its effect. Then, finally, make friends with the truth that all translations into new languages, including ours, are themselves interpretations, which bring their own baggage to the party. Practice saying “I don’t know” and “beats me” and “let’s figure that out together”.
8. PARSE THE CATEGORIES. Teach your group that the Bible is less like a novel or dictionary—or even an encyclopedia—and more like a library. History and poetry are shelved in there, right beside myth and songs and wise sayings. Family trees are stacked along with folklore and inventories and letters and the front-page accounts of heroes and kings. Getting a sense of what kind of writing you’re reading can be a great gift to any group. As you identify the genre, discuss together what’s required for that kind of writing, what makes it good or great, what it’s attempting to do and what it’s not trying to do.
9. WELCOME HISTORY INTO THE MIX. Respect the remoteness of the Bible’s ancient sources and setting, but do some homework. The last two centuries of history and archaeology and study and science have brought amazing richness to the background of the Bible. Up until the 19th century the Scriptures were among a very small number of known ancient documents to shed light on the Bronze Age cultures of the Fertile Crescent. Since then, we’ve deciphered cuneiform, mapped Sumerian cities from space, explored King Tut’s tomb and dug up the Dead Sea Scrolls. Look it up.
10. SEE WHERE IT’S BLOOMING TODAY. The Bible actually has a pretty vibrant and busy social life these days, despite what some might think. Not only is it one of the primary mythical and moral sources for Western culture—including the art, religion and politics of the last couple millennia—it’s also pretty hip. Start looking and listening for places outside of self-referentially “Christian” culture where the Bible’s themes, and even its language, are echoed and employed by contemporary artists and musicians and poets and politicians. Start erasing the imaginary border between “sacred” and “secular” because the Bible doesn’t present itself that way. Challenge your group to a kind of cultural scavenger hunt for these places where the Bible and its words are rooting and flowering in the world away from church. Share what you find and what you think.
11. ASK QUESTIONS THAT CAN’T BE ANSWERED. Nothing against the people who can rattle off the names of all 12 tribes of Israel, as well as Noah’s wife and the Latin name of the fish that were native to Lake Tiberias in the year 5 CE, but Bible study is more than Bible trivia. Show your group ways to open the Bible with questions beyond who and what and when. Invite them to wonder about—and build questions about—the whys and hows that are provoked by Scripture: Why does God act like that at this time? How is God merciful and just at the same time? Why do people fail at being faithful so often? Why
17
does God love us? What is Jesus showing us about God when this happens? Bible studies can be amazing incubators, where budding theologians are warmed and watered. They can also be the opposite: cold corners, where creative questions are stymied and shut down, and where wonderment withers.
12. EXPECT GOD TO SHOW UP. Take another breath, friend. You aren’t alone. As you undertake yet another excursion into the Bible with perhaps reluctant companions, recall God’s promise of comfort and company. But stay humble; this is not conjuring. Walk by faith into the lovely mess of mysteries and mayhem that make up the Bible’s wild witness. Stay curious and hungry. Have fun.
Marc Olson is a freelance catechist in St Paul, Minnesota, where he lives with his aging Basset Hound, Bruce. He’s the author of The World Jesus Knew: A Curious Kid’s Gide to Life in the First Century. In addition to being a garbage man, hearse driver, and manager of a homeless shelter, Marc served as a pastor in the ELCA.
AND THEN THERE WERE SIX (ALWAYS SIX) So, before I went off to seminary, my local priest thought it would be good for me to lead a Bible study, just to have the experience. He suggested a name for the group, announced it to the congregation and for about half a year, six people joined me on Tuesday nights. We read through the Scriptures together and had conversations about what we read. Then, my second year of seminary, my fieldparish pastor at the Lutheran church suggested I lead a Bible study before worship on Sundays. He announced it to the congregation, and six people would regularly join in the basement across from Central Park, and we’d read through the Scriptures and discuss what we read. At my second field placement, on the upper east side, my mentoring priest asked me to join her in leading something called Bible and Brewskis. We tried various nights of the week for this experiment, but no matter the night, we’d get about six people. (And this was with beer!) Once I became a priest, back in Ohio, I tried having Bible study after church on Sundays for a while, and I probably don’t have to tell you how many people came, do I? I helped out at a Lutheran church on Long Island for
a while, and at Bible Study there are typically six people. Then, in my current call, I walked into a situation where I was told they always had Bible study between the two services on Sunday. I kid you not, there were six regulars. Sometimes, when I tried something unusual (like debunking the symbols of Christmas), we might have 12 or more show up. But whenever we went back to Bible study, we also went back to six participants. Why is it always six? No matter the size of the parish, no matter the enthusiasm of the priest or pastor, no matter which book of the Bible, six people. And there’s something else going on too: No matter what I said, or read, or explained, nothing ever really seemed to change. The people retained their folk religion, or spiritual quirks, or fundamentalism, or whatever. Hours and hours spent looking into the Scriptures and the result seemed to be… well, nothing. This past summer, I stopped offering Bible study and haven’t started it back up. No one has said anything and—to be honest—I sure hope they don’t. And here’s another thing… When the Vestry and I were rewriting our mission statement, I told them that the three things that seemed to generate excitement
18
by George Baum
and participation in the parish were worship, hospitality and outreach (which also provides a perfect acronym, right?). One Vestry member suggested we should add Bible study to that (he was not one of the six who used to come). I told him Bible study does not generate excitement or participation in the parish (plus, it would really mess up my acronym!). As he thought it over, he realized it was true. I wouldn’t say nobody comes to Bible Study, because I know six people do. Always six people. But here’s the thing I’ve realized after all this time trying to lead Bible study in all these different settings: Everybody wants to be in a church that offers Bible study, but nobody wants to go to Bible study. Or, more accurately, six people do. Always six people do. George Baum is an Episcopal Priest who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with his family and their cats. He spent 29 years playing in the band “Lost And Found,” which stopped touring in 2015, but is still available for parties (if they’re good ones).
WINTER 2019 In addition to paying interest, MIF Term Investments also pay it forward.
Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer in Minneapolis, Minnesota Used an MIF loan to remodel the lowincome apartments the church rents to Togolese refugees, thus making their new homes a whole lot homier.
The Mission Investment Fund offers a wide range of investments for individuals and congregations, including Fixed- and Adjustable-Rate Term Investments with a choice of terms. What’s more, when you invest with MIF, your investment finances loans to ELCA congregations like Christ the Redeemer. To learn more about our investments and loans, contact us at mif.elca.org or 877.886.3522.
IRAs • Term Investments • Demand Investments • Ministry Loans
Mission Investment Fund investments are subject to certain risks. See “Risk Factors” in the MIF Offering Circular. MIF investments are not bank accounts. As securities issued by a nonprofit institution, the investments are not insured by FDIC, SIPC or any other federal or state regulatory agency. The securities are sold only by means of the Offering Circular. This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described here.
19
ELCA Youth Ministry Network 150 Oakwood Lane Owatonna, Mn 55060
Why Nobody Wants to Do Bible Study Anymore
20