In a previous post, I recommended Nancy Guthrie's Hoping for Something Better as a good Bible study for women through Hebrews. With both Nancy's book and Practical Theology for Women, I've heard consistent requests for help to transition these books to use in a small or large group Bible study. I am now writing a Leader's Guide for Practical Theology for Women, and I have several questions for which I'm hoping that you, the reader, will offer feedback.
The big question is simply what are you looking for in a Leader's Guide? I have always envisioned a fairly simple format for group study of my work -- maybe 15 minutes where a leader reviews the big ideas from any assigned chapter and then 45 minutes for ladies to sit around tables and discuss the ideas that struck them. In a Leader's Guide, do you need guidance in what you should review with everyone? Do you prefer videos where the author actually presents the review? Do you need reproducible worksheets to hand out?
I am thinking through the best way to format the upcoming manuscript on Ephesians that I hope to publish in March. I loved the old Experiencing God Workbook . It had the text of the book with plenty of space to write my interactions with the text and Scripture presented. Is that a format you would prefer for a group study? Would you use that format in private study?
The big question is what format will facilitate study by both individuals and groups? There are many different learning styles. What is helpful to your personal learning style? What does not help and actually makes it harder to hear and process the material? Thanks for any feedback you can give.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
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9 comments:
I liked the experiencing God workbook when I went through that. What i don't like is leading questions. I skip those. That's usually the #1 reason I don't like devotionals. I think maybe five questions that revolve around what we learn about God and what the Scripture is saying about being important to a response from us in our everytday lives is a good direction. I struggle in our community group with questions that stay about theology and don't get to the heart. But I like discussing the big picture, the theology going on in the text, and then as the questions come to a head, so does the persistence with getting to the heart of the matter with how this is practically impt.
I don't think videos are necessary, and sometimes prohibitive (cost and location). I do like a few directed questions for the leader, as a suggestion. I think that the study guide for Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss was wonderful. It includes a section at the end of each week, specifically designed for group study and really drives home application.
I agree that videos are not necessary. In my community group I try to find the best questions that use theology and scripture to challenge our heart and practical life. I usually always ask how each lesson impacts a participant's call to gospel-centered missional living. So, I think guided discussion questions that engage the participants' hearts, heads and hands would be helpful. Further scripture passages for leaders to explore would also be helpful!
The church I am a member of now typically uses just a normal book format for small group study and creates their own workbook (with the author's permission) for our small group study with questions either made up or provided by the author. However, in the past I have really enjoyed using more of a Bible study format like the experiencing God workbook as it allows you to work through it day by day. Especially when you're working through a book like you are, I think having something to do daily helps to break it down into workable chunks, especially for new or more immature believers that aren't used to daily study.
I agree with others that videos are cost-prohibitive and probably not necessary.
I've led a lot of New Testament Bible study groups (with female med students) and I think the best help are practical examples and applications of the book and a whole lot of discussion questions that can be chosen from to help start the discussion off. Sometimes all it takes is one good question. It's the questions with obvious answers that sometimes stilt conversation, though sometimes they are necessary. Sounds like a great book though!
Wendy,
I was surprised (and not surprised) when I popped into your blog and saw this post. The Lord had been prompting my mind this week about, if given the opportunity, how would I present|lead a study on your book to women. I have been re-reading Tozer's The Pursuit of God, with study guide. Looking through the guide, I found its format very useful - a section for leaders, with applicable background, suggestions for facilitating the discussion, prompts for your own life - and a section of group questions (that the leader could copy for the group if needed) that I found were NOT lite, and required the reader to truly reflect deeply on Tozer's writing.
With that said, I will think more this week about what specifics I would find helpful in a leader's guide for your book. And, I am so excited to see how the Lord will use your addition!
Hi, all. Thanks so much for your very helpful feedback. Here's what I'm seeing so far.
1) Videos are not necessary.
2) Thoughtful study questions are helpful -- questions that meet women at a variety of levels of spiritual growth and stages of life.
3) Area to write in the text is helpful and encourages interaction with the text.
4) Guidance to leaders for their teaching introductions is helpful.
5) Reproducibles with study questions are helpful.
Am I missing anything? Thanks -- this is great!!
1)Wouldn't use a video most likely.
2)May I suggest an entirely different format from the usual women's Bible Study? What if the Bible study consisted of a real-life faith testing scenario, uniquely tailored to the principle in that chapter? The ladies would have to use the scriptures and teaching from that chapter (and perhaps some previous chapters) to help counsel this woman with her particular issue. You could write the scenario and then a series of questions that would lead the discussion. Many, if not most of us seek another sister in Christ to talk to during our trials, and this would equip those saints for a wide variety of common counseling scenarios. This would also force a much deeper level of thought and participation than the typical Bible Study as well as cementing the purpose of your book: PRACTICAL Theology.
Being part of a church plant and, therefore, around more people to whom the Bible and biblical thinking is foreign, I've found most people have a "HUH?" reaction once I've started asking questions. A few questions with these people in mind would be helpful.
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