Bible Study and Building Community

After weeks of discussion about the authorship, structure and history of the Bible, the third year students from the Lower Elementary class were almost ready to begin Bible study.  First, we needed to prepare ourselves as a group.  I asked them why we study the Bible in a group rather than each of us on our own. One child enthusiastically explained that we study the Bible in a group so that all in the group could bond and become better friends.  Another child then spoke of the importance of community.

I believe that CFMS elementary students know and accept each other more deeply than most people I know. Just the week before I observed while one member of the group rubbed the back of another to help him calm down after he’d become so excited by the discussion that he couldn’t keep from moving around in his seat.   These children who had known each other since they were two or three years old, and who knew instinctively that a classmate could be helped with a backrub  looked forward to Bible study as an opportunity to bond and strengthen community.

Next, I explained that it would be helpful for us all to agree on how we should interact with one another during Bible study, that together we would create guidelines for our group.  They readily offered suggestions, and I asked them to write their ideas on slips of paper.

Their suggestions included:

Listen to and respect everyone.

Trust and help each other.

Work as a team.

Pay attention.

Wait for each other and speak only one at a time.

Only use your voice to talk to everyone.

One of the sayings of Jesus that the children most frequently quote and write is “Love your enemies.”  They included this as a suggestion for the group, focusing on the word “love.”

This coming week before we open our Bibles, we will review and edit the summary of guidelines, and then sign our names to this agreement. We will then read and reflect on the passage in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus invites the children to come to him, announcing that the Kingdom of God belongs to the children.

I have been reading and re-reading the suggestions of the children for their group guidelines -respect, trust, help, team, love - and giving thanks that we will be spending this year seeking God’s Kingdom together.

Jodi-beth McCain