Reading the Bible in New and Creative Ways
Together
Sculpture by Judith Price - Creative Conundrums. Used with permission
“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture which they cannot understand. But as for me, I always notice that the passages of Scripture which trouble me most are those that I do understand.” Mark Twain
CONTENTS
African Method...... page 3
Swedish Method...... page 4
Colouring the Word...... page5
Bibliodrama...... page 6
Biblical Modelling...... page 7
Using Art as a focus for Bible study...... page 8
There is an old Christian tradition
that God sends each person into this world
with a special message to deliver,
with a song to sing for others,
with a special act of love to bestow.
No one else can speak my message,
or sing my song,
or offer my act of love.
These are only entrusted to me.
Francis Dewar, Called or Collared (London, SPCK, 1991)
Used by permission.
One of the strongest means of grace that God uses to communicate our special message is through the gift of Scripture. It is joy to learn to hear God speak to us as we learn different ways of freshly engaging with Scripture and develop disciplined ways of using it to give us the fullness of life promised for us, our communities and our world.
The African Bible Study Method
This Bible study method was introduced at the Lambeth Conference. It is called by two names: "Lambeth" and "African." It is a reflective method which creates a safe, non judgmental space for sharing, and deeply listening to God and one another. As we listen to one another so we learn to hear more clearly the ways God speaks to us.
Opening Prayer:
Gracious God, you have given us Holy Scripture for our learning, that we may be transformed into the likeness of your Son. Help us to hear your words in the Word, to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, so that we might know in ourselves and in our communities your fullness of the life that Jesus was born and died to share with us. Amen.
1.One person reads the passage slowly.
2.Each person identifies the word or phrase that catches their attention. (1 minute)
3.Each person repeats aloud the word or phrase around the group (3 – 5 minutes – no discussion). Notice how the passage speaks differently to different people.
4.Another person reads the passage slowly, for the second time preferably someone of different gender, or using a different translation, to change the way the passage is heard.
5.Each person identifies how the passage is touching their life at the moment. (1 minute).
6.Each shares briefly and everyone listens carefully. When everyone has had the opportunity to share a conversation based on respect for each person develops. (5 – 20 minutes)
7.The passage is read a third time (another reader and translation if possible).
8.Each person thinks of an image, word, reflection and names or writes this down for themselves. "From what I've heard and shared, what do I believe God wants me to do or be? Is God inviting me to change in any way?" ( 5 minutes )
9.Each person shares their answer ( 5-10 minutes, NO DISCUSSION )
10.Everyone prayers for the person on their right, naming what were shared in the other steps (5minutes).
Close with the Lord's Prayer and SILENCE or music.
The Swedish Method
Starting a Bible reading group using this method requires a minimum of resources and preparation, and can be highly rewarding as it leads readers to confront the Scriptures directly.
Begin by praying, asking God to speak through the Word. Then read a short Bible passage aloud (10-15 verses is ideal). Instruct each person to go back over the passage on their own while being on the lookout for three things:
/ A light bulb: This should be something that ‘shines’ from the passage—whatever impacts most, or draws attention./ A question mark: Anything that is difficult to understand in the text, or a question the reader would like to ask the writer of the passage or the Lord.
/ An arrow: A personal application for the reader's life.
Everyone should write down at least one thing next to each item. Allow people time to explore the text at their own speed. This takes about 10 minutes in silence.
Afterwards, get each reader to share one of their ‘light bulbs’ with the group. Spend time discussing these, and discover what has impacted different members.
In the second round, ask them to share one of their questions raised by the passage. Often it is best to invite the person who raises the question to propose an approach to answering it, and generally encourage that person towards further investigation.
In the third round, ask each person in your group to share one of their applications as it applies to their own life.
Finish by praying for the people beside you and end with the Lord’s Prayer.
The philosophy behind this style of Bible reading is to promote good observation of the text, group participation and self-guided discovery. Each person has the opportunity to discover for themselves what God says. In principle, no-one answers the questions unless they are about something simple, like the meaning of a word. The idea is that the questions motivate investigation on the part of the person who raised them
Colouring the Word
Ask everyone to bring a packet of crayons.
Print out a clean copy of a Biblical story text from the Internet. (For example the story of the Lost sheep, including the introductory verses.)
Read the passage out aloud slowly, so that everyone is familiar with the outline of the story.
Go back and read the passage slowly in small chunks, 2 or 3 verses at a time, with a minute or so of silence between each section. Ask people to choose a colour which evokes the emotion that the verses stir in them and to colour the word or phrase with the colour. They may feel the emotion of hostility and want to colour the words red, or black. They may feel joy or hope stirring, and want to colour them yellow or green. They may feel a tangle of different emotions which they want to shade with different mixed up colours. Help them to notice the range of emotions, some very fleeting that they experience.
Some people may prefer to use the colours not on the text but on a blank sheet of paper, so that they can depict tangled knots, springs of energy, green shoots, brick walls etc.
When the passage has been read for the second time, ask people to notice where the emotion feels strongest. Give them 10 to 20 minutes to do some work on this. What is God communicating to them?They may want to draw out a word in a chosen colour or colours and allow doodles, or word maps to emerge from it. They may be inspired to write a prayer or draw a symbol, landscape or picture which the word and emotion has stirred up in them.
Afterwards give everyone the opportunity to share a little of their discovery. After each offering ask everyone to keep a moment of silence while they pray for the person, before someone else takes their turn.
When everyone has shared or had the opportunity to share, if time allows encourage some conversation about the experience and how what has been learnt might apply to daily contexts, relationships, values and attitudes.
Give everyone a moment to imagine a conversation which they have with Christ as a result of their exploration of the text. It may be questions, resolutions, thankfulness, and to try to find one word or image that encapsulates their experience.
End by saying the grace together.
Bibliodrama
Choose a passage, for example the healing of the man in the tombs (Mark 5: 1 – 20)
and read the passage out slowly and clearly.
Divide into four sub-groups representing:
- the demon-possessed man
- the disciples,
- the herdsmen,
- and the local people.
The groups sit together, and listen while the story is read again, but this time they listen through the ears of their particular character(s).
The groups have 15 minutes to think out together how they feel about the story and the part they have in it. Give everyone a couple of minutes silence to think individually first.
They work out what questions and comments they would like to put to the other ‘characters’. This might be anger, confusion, puzzlement, defensiveness. How are the disciples going to justify Jesus’ actions? His actions will cause economic hardship to the local people. How does the healed man feel about being left behind to face the prejudice and anger of the people?
The ‘characters’ now get together and begin the conversation. The leader needs to facilitate the questioning of each character by the others and the developing dialogue. Ideally the characters should speak (act) in their own character. “We herdsmen are feeling angry about you foreign strangers walking into our land and destroying our herd!” What are you going to do about it?
After the conversation has developed the leader helps people reflect on insights and ways that the story can speak into the present context. Who do we scapegoat in our society, how do we react when many resources are channelled into the rescue of the vulnerable in our society. What questions does the drama in the Biblical passage raise for our own society?
End with a few minutes reflective silence while people think about what God may be saying to them in the passage, what most important insight they take away with them. Allow people the opportunity to share this.
End in prayer for some of the situations and issues raised.
Biblical Modelling
Take an episode from the life of Jesus, such as the healing of the paralytic (Mark 2: 1 – 12). Read the passage slowly.
Divide into groups:
- The paralysed man
- The crowds listening to Jesus in the home
- One of the four friends
- One of the scribes
- Jesus
- The roof
The passage is read a second time and everyone listens to the passage through the ears of their character.
The group now has to create a freezeor tableau of one particular snap shot of the story. Jesus telling the man, I say to you, stand up, take up your mat and go to your home.
How would the body language of the characters express their thoughts and feelings?
To prepare for the scene the characters have got to talk to each other to try to work out what the likely effect really was on each of the characters. It is this discussion which forms the basis of the Bible study.
The freeze is then enacted. Each person in turn can be invited to leave the scene for a minute and walk around it, looking at the way each person is represented.
Afterwards further conversation can follow, ending with the question: what insight about this incident stands out freshly for you today and how does it connect with a different area of your life or world?
Variations on this:
- Get the group to organise two or three freeze frames and comment on each others.
- Use duplo people and create several scenes which you discuss and photograph
- Use two or three people to create a tableau of different moments in the story and photograph these. The learning comes in the conversation about how to arrange the tableaux. Added fun comes with using a few props.
End by spending a few moments reflecting on insights and praying together.
Using Art as a focus for Biblical study
Find a visual image which has some connection with a passage of Scripture. This may be a Christmas card, or a picture from the internet or a picture you own or sculpture.
It may be a Godly play story. Ensure that everyone is able to clearly see the piece of art, either a copy within sight. Or if it is large enough you may want to display it as a central focus.
Read a passage of Scripture which in some way connects with the visual image.
For 3 minutes ask people individually to notice what emotions are stirred for them in the visual representation. They may be positive or negative or mixed.
What questions are raised for them?
Ask for some initial responses and give everyone the opportunity of sharing their reflections. (10 minutes)
Now give people 15 minutes to go away individually and do some more work on the passage and/or the connections stirred by the visual image. If there are art materials available they may wish to draw, or paint. They may want to write down reflections, journal thoughts, write a prayer or poem or letter to God or neighbour.
Bring everyone together to share their reflections and allow conversation to emerge once everyone has had an opportunity to share as much as they feel comfortable.
End with a time which gives people the opportunity to think about what God is saying to them this day.
Say the Lord’s Prayer together.
A village woman in Africa always used to walk around carrying her Bible. “Why always the Bible?” her neighbours asked her. “There are so many other books you can read.” The woman knelt down, held the Bible high above her head and said: “Yes, of course there are many books which I could read. But there is only one book which reads me. Hans-Ruedi Weber The Book that Reads me.
1