How are you opening the scriptures in your congregation, with your friends, in your family, and in your own life? What works? What does not? What have you tried? Share your ideas and read the ideas of others so that everyone in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod can become fluent in the first language of the faith: the scriptures.
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NEPS
The NEPS Book of Faith Blog
- NEPS Book of Faith
- The “Book of Faith” initiative was passed at the ELCA Assembly in Chicago in 2007 in order to encourage the whole church “to become more fluent in the first language of faith, the language of scripture.” The Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod's Worship and Spirituality Team encourage you to become part of the conversation.
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod is a synod of the ELCA
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Bible Study In A Bag:
This idea is by no means my own but comes from a LIFT workshop led by Tyna Kaltenbaugh, the Director of Youth Ministry at Holy Spirit, Reading.
In this study, groups of people re-tell common Bible stories by using the Bible and contents found within a bag. The bag contains any seven or more household objects (old shirt, fork, ribbon, etc.) that must be used or worn while reenacting a Bible story. Extra points if you use the bag also! Keeping the study light and fun, groups have only 5-10 minutes to prepare. Any common Bible text can be used, but common Bible stories (Jonah, the Good Samaritan, etc. )are the easiest with which to start.
I have found this study to be a perfect intergenerational event. I have also taught this as a way for families to have fun with the scripture and each other at night during evening devotions. The family can either perfom for each other, or just use it as a way for everyone to play together.
BIBLE REWARDS PROGRAM
Cheryl Statham, Prince of Peace, Johnsonville
Does your church give your Sunday School students a Bible that they then never, ever bring to Sunday School again. If so, you are not alone. Here at Prince of Peace, our Sunday School teachers were increasingly frustrated with students who did not have their bibles with them when they wanted to have them look something up. Then, one of our teachers came up with a great idea. She started a Bible Rewards Program, where students received a point for every Sunday that they brought their bible with them. Then, at quarterly intervals, the students received a ticket for each point, which they could then either redeem for a selection of prizes that day or hold on to and redeem later for a bigger prize. Since we have started the program, the number of students who have brought their bibles to Sunday School has skyrocketed. One parent asked us if this wasn't bribery. I said, of course it was, but if it meant that the students had their bible with them when we wanted to do bible work, it was all right with me. If you would like more information about this program, please contact Prince of Peace, Johnsonville at 610-588-2355.
Bible Gifting:
This too is no new idea, but I cannot believe how effective it is.
Trinity Towanda gifts Bibles to people throughout their entire lives. When born/baptized, the church hands out an infant Bible ("Baby's First Bible") and a toddler - kindergarten Bible ("Read with Me Bible" NIrV). When a child enters school, they are given a children's study Bible (Kid's Quest NIrV), and for first communion (fourth grade in our church) they are provided with a teen study bible (NRSV Study Bible).
Do not miss that we are giving the next Bible (age appropriately speaking) a little early to encourage their reading skills.
Because of Bible gifting, there is never a time in life when a person is without a Bible. God's Word is with these children from the very earliest of ages and so are the stories of the faith.
The Bible gifting does not stop there though. At confirmation, each confimand is presented with a Bible, not for themselves, but to be given away to a friend who may need it.
At High School graduation, each graduate is given a NRSV Spiritual Formation Bible with favorite Bible verses that have been highlighted by everyone in the congregation. Notes of love and congratulations are also written in the covers. When homesick and full of doubt at college, these are lifesavers.
The great thing about Bible gifting is that the parents who may not have grown up with the scriptures slowly and safely (without feeling stupid)learn the language of faith as they read these stories of faith to their children(from simple to more complex) as their child grows.
Congregation Council Devotions:
I used to just read a couple verses of scripture and offer a prayer. Beginning Octuber 2007, I choose scripture that applied as close as possible to the items on the agenda for the evening. We then discuss how the scripture applies to our congregation (I started only about 5-7 minutes of discussion, but I got the sense that council thought that was too short, so now we discuss until I feel it dying down -- about 15-20 minutes).
One would think that now our meetings are longer and run later, but that is not the case. Since we get ourselves focused on Christ and the church, we stay focused on our agenda and don't have as much off-track stuff going on. We get out of our meetings at the same time we always have, even with adding in 15-20 minutes for devotions!
Elmer Yazzie, a Christian artist from the Southwest and a member of the Navajo tribe, taught my wife and I a creative way to study the scripture. The majority of his works are explorations of a biblical text. Each paint stroke is an image of the words spoken to him by the Holy Spirit through the Bible.
During church he would always have his sketchbook along so that he could draw the biblical texts or draw the sermons. This way, as a creative person, he would be engaged with worship and the scriptures.
We gave this worship idea to an artistic mother and child, who soon found themselves deeply engaged every Sunday as they scetched what they heard. Both mother and child wanted to share what they had created and what they had taken away from their worship experience.
I tried something like Prince of Peace's suggestion for a few years, with remarkable success in a Jr. High class. I had students journal all week about a scripture passage, or just their faith and the world they live in. If they brought the journal on Sunday and showed me they wrote in it (I wouldn't read their private thoughts, but just see that they did the work), or if they contributed significantly (in comparison with their normal abilities) to the class discussion, they got a marble. At the end of each class, students put marbles in a central container, and when they reached certain numbers, I'd bring snacks for the next class. That way, their rewards became communal, and kids loved to help their class achieve a "party."
-Aaron Decker, Seminarian
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