The Value of Aligning Group Bible Study Content

Do you know what your Bible study groups leaders taught last week in their groups? Do you know what your leaders are teaching next week in their groups? How important is it for you to know this? I personally believe it is very important. As leaders responsible for equipping Bible study teachers, and because we are entrusted by the church to help teachers teach God’s Word, we should, no we must know what is being taught. When it comes to God’s Word, we are not only equippers of leaders, we are not only facilitators of discipleship, we are not only promoters of relationships, we are not the catalyst for leading groups to reach people with the gospel, but we are also guardians of God’s Word. This is why I believe in the value of aligning group Bible study content. While there are other approaches, I and many others, believe this is most likely the best approach.

Steve Clifton, member of BACE, and the Pastor of Ministry Implementation, First Baptist, Jacksonville, FL states it this way, “Having every group on the same curriculum better enables your church to move toward the goal of disciple-making in the church.”

Aligning Bible study content also enables you to enlist leaders for new groups. If each leader randomly chooses his or her own studies or writes his/her own content, then newer, inexperienced leaders will most likely never step up and out of those groups to become teachers because the model they have observed is something they most likely won’t be able to attain. I have heard more than one potential teacher in this setting state, “I could never teach because I can’t do what my teacher does each week.”

Steve facilitated a 47 minute discussion on this topic at the 2017 BACE conference in New Orleans. Listen to the wisdom Steve provides through this discussion and consider how you might better align your group Bible study content.