From Monday to Wednesday I was at the clergy conference in Ashburton. Many of the clergy were billeted with parishioners, who also came to the church complex to help with meals, particularly doing the dishes.

We had several presentations. One of them was by Crossway Church in Melbourne, which has successfully implemented the Bible Discovery Method as a key part of their discipleship focus in church, both to build each other up and to bring more people to faith and into the church. It is a really simple concept: one-on-one or very small group Bible study that relies on an intuitive response, rather than detailed study of the text. It does not require linking the text with theological or contextual knowledge. Through that even the expert becomes a simple participant reading the Bible, rather than teaching it. The method allows participants to discover God’s truth for themselves, rather than relying on a leader. Both clergy and lay are encouraged to study the Bible with others. Crossway found that it can be done quite informally, often at a café or similar venue and just happens as is convenient.

The format is summarized by A-B-C:

A Ask each other how they went with the previous week’s commitment. This does not apply to the first meeting.

B Bible: Choose a short passage from the Bible (around 5-10 verses). Have someone read it aloud, then ask someone else to re-read the passage, best in another translation.  Have the participants retell the story from memory.  Spend some minutes silently reading the passage again. Silently pray for God to speak directly from the passage. Ask open-ended questions, such as:

“What do you see?”

“What does this say about God?”

“What does this say about us?”

“What is God saying to you?”

If the session veers off course, you can ask, “Where do you see that in the Bible?”

C Commit: Participants suggest a commitment to what God is saying to them.
“What are you going to do?” “Who are you going to tell?”
The commitment does not have to be something profound or big. It may be something as little as being more attentive to the good things we experience.

The method has worked well with people who are quite new to the Bible, particularly those who are just open to faith, rather than committed to it. It is more about getting inspiration from the Bible, rather than learning facts about it.