A process for group bible study
by Rev. Sue Spencer

The Process:

1. We begin with a time of quiet centering.
   
   
2. One member of the group reads the text aloud. another reads from another translation.
   
   
3. The facilitator asks a series of questions, designed to help participants engage the text and "live into" the story. Usually (s)he will invite many answers.
   
   
4. The session concludes with an exercise designed to deepen the exploration. Participants are invited, but not required, to share gleanings from this exercise.

Assumptions:

1. The text, not the leader, is the focus.
   
   
2. The purpose of the process is to engage the text, not to analyze it or find its "objective" meaning.
   
   
3. We are all equals before the text, since we're all experts on our own experience.
   
   
4. Living the questions is more important than coming to a "correct" answer. There are usually many valid responses to a text, many possible right answers.
   
   
5. "Our goal...is the move among these texts that we are transformed." Walter Wink

Guidelines for Discussion:

1. Try to approach even the most familiar text with "beginner's mind" as if you're hearing it for the first time.
   
   
2. Always use "I" statements, and say how the text speaks to YOU.
   
   
3. Don't debate. Listen to one another, and allow all responses to "be there." Participants decide for themselves which answers are helpful and which are not.
   
   
4. If you tend to talk a lot in groups, monitor your participation. Make sure everyone has enough "air time."
   
   
5. Conversely, if you tend to be quiet in groups, risk a little. Your insights might unlock a door for someone else!
   
   
6. You always have the right to change your mind.