A Beginner’s Guide to Running a Bible Study | How to Read the Bible Semester Discussion Guide

Part 7: A Beginner’s Guide to Running a Bible Study

The following should be read aloud as a group, with each person reading one paragraph before passing on to the next person. Afterwards discussion will follow with the provided discussion questions.

Till I come, attend to the public reading of Scripture.

1 Timothy 4:13¹

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Matthew 18:20²

While running your own Bible study as a college student at your OCF chapter can seem daunting, the reality of doing so may not be as challenging as you think. The below format is designed as a general guide for Orthodox Christians seeking to read Scripture together while getting insights and interpretation from the Church Fathers.³

Choose a book of the Bible

Choose a book of the Bible that your chapter would want to study. It might be good to survey members of your OCF chapter to see what book they would like to read or to choose a book of the Bible you are already familiar with.

Choose a regular time and location to meet

Consistency in meeting in a regular time and place is crucial for the long term success of the Bible study. Offering free food can also be an incentive for people to come.

Break the first one or two chapters of the book into smaller sections before the Bible study

This will be key for discussion purposes in the Bible study. Read the chapter(s) beforehand and divide the text into a few sections based on divisions that make sense to you.

Begin the Bible study with prayer

Asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit is key when reading the Scriptures. Feel free to begin with “Heavenly King,” the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer from Divine Liturgy before the reading of the Gospel, or any other prayer you know by heart.

Read the one or two chapters out loud together as a group

Read the chapters slowly and out loud a paragraph at a time before switching to the next person. You will want to make sure you are all using the same translation, such as the Revised Standard Version or the New King James Version.

Break the group up into smaller groups of a few people each, assigning each group one of the smaller sections

This will allow for more careful study and discussion of a specific subsection of the one or two chapters.

Have each group use the Catena App to look at commentary from the Fathers and discuss them as a small group

The group can take a few minutes to browse the commentary of various Fathers on the passage using the Catena App before discussing interesting things they found from the Fathers in their small group.

Have the small groups come back together and report one or two key insights each small group gained on the passage from reading the Fathers

Have the small groups report to everyone what insights they got and which Church Fathers gave them those insights.

Have discussion as a large group

Here you can open things up to more open discussion by the entire group on what you have learned. Alternatively, you can have specific discussion questions on the passage which you have written ahead of time and can bring up here.

End with prayer

After ending discussion, it is appropriate to close with a prayer of thanksgiving or any standard Orthodox prayer, such as “It is truly meet to bless Thee” or an excerpt from the Akathist of Thanksgiving.

While this format is meant as a general guide, please feel free to add more content to this format if you so desire, such as having icons available of the events talked about in the biblical text, reading the text of Orthodox hymns relevant to the biblical passage, or presenting commentary from academic resources on the Bible. Having an Orthodox priest or deacon attend the Bible study can also help in getting further insights into the biblical text. In the end the most important things are a prayerful spirit, the cohesiveness of the group, and a desire to grow closer to Christ.

We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this guide on how to read and understand the Bible as an Orthodox Christian. If you have any questions about these articles or need advice on how to start a Bible study at your OCF chapter, feel free to contact the writer at jsparks@ocf.net.

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think makes a Bible study meaningful and enjoyable?
2. What might be the challenges of starting or leading a Bible study in your chapter?
3. How can a Bible study strengthen relationships and community among students?
4. If your group were to begin a study, what book or section of the Bible would you want to start with, and why?

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¹ 1 Timothy 4:13 RSV.

² Matthew 18:20 RSV.

³ This method of Bible study was developed by Christina Andresen, OCF’s National Director of Ministries. It has been used with great success at the parish she attends before being implemented by OCF.