A Dozen Helpful Tips

 Here is a list of helpful suggestions for leading a Bible study discussion group:

 1. Arrive early, ready to focus fully on others and give of yourself. If you have to do any last-minute preparation, review, re-grouping, or praying, do it in the car. Don’t dash in, breathless, harried, late, still tweaking your plans.

2. Check out your meeting place in advance. Do you have everything you need—tables, enough chairs, a black board, hymnals if you plan to sing, coffee, etc.?

3.  Greet each person warmly by name as she arrives. After all, you’ve been praying for these women all week long, so let each VIP know that you’re glad she’s arrived.

4. Use name tags for at least the first two or three weeks.

5. Start on time no matter what—even if only one person is there!

6. Develop a pleasant but firm opening statement. You might say, “This lesson was great! Let’s get started so we can enjoy all of it!” or “Let’s pray before we begin our lesson.”

7.  Read the questions, but don’t hesitate to reword them on occasion. Rather than reading an entire paragraph of instructions, for instance, you might say, “Question 1 asks us to list some ways that Christ displayed humility. Lisa, please share one way Christ displayed humility.”

8. Summarize or paraphrase the answers given. Doing so will keep the discussion focused on the topic, eliminate digressions, help avoid or clear up any misunderstandings of the text, and keep each group member aware of what the others are saying.

9. Keep moving and don’t add any of your own questions to the discussion time. It’s important to get through the study guide questions. So if a cut-and-dried answer is called for, you don’t need to comment with anything other than a “thank you.” But when the question asks for an opinion or an application (for instance, “How can this truth help us in our marriages?” or “How do you find time for your quiet time?”), let all who want to contribute do so.

10. Affirm each person who contributes, especially if the contribution was very personal, painful to share, or a quiet person’s rare statement. Make everyone who shares a hero by saying something like “Thank you for sharing that insight from your own life,” or “We certainly appreciate what God has taught you. Thank you for letting us in on it.”

11. Watch your watch, put a clock right in front of you, or consider using a timer. Pace the discussion so that you meet your cut-off time, especially if you want time to pray. Stop at the designated time even if you haven’t finished the lesson. Remember that everyone has worked through the study once; you are simply going over it again.

12. End on time. You can only make friends with your group members by ending on time or even a little early! Besides, members of your group have the next item on their agenda to attend to—picking up children from the nursery, babysitter, or school; heading home to tend to matters there; running errands; getting to bed; or spending some time with their husbands. So let them out on time!

Five Common Problems

In any group, you can anticipate certain problems. Here are some common ones that can arise, along with helpful solutions:

1. The incomplete lesson—Right from the start, establish the policy that if someone has not done the lesson, it is best for her not to answer the questions. But do try to include her responses to questions that ask for opinions or experiences. Everyone can share some thoughts in reply to a question like, “Reflect on what you know about both athletic and spiritual training and then share what you consider to be the essential elements of training oneself in godliness.”