March 2015  Originally part of the Online Leadership Conference notes.

I personally love it when a woman makes up a Bible study on her own and shares it with a group of women, but we all know that doesn't always happen. I just wish we would share more and teach other women to do that more. I feel there is a whole generation of women losing out on personal stories and personal wisdom because of purchased Bible study books.

But be that as it may, I know we live in the real world and many churches do use purchased materials for their women's Bible studies, so I have tried to include ideas for choosing any type of Bible study below.

1. Know your audience. To whom is it geared?
• group of moms
• single ladies
• widowed ladies
• diverse group of women
• certain age group of women
2. Pray over your choice.
3. Research. Research. Research.
4. Decide what type of Bible study you want.
• Book of the Bible (going verse by verse)
• Topical
• Biblical character
5. Decide what style of Bible Study you want to teach.
• DVD
• Book – author based
• No guide – (Everyone reads an assigned passage ahead of time. At study you go verse by verse along with group discussion.)
6. Make and take a survey.
• Find out what your ladies have studied in the past.
• Find out what topics or types of studies your ladies are interested in.
7. Decide how many weeks you want to take to complete the study.
8. Decide how often you want to meet for the study.
9. Decide how much time you will allow for each study session.
(meeting time)
• Work with how long it will take to get through each lesson allowing for discussion time.
• If you are including refreshments and chat time, be sure to figure that in.
10. Decide if you want “homework” or lessons to fill out.
• Do the lessons contain too much “homework”? Not enough?
• How long will it take for your ladies to do their “homework”?
11. Decide if you want a study that offers a leader’s guide if that is important to you.
12. Use material that has God’s Word as the foundation.
• Check to see if verses are used correctly or out of context.
• Check to see if it is more someone’s opinion than a study guide.
• Is it doctrinally sound?
13. Check backgrounds of authors if using a book guide or DVD.
• Check the type of church with which they associate.
• Check their core beliefs.
• Many authors have websites so check there for information.
• Check their Facebook and social pages to get a sense of them.
• Just because an author is popular doesn’t mean their material is biblical or right for your group.
14. Check the discussion questions.
• Are the discussion questions on target with the study text?
• What type of discussion do they encourage?
• Are the questions too vague or shallow?
• Do they encourage spiritual growth?
15. Talk to someone who has done the study before.
16. Preview the study.
• Get a copy in your hands so you can pour over it before you teach it to a class.
17. Consider your budget and the cost.
18. Get the Pastor and church leadership’s approval before purchasing a Bible study or teaching it in regard to your church women’s ministry.

Copyright ©2015 Julia Bettencourt.

See the Bible Resources Index.

• Leader Vault
• Blog
• Home