by Marlene Lee

Created on: March 03, 2009   Last Updated: March 04, 2009

More than 50 years ago, A. Wetherell Johnson led the first of a weekly Bible Study Fellowship program. Since then, Bible Study Fellowship (www.bsfinternational.org) has grown to become an international movement with 200,000 members in 1000 classes in nearly 40 countries.

Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) differs from most bible study classes in several important ways.

Firstly, it is interdenominational, welcoming members from many different churches. This allows, I believe, for a more agenda-free study of the bible.

Secondly, the program is delivered through a "Four-Fold Approach" which helps members to learn more effectively. Members are first provided with a list of daily questions to work through at home over the course of a week. They then get together with the group they've been placed in, and go through the questions with a leader. This is followed by a lecture to provide further insights into the week's passage. Finally, before they go home, members are given detailed, meticulously prepared notes on the week's bible passage (and of course, questions for the next week).

These four steps are very helpful in that they engage BSF members in the study the bible at various levels. There are the questions to stimulate individual reflection. The group discussions help members to gain further insights through sharing perspectives with others. The lectures help to build on their individual and group study, and the notes provide more in-depth knowledge. The learning is structured in such a way that members gain from both progressively adding to their understanding with each step that they complete, and from recursively reflecting back on what they have learnt.

Another distinctive feature of BSF is that it emphasises not just knowledge of the bible, but also places strong focus on the application of lessons and insights to daily life. Members are encouraged to use what they learn to make their spiritual, family and work life richer. In the process, members get to really know the bible not just as a book of stories, but also as a practical guide that's absolutely relevant to their everyday concerns.

The practical focus of BSF extends to it specifying for the provision of classes for children during the time that discussion groups and lectures are being held, a great help to parents who want to attend the classes.

Consistency in standards and delivery is another aspect appreciated by many who join BSF classes. Classes around the world get their learning and teaching materials from BSF headquarters in the US (incidentally, all their materials are copyrighted). Thus, discussion groups and lectures are much the same whether you are attending a class in the US or in Singapore. And, of course, members get the exact same notes.

In the final analysis, a key value and difference of BSF is that it provides a course and system of study which has proved to be useful to many over the course of more than 50 years. To learn more about the organisation and its bible study classes, go to its website at www.bsfinternational.org.

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