Mobile Ministry Magazine

As best as I can remember, MMM has talked about doing bible studies, but concentrated more on the tech and the software, rather than the actual study itself. So the question I have, while at a cafe waiting for a bible study to begin myself, is how can mobile tech enhance a Bible study? And, how can teachers use mobile tech to reach those to whom time or opportunity doesn't make them usual participants?

The first way a mobile can enhance a Bible study, is for one to have an outline or appendix of additional resources or notes availabe hours to a day before the study. By making this available, you offer a preview of the pending study, and in the case of some studies - such as a line by line study of Romans - those notes can consist of historical contextual notes that would normally be lost on the ears of some who might not be as tuned to history.

Another way of using mobile effectively is moving to a venue besides a church to have the study. From a cafe or library, you can leverage the wireless connection there to give group worksheets that can be done on a device. One can also make ice breakers such as scavenger hunts that use the cameras on phones to coincide with the coming lesson.

Getting people to come to studies seems to be a problem that all deal with. Obligations such as working late, family responsiblities, or just plain non-motivation keeps study numbers lower than some would like. Sure, you can addreess this by making topics more interesting or making it a membership "requirement," but a more effective thing would be allowing the study to be timeshifted into the place where it is most convenient. For example, if you church is large enough, and the budget is there, record the Bible study and have it on your site as a audio or video download. Adding that to a RSS feed will help drive users to your site, and potentially make for more outreach opportunities in your community.

Or even, somethign simple like a subscription based SMS blast of the vereses and subject covered in the study. A person who signs up for the study would expect to receive a SMS or email alert of what the study was about and the verses that went along with it. By tying into the study the reiteration of this content, you create coesion amongst the study, and make it easier for people to come into the middle of a longer study and not feel totally left behind.

Of course, none of this will happen unless you are stepping outside of your communities and comforts and looking for ways to make sure people are the focus of your efforts, not programs. In making "berean-like" people a aim of your study, you not only end up enriching the study, but the potential for those who learned and sat in that study to become teachers to others themselves.