Many churches now prefer live Bible teaching over video studies. That shift has left some women's ministry directors asking where to find qualified teachers. A women's ministry leader writing for The Gospel Coalition offers one answer: train them. She describes a four-session course that helped women in her church learn to teach Scripture, and she shares the plan so other churches can use it.
What happened
The leader first recruited two women who already had experience teaching the Bible. The three women took the online First Principles for Women course from the Simeon Trust. They then adapted what they learned to fit their own church's needs.
The first course focused on the epistles. Participants studied 1 Peter. Each small group received a separate passage, and the whole group studied 1 Peter 5:1–11 together. Later courses used other types of writing, including narrative from a Gospel and wisdom literature from a psalm.
Participants agreed to attend all four sessions, finish homework and teach a 10-minute message to their peers. Each woman joined a small group of three to six people with a leader who gave feedback and answered questions.
Context
The course rests on three principles. First, the teacher should never add to or take away from the text. Second, the whole Bible tells one story, with God working to reconcile people to himself through Jesus. Third, context guides interpretation. Teachers look at the passages before and after a text, and at the historical setting of the first readers.
The training also covers exegesis, the careful study of a passage to find its meaning. Participants learn to identify the main idea, connect the passage to the gospel, and find themes such as hope, forgiveness and sacrifice. They are also taught to think about their audience's age, life stage and struggles before they plan a lesson.
What to watch
The leader says the purpose of the course is to help women grow in their ability to understand and teach God's Word. She does not describe a formal program or outcome data. Churches interested in the model can adapt the four-week outline to their own settings and text choices.
