Bible Study

[phimuandfries]

Well, I understand that. If someone invites me repeatedly to something that I have already expressed no intrest in (like the girls with the Mary Kay parties ) it can get annoying. And with something as personal as religion, repeated invitations can get offensive. I guess I just assumed that people were offended by a casual one time "Ya wanna go to Bible study with me tonight?" type thing...

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Well, this is surprising for me but I find myself having to agree with Rudey here.

He said it all perfectly.

And Wine&SilverBlue makes some VERY good points as well.

And yes, "spreading the gospel" is akin to trying to convert someone.

[Cluey]

I think Bible studies are a wonderful idea, but as mentioned, keep them elective. Making an announcement in chapter and posting little reminders in the hall/house, in my opinion, would be ok.

I think what GP and SBGPhiB are saying is that they would hope that their sisters would know their beliefs and not push the issue of attending, which I can understand. I think that we can learn from their posts, though. When thinking about inviting anyone to church/Bible study/temple, you should take the time to learn more about the views that your prospective visitor holds before just inviting them to join you for a service. I know that as Christians we are supposed to "share the good news" with everyone, but I think it takes tact to do that.

I dont have a problem with it either. Ok i am lil miss molly go to church every sunday girl since i was a child ...yes i was raised inthe church but i dont go forcing it down someones throat of my own personal beliefs.


I think were all grown up here and enough to say to a sister or a brother who put that invitation out "NO THANK YOU" and be done with it. Its a strictly volunteer activity and having a joint study with other GLOs is great. Be grown up enough to not come unglued at someone for asking you be polite and say no thank you .... dont condone one another for what you or he or she believe in. Just be polite and say no thank you end of sentence.

[MysticCat]

I think a lot of good advice, both as to structuring a Bible study and being sensitive to other members of one's chapter, has been given here. But I would add a few more things.

First, everyone involved should have a clear distinction between personal spiritual growth and evangelism/"speading the gospel." A chapter Bible study should be about the former, not the later. That should be made clear to everyone in the chapter.

Second, there is a distinction between inviting people and letting people know they are welcome. Everyone should know they are welcome. No one person should be "invited" unless the "invitor" is already fairly sure they would be interested.

Third, just as some have noted that this all might be more common and acceptable in the South (or perhaps at church-related colleges as opposed to public colleges), I think differences between Greek groups needs to be taken into account. (Refer to Erik Conard's post Fraternity Histories, read 'em.) The "culture" of your particular GLO (not to mention your chapter) might have a bearing on how a Bible study should be approached and would be received.

Many threads on GreekChat have noted how some groups -- Phi Sigma Sigma and Delta Phi Epsilon come to mind -- were founded with non-sectarian principles, and that might affect how a Bible study would fit into the chapter. And of course, there are the traditionally Jewish GLOs.

Perhaps at the other end of the spectrum there are groups like Alpha Tau Omega. It, like many other fraternities of its founding era, was founded upon "Christian Principles," but unlike many GLOs, ATO still stresses a distinctively spiritual, faith dimension. As ATOtnBetaTau pointed out, ATO publishes an "ATO Devotional Book." It also has a national Spiritual Leadership Consultant, an Outward Bound-type spiritual leadership program (Noah's Ark) and an ATO Prayer Web on its national website. Quite a different environment for suggesting a Bible study.

[sairose]

Originally posted by MysticCat81
I think a lot of good advice, both as to structuring a Bible study and being sensitive to other members of one's chapter, has been given here. But I would add a few more things.

First, everyone involved should have a clear distinction between personal spiritual growth and evangelism/"speading the gospel." A chapter Bible study should be about the former, not the later. That should be made clear to everyone in the chapter.

Second, there is a distinction between inviting people and letting people know they are welcome. Everyone should know they are welcome. No one person should be "invited" unless the "invitor" is already fairly sure they would be interested.

Third, just as some have noted that this all might be more common and acceptable in the South (or perhaps at church-related colleges as opposed to public colleges), I think differences between Greek groups needs to be taken into account. (Refer to Erik Conard's post Fraternity Histories, read 'em.) The "culture" of your particular GLO (not to mention your chapter) might have a bearing on how a Bible study should be approached and would be received.

Many threads on GreekChat have noted how some groups -- Phi Sigma Sigma and Delta Phi Epsilon come to mind -- were founded with non-sectarian principles, and that might affect how a Bible study would fit into the chapter. And of course, there are the traditionally Jewish GLOs.

Perhaps at the other end of the spectrum there are groups like Alpha Tau Omega. It, like many other fraternities of its founding era, was founded upon "Christian Principles," but unlike many GLOs, ATO still stresses a distinctively spiritual, faith dimension. As ATOtnBetaTau pointed out, ATO publishes an "ATO Devotional Book." It also has a national Spiritual Leadership Consultant, an Outward Bound-type spiritual leadership program (Noah's Ark) and an ATO Prayer Web on its national website. Quite a different environment for suggesting a Bible study.

Very well said. This sums up everything I tried to say but it came out wrong.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by cutiepatootie
I think were all grown up here and enough to say to a sister or a brother who put that invitation out "NO THANK YOU" and be done with it. Its a strictly volunteer activity and having a joint study with other GLOs is great. Be grown up enough to not come unglued at someone for asking you be polite and say no thank you .... dont condone one another for what you or he or she believe in. Just be polite and say no thank you end of sentence.

Condoning means you accept their behavior so I'm really not entirely sure what you were getting at...chastise, maybe?

I think it's inappropriate to ask when you've already made it public to the chapter. Like I said earlier, if Holly Roller stood up at chapter and said "Some of us are having a Bible study at the Newman Center Wednesday at 9:30 and you're all welcome" I wouldn't be bothered. That wouldn't be any different than Rachel Republican reminding us that CReps meets Tuesdays at 6:30. However, if after the meeting Holly came to my room and asked me to come, I would then be offended.

Being grown up means that you respect the beliefs of others. That means you don't ask people to do something you know they aren't interested in. I would never ask one of my pro-life sisters to come to a VOXX meeting with me, I know she wouldn't want to go...

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Condoning means you accept their behavior so I'm really not entirely sure what you were getting at...chastise, maybe?

I'm guessing she meant condemn.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Condoning means you accept their behavior so I'm really not entirely sure what you were getting at...chastise, maybe?

I think it's inappropriate to ask when you've already made it public to the chapter. Like I said earlier, if Holly Roller stood up at chapter and said "Some of us are having a Bible study at the Newman Center Wednesday at 9:30 and you're all welcome" I wouldn't be bothered. That wouldn't be any different than Rachel Republican reminding us that CReps meets Tuesdays at 6:30. However, if after the meeting Holly came to my room and asked me to come, I would then be offended.

Being grown up means that you respect the beliefs of others. That means you don't ask people to do something you know they aren't interested in. I would never ask one of my pro-life sisters to come to a VOXX meeting with me, I know she wouldn't want to go...

You don't get it. Part of the religion is to spread the religion.

-Rudey
--Part of my religion is to get someone to do my bond-by-bond analysis

[LXAAlum]

Another way to do Bible-studies (finding topics) would be to either informally ask the group (or maybe the chapter, if they'd be receptive) as to what they want to know, and create a list. You can find very good Bible study resources at any Christian book-store, or, if any of your members belong to a local church, the church library may have some resources for you to use to help develop one.

One we did at our church, that was VERY successful, and brought in a few non-members of the church, was a Bible study on finances - Christian perspectives of money management - I can't remember the name of the author of the book we used, but he recently passed away - it was very enlightening for all involved.

Also, I absolutely love learning anything Max Lucado puts together - his writing style and ability to tell stories really makes it a personal experience.

[mu_agd]

Originally posted by Rudey


-Rudey
--Part of my religion is to get someone to do my bond-by-bond analysis

i'll do it if you finish my paper.

[Sister Havana]

If someone stood up at a meeting and said "Oh, there is a Bible study at such-and-such time and place and anyone interested is welcome," that wouldn't offend me. I would be uncomfortable if it was presented as an Official Chapter Thing, or if someone kept nagging me to go, knowing that I'm Jewish.

That said, I have gone to several different kinds of services with my friends of different religions. When I was in high school, I used to go to Mass with my one friend who lived in the city every time I stayed at her house. I think it is interesting to learn more about different religions and the kinds of services they have. I just didn't take communion (obviously) and kept my mouth shut on a few responsive readings and all was well.

[madmax]

Originally posted by 33girl
If you are only having a small fraction of the chapter participate, consider asking the other fraternities and sororities if they would like to have an all-Greek Bible study. You should be able to get a good-sized group that way.

Trying too hard to stimulate chapter participation could conceivably come across the wrong way - this is one area where you need to tread lightly.

Plus it gives you a chance to pick-up hot religious girls.

[FSUZeta]

this thread, religion is a very personal thing and there is a fine line between being inclusive and offensive. i think that the best approach is to make a general announcement at your chapter meeting that bible study will be held on such and such a night, at a certain time and in a certain place. anyone who would like to attend will do so. those that are not interested, will not feel pressured or intruded upon and chapter relations will remain on an even keel.