I really wanted to like the ELCA's "Book of Faith" initiative ; I really did. But frankly I didn't find a lot of "there" there, nor did I find any compelling reasons for a Bible newbie to suddenly get engaged in reading Scripture.
The folks I know who'd like to know more about the Bible tend not to read it because it's hard...because they have no context in which to understand what they're reading. So dontcha think a program designed to encourage Scripture reading would place some major emphasis on helping laypeople understand the who/when/where/why of the texts? And wouldn't that be approached in a sequential way?
I'm just sayin'.
4 comments:
I don't quite get your gripe. From what I understand, the real meat of the project is a few years from release. All they have right now is an informational website and some basic materials, but I don't think we've seen most of what is planned.
I might be suspicious of a top-down effort to instruct folks in the Bible (though our current bottom-up approach ain't working too well), but I'm holding judgment until the project is in full gear.
It's too bad that they hype is so far ahead of the project. From what I have heard so far, there is a lot of good stuff to come, we just have some waiting to do.
I hope so. I mean, the concept is a noble, and I think needed one in our denomination. But I fear that the "ready, fire, aim" feel of its kickoff is going to turn folks off.
Commenting only on the website stuff: if it is true that the website, et al, is ahead of the real "meat" of the project, then how is this any different than selling toothpaste?
I remember all the hype for the church-wide study program I was involved in in about 1985. We went to weekend retreats to learn about how to present the material; we had long lead times to "sell" it in our church, which worked, BTW, since we had about 70 people in the classes initially.
The material was very good, but it had been so over hyped. For example, we were told that it was so great that people would just naturally invite all their friends. Supposedly this was based on some study groups.
If it is true that they are selling the idea before the idea is developed, then I'm suspicious. Is this really true?
It is like printing the menu and then looking for the recipes.
Post a Comment