Orienting With the Word | Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

Duration: 3:29 551 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

The video introduces "Orienting with the Word," a practice designed to foster communal engagement with Scripture through confessional Bible study. Rather than treating the Bible merely as a source for quick answers like a vending machine, this approach invites participants into a deepening relationship with the text and each other. By gathering together, communities can find shared meaning in the scriptures while listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit within one another's experiences and interpretations. This method encourages individuals to expand their understanding by hearing diverse perspectives on familiar passages, often utilizing commentaries and cultural contexts that reveal deeper social dynamics and historical nuances they might have missed alone. A significant component of this practice involves embodied responses inspired by ancient traditions, such as the manual copying of biblical texts. Participants engage in creative activities like weaving paper or using watercolors to visualize scripture, a process described as something that penetrates the soul more profoundly than simple reading or listening. For instance, one participant who was formerly an art teacher found that thinking about Scripture visually allowed them to connect with it on a new level, even if they had not previously used these specific artistic mediums. These creative exercises transform abstract texts into tangible experiences, helping modern readers encounter the Word in a way that resonates physically and emotionally rather than just intellectually. The structure of "Orienting with the Word" offers enough flexibility to adapt content and methods while providing a solid framework for engaging group processes. This balance is particularly beneficial for Sunday school teachers who are often involved in organizing these sessions, as it equips them with skills they can bring back into their classrooms. The goal is to help educators explore the Bible more deeply with their students by moving beyond surface-level readings and encouraging an exploration of the "whys" and "hows" behind biblical stories. Ultimately, this practice aims to cultivate a sense that reading the Bible is essential for life itself, transforming study from a routine task into a vital spiritual discipline where lives are genuinely impacted.

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[music] >> Orienting with the word provides an introduction to the practice of confessional Bible study. This practice [music] is an invitation to come as a community to the Bible to strengthen our relationships with the scripture, >> [music] >> to find meaning in scripture together, and to listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in one another and in the word. >> I really enjoy learning new practices [music] and how to expand upon the word in different ways um than what's currently in [music] my arsenal, yeah. >> It's really exciting to take a scripture that you know really well and you've heard [music] it for most of my life and and hear other people's experiences with it and other people's ideas and >> [music] >> you know, using commentaries and it's just it's exciting to me. I enjoy it. >> I've been lucky [music] that I've done it in a group with pastors and people who have some cultural context to some of these [music] stories that can kind of fill in some holes. Not necessarily something that I would have saw myself really enjoying, [music] but really digging deeper into the whys, the hows, and what was the social context. >> It's more about the relationship with scripture than it is [music] uh say a vending machine kind of like I'm looking [music] for an answer. How do I get that answer? And I think what confessional Bible study does is invites us to a relationship [music] with scripture. >> Inspired by the ancient practice of copying the Bible by hand, artful response helps 21st century readers experience scripture in [music] an embodied way. >> I've never used watercolors before. You know, honestly, this is the I could see myself doing this more. This is the first time I've gotten [music] into watercolors for years and years. I used to be an art teacher, so I used to do a lot of this. Taking the scripture and thinking about it visually, [music] it gets into your soul. It's It's just a lot different than just reading it or hearing it. In the session that we were talking about weaving scriptures [music] together and learning more about them, and so that's where I got the idea to >> [music] >> take paper and weave it together and make a piece of artwork. >> I've [music] led a lot of different kinds of Bible studies over the years, and I feel like Orning with the Word provides [music] structure to it to really facilitate an engaging group process, [music] and there's enough openness and flexibility that you can adapt like the [music] content of it or how you do it or exactly what the approach is going to be. >> A lot of the people who are involved in this, kind of by design of the person [music] who organized it, there are a lot of them are Sunday school teachers. So, he's hoping that these kind of [music] skills then translate into Sunday school classrooms, and maybe that helps them explore the Bible [music] with their Sunday school classes. >> For us, confessional Bible study [music] means reading the Bible as if our lives depend on it, because they do. Learn more by visiting [music] our webpage.