An A.M.O.K. Quick Tip
Group Bible Reading for the
Concentrationally Challenged and More!
by Dave Weiss
How many times have you had it happen? You are leading a Bible study. You have a kid reading the Bible Passage to be discussed. As you look out at the cherubic faces of the kids assembled around the room, You take notice that not a one of them (or at least very few of them) is actually listening. Sally is playing with her hair. Suzie is popping her gum. Bobby and Lisa are staring longingly into each other¹s eyes in such a way that you think about switching on the spot to a purity lesson. You give them the benefit of the doubt and ask a question and you hear the sounds of silence and see glazed over eyes. None of them have heard a word that was read. We¹ve all been there, but what do you do? Yell at them? Make them Read it over? Turn it into a sermon/monologue that will really glass em over, not to mention frustrate you?
I stumbled upon this one and it works marvelously. It really is meant for reading a longer passages. Before your meeting, go through your passage and write down all the people that are involved in the passage. When it somes time to read the scripture assign each part to a student. Have the students read the passage dramatically. Be sure to add a part called ³Narrator² this person will read all the inbetween parts. The kids love reading the Bible this way and they are forced to focus without realizing it because they have to pay attention waiting for their next part. It really works try it.
Getting Dramatic
You can even take it one step further by allowing them to dramaticize it. Basically this is like doing reader¹s theater but using the Bible as their script. Each person not only reads his or her part, but they also act it out. This especially works if you have a lot more people than you have parts. The success of this as drama will vary but it gets everyone into the Word.
Going even further, you can convert the passage into a script (verbatim) and have them present it as a skit. This will help them to memorize large sections of scripture and give a very effective illustration during a worship service or presentation. To set this up, take your Bible to your word processor and type out the passage in parts, again verbatim, then add stage directions as necessary. Using this as support of a sermon could work extremely well, especially if you can incorporate the ³characters² into the message.
These are but a few ideas for getting everyone into the reading of the Word.
An A.M.O.K. Resource
Arts Ministry Outreach for the Kingdom
copyright Dave Weiss, 2002