Text Message Bible Study

Wouldn’t it be great to have a Bible study that is ongoing, even when everyone is in a different place?

We have a group of students who meet every other week for an accountability group. We were looking for a way to stay connected even when we could not meet face to face on a regular basis. Thus the Text Message Bible Study.

The set up is simple. We picked a book of the Bible that we could read before our next meeting. With 13 Chapters Hebrews was a natural choice.

Every evening around 5:30pm I send out two texts. One contains the link to the scripture reading, usually from Bible Gateway. The second contains one fairly open ended question.

Then students have a day to respond by text to the group message.

I was not sure how it would go at first but we have seven students who are active in the discussion.

There are a few benefits of doing this.

1 – Bible Study Can Be Done Anywhere –

Students get the text sent to them wherever they are and it comes to their cell phones. We do not have to get to one space. If someone cannot meet at our time they can still be involved. If they cannot respond till later in the evening then that is not a problem.

2 – Students Get a Daily Reminder to Read –

Every day the students get a link to a chapter of the Bible sent to them. Then a question for them to think about. Some reading plans we have printed and given to them at the beginning of a semester or a 6 weeks and it’s easy to get out of the habit. Being a text group then when anyone responds it reminds the other members of the group with a notification.

3 – Students Respond and Interact with One Another –

Since everyone gets the responses of students then we see each others thoughts, and can react and respond to them. Some students just answer their own question, but some “like” each others answers, and respond with points of their own.

4 – My Students Are Reading Their Bible –

According to recent Barna Research only 25% of students read their Bible weekly, and 3% read daily. I want to change that in my youth group. I know with this study that at least a small portion of my students are reading their Bible, a chapter at a time, daily. It’s not the end goal, but it is a place to start.

What’s Next?

Next we want to multiply these efforts through our small group Bible studies. What would it look like if our small group leaders were the ones sending out the daily reminders and facilitating the discussion?

I would also like to see what other communication mediums could be used. Could something like this work with the threaded comments on Instagram or other social in some way?

What do you think?

Photo by Jenny Smith on Unsplash