Covenant Bible Study Leader Guide

Covenant Bible Study guides small groups through a comprehensive, in-depth study of the whole Bible over twenty-four sessions broken into three eight-session modules. Unlike the learning participants may have experienced in other groups, this study emphasizes the biblical concept of covenant as a unifying theme through both the Old and New Testaments. It underscores the unique relationship that God chooses to have with us as God’s people. This relationship is grounded in the faithfulness of God’s love and on our ongoing commitment to stay in relationship with God while sharing signs of God's love with others.

The Leader Guide contains comprehensive and detailed direction for the group leader to use in each 90- minute group experience. Direction is provided for each component of the group meeting with options that allow leaders to adapt to the group's unique characteristics. Components of the group meeting experience include:

Gathering Together - Opening questions designed to prompt conversation that connects to the main theme of the episode.
Reflecting Together - Sharing what participants learned from the week’s scripture readings with questions that tie their discoveries into a central theme.
Video Segment - Playing of the video for the current episode.
Discovering Together - Building on the insights of the biblical scholar, analyzing a single passage from the week’s readings, going deeper into the way they explore the Bible’s meaning.
Centering Together - Engaging in meditation, which is a devotional way to read the Bible.
Serving Together - Reading together the “Signs of Faithful Love' provided.

Shane Stanford (MA, Duke University; Doctorate, Asbury Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor of a 5,000+ member church in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Stanford is the author of numerous books, including The Seven Next Words of Christ, The Cure for the Chronic Life, and The Eight Blessings: Rediscovering the Beatitudes. His memoir, A Positive Life, details his life as an HIV+ and HepC+ hemophiliac, husband, father, and pastor. He is the co-host of the Covenant Bible Study program, now used in over one thousand churches. Dr. Stanford married Dr. Pokey Stanford, and they have three daughters.

Michael E. Williams is senior pastor at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of numerous articles, stories, poems, and books and is general editor of The Storyteller s Companion to the Bible series. A frequent guest-speaker and workshop leader at regional, national, and international events, Dr. Williams has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival and has taught at the National Institutes of Storytelling.

Christine Chakoian is Pastor and Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, one of the largest congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be led by a woman. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Yale Divinity School, and McCormick Theological Seminary (D.Min). She is an editor and writer for Feasting on the Gospels, a contributor to the Day1 radio program, 30 Good Minutes television show, and the Presbyterian Outlook magazine.

Jaime Clark-Soles is Professor of New Testament and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Perkins School of Theology. She speaks and preaches frequently in churches and contributes to various online resources, including workingpreacher.org. She is the author of several books, including Reading John for Dear Life: A Spiritual Walk with the Fourth Gospel and Engaging the Word: The New Testament and the Christian Believer. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Religion and Disability. As an ordained Baptist minister, she has served in both parish and hospice settings.

Magrey R. deVega is the Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, Florida. He is the author of over a dozen books, including Questions Jesus Asked, The Christmas Letters, The Bible Year, Savior, Hope for Hard Times, Almost Christmas, and One Faithful Promise. He is also a contributor to numerous publications on preaching, worship design, and the spiritual life. He is the proud father of two daughters, Grace and Madelyn.