• Training
• Upcoming Opportunities
• Leader Guidelines

Training

The Educational Center is pleased to announce training opportunities are now available for first-time subscribers and for subscribers who want to refresh or sharpen their leadership skills.

Trained facilitators are available to lead a 1 to 1½ hour introductory session. During this time you and your group will experience a Sunday text design including exploration of our 3 step questions: What is happening in the story? How is this story happening in the world around you? How is this story an event in your life? Facilitators will guide you through the process and answer any questions and concerns.

After experiencing the material and process, you will have a greater understanding of what makes Bible Workbench so unique and valuable.

If you have been using Bible Workbench for a while as a participant or leader, a day-long in-depth training will enhance your understanding of the process and sharpen your leadership skills. You will have the opportunity to experience Bible Workbench modeled by a trained facilitator as well as work with a small group to create and present a text design. At the end of the day, you will have the skills necessary to use all Bible Workbench material as a resource to meet your and your group’s needs. Opportunities for workshops – introductory sessions and in depth training sessions – are available in your area.

Our training coordinator is Gail Rogers. She has been a part of the Educational Center for over 20 years serving as a writer, associate editor of Bible Workbench, and workshop leader.

Upcoming Training Opportunities

For information about upcoming Training Opportunities, contact The Educational Center for details:
phone: 1-800-624-4644
e-mail: Ann@educationalcenter.org

Bible Workbench Leader Guidelines

Bible Workbench is designed for flexible use by individuals and groups. Groups will vary in size but tend to work best when between 6 and 15 participants. Designed originally for Sunday morning adult education programs, sessions are generally 50 minutes or during the week an hour to 90 minutes.

Each person in the circle is invited to respond to the text as spontaneously as possible from as deep a place within as they are able. As a leader you are encouraging participants to engage the scripture rather than each other and to experience the story as it is happening in the text, in the world around them, and as an event in their life.

Most groups have a leadership team of two or three people who share in the responsibility for presenting the material. Some groups encourage all members to take turns week by week in the leadership. Many groups meet in churches but others are in homes, some as part of a congregational program others existing independently. In all the variation there are several important things to remember:

1. As a group, we engage the text, not each other. The text is central.
2. Knowledge about and familiarity with the Bible are not prerequisites to participation.
3. Stay with the story in the text using the exploration in the material as a guide to developing questions that work for you as a leader and speak to those in the group and their world.
4. Feel free to call the Educational Center and request assistance if you get stuck or bogged down. Request a copy of The Leader's Guide be mailed to you.

BIBLE WORKBENCH TRAINING AVAILABLE