You aren’t sure how to start a group Bible study for women, but you know women that you would love to learn from. These tips will help you get started. A women’s small group provides an intimate place for healthful growth, so it important to plan them out prayerfully and carefully. Here are five planning essentials on how to start a group Bible study for women.
How to Start a Group Bible Study for Women
Prayer
Before any literal, “pen to paper” planning is done, seek the Lord’s guidance. Does He want this group to happen? Who is meant to be in this group? All women of any life season or spiritual maturity, mothers, seniors, teens? Will this group try to strengthen a women’s spiritual growth in all aspects or is there a specific area (i.e. motherhood, being a better spouse). Finally pray for wisdom at choosing a Godly Planning Team.
Planning Team
Just as God has created so many different types of women, he has created different types of leaders with different gifts that can be used to serve the needs of the group. While the organizer may be a great planner and speaker, “Sally” may be a great hostess with a strength in decorating, planning and making refreshments. While “Martha” may be shy and like to stay in the background, but is always available to setup before and takedown after a meeting.
After asking the Lord for guidance on who should be a part of the Planning Team, ask the women themselves to pray about whether they would be available to help. A Planning Team should meet at least a few times before the first small group to pray and to get all the details sorted. This is when the who’s, what’s, when’s, where’s, why’s, and how’s are all sorted out.
Gospel Centered Bible Study Material
Prayed, planned, prepared? Check, check, and check. Rounded up a planning team, find a place to meet, know what refreshments will be served? Great! After fellowship and prayer requests, it is time to get to the Bible study part of the small group. And many a believer has learned, opening the Bible, picking a couple of verses and trying to decipher and create life applications are, well, difficult.
With your Planning Team, look at the needs of the women in your group and find Gospel-centered Bible study material that can help to fit those needs. Don’t know where to look? There are a ton of Women’s Bible Study Materials on Amazon. A few studies that I can personally recommend follow.
We Saved You a Seat is a 7-session Bible study, by Lisa-Jo Baker and friends from (in)courage that causes you to explore our relationship with Jesus as the ultimate model for authentic friendship. We used this study within our ministry and it was great for encouraging hospitality among our women. We did use the videos with the book.
I once led a small group on the Red Hot Faith study and we found it enjoyable.
Red Hot Faith: Lessons from a Lukewarm Church
Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg would be great for a small group study.
Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg
Elijah by Priscilla Shirer is another study that we purchased the leader kit for and then had the women each get their on copy of the Elijah book and used it for a larger group study. It was fantastic. Our women really enjoyed it. I’ve also read Fervent and think it would be great for a group study.
Live Soulful is another great study. It combines a 13-song album of original music with a gospel-centered, immersive Bible study. I received it years ago as a review and led a smaller group with it and found it enjoyable.
Our women’s study groups are a little more eclectic at the moment, with each group selecting it’s own material and it’s a wonderful thing. We have one group using Louie Giglio’s Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat At Your Table, one group studying through the book of John, and one group using the Promises of God Reading Guide from She Reads Truth.
I even taught a small group of high school boys at our homeschool co-op using a combination of the Lectio course from Pete Greig and the Lectio Divina Guides from Soul Shepherding. Truth be told, I didn’t realize I would end up with only high school boys in the class, but it ended up being a pretty cool journey with them. While I used the course with the high school boys originally, I have used some of the Lectio Divina Guides with various women’s gatherings and they’ve gone really well.
Get The Word Out
Round up some women! Tell friends, family, co-workers, and Church family. Discuss your group with your Pastor and see if s/he has any recommendations on women looking for a small group. Or ask that information be made in an announcement, in the Church bulletin, or even the Church newsletter.
Prayer
Planning a women’s small group is not a minor thing. The goings on in the group can have deep, lasting effects on the attendees, and those effects can be helpful or harmful if meetings aren’t prayed over and planned carefully with each woman’s needs and background’s in mind.
Some groups will blossom and that is great! But once that happens, it may be time to split and train a small group of women how to lead another group. This is for the simple fact that small groups are meant to be just that, small and intimate. This allows for strong, close relationships to form and more opportunity for members to share their needs with the group. With Christ as the center, small groups are a valuable tool for personal growth. Have fun!
***Originally published April 2017. Updated periodically with relevant information.***
