But now because of Bible Study Fellowship's belief in a non-offensive evangelism, I am not allowed to witness at BSF leaders' meetings, on class day, at lunch in a restaurant, nor in a summer Bible study, because my testimony might be offensive to a Roman Catholic. Each BSF group leader is free to use this “Three-Question Method” in a variety of ways. One group leader may choose to forgo discussion of the BSF lesson questions all together and instead use the “Three-Question Method” entirely to guide conversation about the passage. In this way, the group leader trains his group members in proper. Small Group Leader Handbook Small Group Purpose Statement The purpose of our small groups is to develop disciples of Jesus Christ through group prayer, the study and application of Scripture, and relationships among the community of an intergenerational small group shepherded by a trained leader. Leader’s Commitment and Mission.

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Bsf Group Leader Manual

BIBLESTUDY FELLOWSHIP

Bsf Study Questions Acts Lesson 3 Day 1.pdf eBooks for Free Results for bsf study questions acts lesson 3 day 1 High Speed Direct Downloads Bsf group leader manual download on iubmb-2013-3.org free books and manuals search - Quality Control Manual For Steel Fabrication Who is Jesus Christ, God the Father, and The Holy.
Taught by loving, well-trained and committed leaders in a secure environment, BSF Student groups provide a structured, engaging learning experience that challenges students to discover what Scripture means and how they can apply it to their lives (with classes for every age group.

A CLOSERLOOK

by VirginiaDonovan

BSF International, formerlyknown as Bible Study Fellowship is 'an interdenominational, not-for-profit,international, lay Christian organization [which] aims to acquaint peoplewith the truth of the Bible through classes using personal study, discussiongroup participation, lecture, printed notes.'1 It sounds so good, but afterparticipating in BSF for 4 years from Sept., 1991 - April, 1995, I recognizeddeviation from Scripture resulting in serious errors in BSF’s 1) organizationalstructure, 2) method of presenting the Bible study material, and 3) contentof the Bible study material itself. Although BSF presents itself as a Biblicallysound organization in both teaching and practice, the negative elementsexposed in this article contaminate BSF and demonstrate that it simplyis not faithful to the Word of God.

The curriculum consistsof 7 studies: Genesis, Matthew,Life of Moses, Romans, John, History of Israel and the Minor Prophets,and The Acts of the Apostles. Eachstudy is taught over an entire year. This article will focus only on theLifeof Moses study and on a portion ofthe study on Matthew.

HISTORYOF BSF

BSF was founded by A.Wetherell Johnson, a former missionary with China Inland Mission. Whenforced to leave China, she came to the United States and lectured for Inter-VarsityChristian Fellowship. After settling in San Bernardino, California, sheagreed to teach the Bible to five women in 1952, yet refused to 'spoon-feed'the students but wrote questions designed to make them study the Biblefor themselves. As the program grew, it moved to a church that could accommodatea separate program for the participants’ children which was held at thesame time as the adult study. In 1958 Miss Johnson accepted an invitationto go to the San Francisco Bay area to conduct Bible classes for convertsfollowing a Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade. She then formed a Boardof Directors and incorporated BSF. Prior to her retirement in 1979, MissJohnson’s successor, Rosemary Jensen, was chosen to be the new ExecutiveDirector, a position which she currently retains.2

BSF has grown dramaticallyover the years and is now comprised of 913 separate Bible Study groupsworldwide although the majority (about 850) are in the United States. Eachgroup ranges in size from around 100 to 600 participants, and may be designatedfor women, or for men, or for mixed male/female young adults (ages 18-35),their pre-school children, and their grade school children depending onthe location and time of day that the group meets. Thirty (30) paid staffwork at the San Antonio, TX, campus and complex of buildings which comprisethe international headquarters. Additionally, approximately 1,000 volunteerstravel to the complex each year to donate their time working for BSF.3

STRUCTURE

The internal structureof BSF is as follows: The participants at any one location are dividedinto small groups which are led by Small Group Discussion Leaders. TheseLeaders are accountable to the Teaching Leader of that location. TeachingLeaders report to the Area Coordinators of that region. Area Coordinatorsultimately report to the Board of Directors in San Antonio.

Scripture clearly teachesthat women are not to usurp authority over the man (I Tim. 2:12), yet BSF’sorganizational structure demonstrates this very usurpation of authority.Each Bible Study group, whether a men’s group or a women’s group is accountableto Area Coordinators for that region which are often women. Some men’sgroups do report to female Area Coordinators. Even if a particular men’sgroup has a male Area Coordinator, all men’s groups ultimately report tothe female Executive Director, Rosemary Jensen. Moreover, the Board ofDirectors is comprised of 8 men and 2 women.4 If Mrs. Jensen has authorityover the Board, it would be a breach of Scripture.

Another indication ofwomen having authority over men is in the writing of the Bible Studiesthemselves. Miss Johnson wrote all of the original Bible studies herself.She writes in her autobiography, Createdfor Commitment,

...I have alwaysacknowledged God’s pattern of leadership in theology as given to men. Atthe same time, I have felt comfortable with writing lesson notes for studybecause always I have at least fourteen commentaries to corroborate theexegesis I felt God gave me, as well as the advice of Dr. Everett Harrisonof Fuller Seminary who reads all my lesson notes.5

Now thesestudies are written by the Board of Directors along with various BSF staffers,some of which presumably are women. Writing a Bible study is the most basicform of teaching, and BSF women write Bible studies. I Tim. 2:12 states,ButI suffer not a woman to teach....It does not say that a woman cannot teach unless she has a covering bymen in some way. It also does not say that a woman cannot teach unlessshe is writing women's Bible studies. Women are clearly not to engage inthe public exposition of Biblical doctrine under any circumstances.

To be certain of thecorrect interpretation of I Tim. 2:12, I checked with one Greek scholar,Dr. William BeVier, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. He statedthat the Greek indicates that the woman is not to teach men. He saidthat the two infinitives 'to teach' and 'to usurp' both have 'man' as theirobject. Its meaning is like a neither-nor clause. However, verses11 and 12 both say that the woman is to be silent (as does I Cor. 14:34-35),and these verses speak of women being under obedience, adorning themselveswith shamefacedness (I Tim. 2:9) and learning with all subjection. I think that all of these instructions must be kept in mind as generalcodes of conduct and relate to the role of women as teachers of Biblicaldoctrine.

Many of BSF’s TeachingLeaders are women. Although they only teach other women and not men, thatis irrelevant; they are still engaged in teaching doctrine. Titus 2:3-5says,

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