It was an unlikely Sunday for me to choke up over the Bible reading.

The theme of the service was one the worship committee had bravely decided not to avoid anymore: the wrath of God. Vivian, one of our young adults, came to the podium and began voicing the “word of the Lord” from Isaiah. She hissed the words of judgment into the microphone. Her voice rose and fell from shrill cries of hurt and anger to whispers of longing. She had obviously rehearsed the reading and had caught on that God has feelings, including the anguish of a betrayed lover.

This was one Sunday when a bland, stuttering reading might have gone down more easily—but no, the Scripture insisted on drama. The Word demanded that we not settle for ideas of God that are too cuddly.

Usually it’s the songs that touch my emotions at church. That day it was the Scripture itself, and the sermon hadn’t even been preached. It wasn’t just the content that grabbed me—it was, as Vivian showed so clearly, the heart that the Word possessed.

It may be wishful thinking to hope that such heart-encounters with Scripture are becoming the rule in Mennonite congregations. It seems, however, that more of us are wanting, and experimenting with, a more visceral approach to reading, teaching, and preaching Scripture.

Many churches are doing creative things to make it happen. At Zion Mennonite in Archbold, Ohio, the entire congregation memorizes Psalm 100 with one of the Sunday school classes, so that their call to worship can be more jubilant. The Community Mennonite congregation in Harrisonburg,Virginia, listens with awe as a group of teenagers dramatizes the “love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13. Members of an adult Sunday school class in Winnipeg, Manitoba, role-play the characters in Luke’s story of the angel’s announcement to Mary. The development of worship resources such as those found in Leader, has been driven by a thirst in many congregations for new and compelling ways to render God’s story.

Scripture in our genes

When I interviewed several pastors and Bible teachers on the use of the Bible in Mennonite churches, all agreed that we Mennonites still cling to an identity as a “people of the Book.” One Chinese group in British Columbia even refers to church attendance as “going to listen to the Book.” Devotion to the Bible is lodged firmly in our denominational genes (see sidebar). Our Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective insists the Bible is “the authoritative source and standard for preaching and teaching about faith and life.”

But it is also clear that underneath our impulses toward fresh approaches—and probably egging them on—is our struggle to continue to let Scriptures shape our identity and way of living. Marion Bontrager has been acutely aware of this in the many years he has taught a popular Bible survey course to first-year students at Hesston (Kan.) College. Each year he has seen more and more students from Mennonite homes enter the course without knowing basic Bible facts. Not surprisingly, the ones who are biblically literate had parents who read Bible stories to them regularly as children. For the others, the survey course becomes a voyage of discovery.

Accordingly, the congregational picture has also shifted in the last generation. While the quarterly Adult Bible Study is the second-best-selling denominational publication (after the Canadian Mennonite), surveys show that users are predominantly in the over-55 age category. Innovative Bible study options such as the Good Ground series remain undersold. While churches still do a reasonable job of keeping the Bible central to their curriculum for children and youth, adult Christian education has largely favored “issues” discussion that may have some reference to the Bible but fall short of serious Bible study. More children than we think may be noticing the inconsistency.

One experience never fails to fill me with a sense of awe. I have met quite a number of totally illiterate elderly Chinese Christian women who, through attending Bible studies, learned to read the entire Bible in Chinese and are able to sing Chinese hymns. Give them a Bible and they can read aloud any passage you point out to them—yet they are unable to read anything else, neither newspapers nor letters. No one has been able to come up with a reasonable explanation for this, except that it is a special ability that God has given them.
– Samson Lo, Vancouver

Some congregational leaders are alarmed about a crisis of biblical “illiteracy.” But what is meant by that? Does the shift signify a rebellious cooling of attitude toward the Bible or simply an unfulfilled quest for new approaches? And does biblical literacy mean knowing the content of the Bible, chapter and verse, or is it an ability to live out its teaching? Tom Yoder Neufeld of Ontario’s Conrad Grebel University College cautions that “the real test may not be how much we know, but whether we read and listen and interpret with ‘the eyes of the heart enlightened’ (Eph. 1:18)—that is, with a willingness to respond.”

Fresh eyes

Systematic research into these questions has yet to happen in the Mennonite Church. (Mennonite Church Canada was poised to do such a study four years ago, but it was scuttled by denominational restructuring and financial cuts.) Still, says Yoder Neufeld, “Habits of Bible reading have largely disappeared, and thus our minds and imaginations are not soaked in the stories and teachings of the Bible.”

The exception may be congregations—often non-white—where people are new to the faith, whether to Christianity in general or Anabaptist faith in particular. According to California pastor Irene Mendoza, people in the Hispanic churches often take the condition of their Bibles as a sign of their Christian commitment: “A worn out Bible is a sign of a believer investing much time in reading and doing as it instructs. If the Bible is in excellent condition, the believer is probably not putting significant time into reading and doing of its teaching.”

And, interestingly enough, people in such churches often read the Bible without a lot of the curriculum helps that Anglo churches have relied on. Bible study is often led by the pastor in a lecture-like style or expository preaching format. But people still come because they are hungry to know the Bible, and eager to connect it to their lives.

“Whenever there are new Christians present,” observes adult educator Ken Hawkley, “there seems to be excitement about the Bible.” Hawkley’s Community Mennonite Church in the Chicago suburb of Markham is located in an economically depressed area, where people come to the church looking for answers. The combination of new Christians and an oppressive community environment, says Hawkley, provides “incentive for serious engagement with the Bible” (see Hawkley’s Leader Tip on page 21).

What happened to the spark?

While those of us in more traditional congregations may be inspired by such stories, many of us don’t generate that level of enthusiasm about Bible reading and study. Why? Much of the shift away from Bible reading practices may be a natural reaction to traditional approaches that may have been well-intentioned but off-putting.

Sara Wenger Shenk of Eastern Mennonite Seminary observes that many of her generation were “overexposed” in their younger years to wooden approaches to reading and telling Bible stories, memorizing verses, and learning facts about the Bible. “Much of what happened was done without imagination,” she notes, “without appreciation for the music, diverse voices, and lyrical wonder of the Bible.” If boring or oppressive approaches were part of our upbringing, is it any wonder that we trade in Bible study for “issues” discussions, and allow our busy lives to crowd out household and personal devotions?

But that is not the whole story. Why, for example, does the concern over the decline of Biblical “literacy” seem to continue even though our churches are insisting, increasingly, that their leaders have solid biblical training at seminary? Yoder Neufeld wonders whether, ironically, “our respect for scholarly approaches to the Bible lands up discouraging lay folk from taking their own wrestling with the Bible seriously. We need to find ways to empower those who are not scholars and teachers to participate in the reading of, listening to, and application of the Bible.”

Another impediment to serious Bible reading is that persistent curse of our culture: busyness. Especially among young and mid-life adults, says Wenger Shenk “there is some good interest in the Bible’s richness, but they have no time to devote to it—other than a quick fragment here and there—and very little guidance in how to engage the Bible so it truly speaks to life.”

Even pastors have trouble with the time factor. Ohio pastor Ron Guengerich observes that even though we’ve never had so many time-saving devices, pastors themselves find it difficult to spend time studying the Scriptures “for their own sake,” not just for sermon preparation. “Leaders have to let Scripture work on them, and we don’t give it enough time to do that.”

Hearty and meaningful Bible study may be stifled by a fear of transformation, according to New York City pastor Michael Banks. Many people cling to a kind of “bibliolatry” to anchor their personal faith at a surface level but not push them to new levels of conversion, especially in taking the kingdom of God into their culture and society. “Even if what we knew yesterday was good for the time, what we find [in the Bible] now needs to change us,” says Banks. “Repentance and changing direction is an ongoing gift.”

Opportunities knocking

Whether we’re overcoming wooden examples from the past, confronting the sense of inadequacy that ordinary church members feel about Bible study, battling conflicting demands on our time, or resisting change, the task of finding new ways to use Scriptures keeps beckoning teachers, pastors, parents, and other spiritual leaders in the church.

Is it any accident that this tug comes within the context of our denomination’s promotion of the “missional church” vision? If to be missional is to be in line with God’s purposes and if Scripture reveals what those purposes are, the Bible will be central to a discovery of renewed purpose in the church. Says Manitoba pastor Kathy Giesbrecht: “Mennonite congregations are renewed by the stories from the Bible, from our past and from our present that paint for them a vision of how life looks under the reign of God.”

What can leaders in the church do to cultivate uses of Scripture that form people into the people of God’s healing and hope? From my interviews the following emerged:

1. Take time to immerse yourself in Scripture, and not just to prepare for preaching or teaching. “We must let the Bible read us,” says Hawkley. “We must be open to letting the Bible present new ideas, views, and responses to us, not just bolster what we already believe. Without letting the Bible read us, we are in danger of a static faith.”
2. Teach and model excitement for the Scriptures. Tell the story of your own journeys with the Bible, and how it has shaped your mission in life. Find and encourage the storytellers and poets among you—those who know how to have fun with Scripture, are overwhelmed by its beauty, mystery, and power, and who can present it to the congregation in fresh ways.
3. Look for ways to link Bible teaching in church with the home. It may not be only the lack of time that edges out Bible reading through the week. A few good ideas may be just the thing that gets people moving. Send people home from church on Sunday with a task or a ritual to follow up the text that has been preached or taught.
4. Cultivate worshipful work in your committees. Take time for Scripture reading and reflection at every meeting. Those who do so often find that their meetings are more focused and proceed more efficiently.

Developing strong attentiveness to the Bible is a challenge for all Christians in a culture where entertainment, consumerism, and pop spirituality distract us from God’s call. The challenge may seem to loom larger for people, like Mennonites, who see their historical attachment to Scripture threatened. But many are also hearing a call—to be creative, to try new approaches, and to trust the Spirit that the Word will hold its own. “It’s always a fumbling business, with many missed opportunities,” says Wenger Shenk, “but I marvel at the dedication of the teachers and preachers, and their love for both the people and the Word of God in the life of the congregation.”

Thanks to those who were interviewed by phone and e-mail for this article: Michael Banks, pastor of King of Glory Tabernacle, New York City; Marion Bontrager, Bible professor at Hesston (Kan.) College; Kathy Giesbrecht, associate pastor at Springsteen (Man.) Mennonite; Ron Guengerich, pastor of Zion Mennonite in Archbold, Ohio; Ken Hawkley, Christian education consultant, Homewood, Illinois; Samson Lo, pastor of Grace Chinese Mennonite in Vancouver and director of Multi-cultural Ministry with Mennonite Church Canada; Irene Mendoza, associate pastor at House of the Lord Fellowship, La Puenta, California; Sara Wenger Shenk, associate professor of Christian education, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, Virginia; and Tom Yoder Neufeld, professor of Biblical studies, Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ontario. Byron Rempel-Burkholder is managing editor of Leader.