CHICAGO, IL (March 18, 2015) — Too often in the church we use Scripture as a weapon in theological cage matches. The question, “Where is it written?” becomes a challenge: “Prove it to me.”

But it was not that way among the Mission Friends. “Where is it written?” was a question in the spirit of communal searching to understand the heart of God and to discern how to best walk together.

Covenant Community Bible Experience (CBE) lives out the best of the Covenant’s tradition, said Michelle Sanchez, executive minister of Make and Deepen Disciples. Launching this fall, CBE will be a way for the entire denomination to read Scripture together and hear the text in fresh ways.

It isn’t a Bible study, Sanchez said. That approach focuses too much on filling in the blanks and getting the right answers. Rather, CBE will be more like a book club discussing the New Testament as story.

Participants will ask questions of the text together. It will give people an opportunity to share what they experience as they engage Scripture. And just as important, it will give people the opportunity to listen to one another.

Darrell Griffin, pastor of Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago, said, “CBE allowed for a fresh look at some familiar Scriptures and the discussion questions certainly increased verbal participation.”

Reading the Bible together is not only community building, but also an act of discipleship, Sanchez says. Churches that have used CBE as pilot projects already have said the experience has increased their desire to read the Bible.

The material is published by Biblica, the International Bible Society, which publishes the NIV Bible.

CBE kicks off in the fall, but materials are being prepared now. For more information, click here.