Three Ways to Promote Your Bible Study Group

The Bible study groups in your church fall in one of two categories:

1. You take the Summer off.
2. Your group meets year-round but experience a drop in attendance during the Summer.

Either way, Fall arrives with a return to school and regular schedules, so it’s a great time for people to get involved in a group. They’re making adjustments back into a routine and are more likely to jump into a group. That also means it’s a great time to launch new groups and promote the group you’ve already established.

But how do we get people connected and involved in a Bible study? Getting people plugged into a group involves a little more than a generic “Ya’ll come” announcement from the pulpit and in the church newsletter. To promote Bible study groups, you need to give people three things.

1. Give them information. Think like someone who has never been in a small group or Sunday School. This person has no idea what happens. Is it a lecture? Will I be expected to talk? Is this some kind of support group where I’ll have to share my feelings? How much of the Bible do I need to know?

• • Create a brochure describing your group. Include information about where you meet, what you study, and the general make-up of the group (young families, primarily empty nesters, and so forth.) If your group meet sits in the church, include a map. Don’t assume if you say, “We meet in the Fellowship Hall,” visitors know where the Fellowship Hall is located.
  • Use social media to talk up your class. Encourage those in your group to post about the group.

2. Give them a reason. Create a hunger in people’s lives for being in a group. Lead them to see why they need to be in a group.

• • Highlight the value of community. Underscore the need for discipleship and connection with other believers around God’s Word.
  • Enlist people to give a 2–3-minute testimony on how involvement in a Bible study group has benefitted their walk with Christ. Work with your pastor to add this as a part of a worship service or as a pre-recorded video shown before the service begins. The beauty of a video is you can also post it on the church’s website and social media page.
  • Many Bible study resources include video. If the resources you are using has video, show a snippet or use the promo video provided. For example, Bible Studies for Life offers a 60-second promo video for each of its 6-week studies.

3. Give them a connection. This is the most important thing to give them! The key factor in people getting involved in your group is the fact they received a personal They know someone in the group wants them to come.

• • Instill in your group members a lifestyle of invitation. Lead them to keep their eye out for people who visit the church, meet them, and extend a personal invitation.
  • Lead group members to create a list of names—family, friends, neighbors, work colleagues, connections in a hobby, and Facebook friends—and invite them. It’s as simple as that! Guests are more likely to attend a small group when someone they know invites them. Remember that brochure I mentioned earlier? Give a stack to everyone, and as they invite others, they can hand the brochure to them.

Lives change when people get plugged in with a group of believers who study Scripture together and encourage one another. And it all begins with an invitation.

Lynn H. Pryor is a team leader with Lifeway’s ongoing curriculum, leading the team that produces Bible Studies for Life. He also serves as an interim pastor in Shelbyville, TN.