Bible Month 2021
What is Bible Month
Bible Month has become an annual highlight in the Methodist Church calendar. Each year, you and your church are invited to join the rest of the Connexion in digging deep into a particular book of the Bible over four weeks.*
To help you, we produce a booklet in partnership with LWPT filled with Bible notes, preaching ideas, small group study guides, children and youth resources, a reflection on discipleship today, and signposts to further useful exploration materials.
The Learning Network also offers a whole menu of different events and training opportunities which can be signed up to for free. Our hope is that, as we dive into each book, we will grow in knowledge, confidence, joy and expectation for discovering God in all our biblical engagement.
*Typically, churches engage with Bible Month during June and many of the resources and training opportunities are timed accordingly. It is possible, however, for churches to choose a different month in the year in which to engage with the materials if that works better for their local calendars and needs.
This Bible Month book for 2021 is the Gospel of Mark
30 Days with Mark has been written by Dr Kent Brower (Bible notes) with Rev Michael Parsons (small group study guides) and Dr Paula Gooder (reflection).
All-age resources are by the Methodist Children, Youth and Family Layworker Writing Team: Gail Adcock, Debbie Andrew, Lydia Harrison, Claire Knight, Hayley Liversidge and Charlotte Mckernan.
Order your copies of this year’s 30 Days with Mark booklet here.
An Introduction to Mark
Below is a short video from Kent Brower – author of the 30 Days with Mark study notes - about what makes Mark so worth reading.
Engaging with Bible Month
There are various ways for you and your church to engage with Bible Month:
Buy the Booklet
Each year we produce the a Bible Month booklet in partnership with LWPT and Preach Magazine. This year’s booklet includes theological insights, preaching notes, small group activities, and ideas for Children, Youth and Families worship too.
Order your copies of the 30 Days with Mark booklet from www.preachweb.org
Attend the Learning Network Events
2021 also happens to be Year B in the lectionary meaning Mark’s Gospel is not just the focus of Bible Month but also the focus of the liturgical year! As such, the Learning Network are offering loads of opportunities, input and training to help you and your community engage with Bible Month:
Download the full ‘menu’ of opportunities being offered by the Learning Network
You may also find the following resources useful
The Bible Month Eventbrite
Here you can see and sign-up to upcoming Bible Month training and events (you can also browse through the calendar below to see what is happening when.
Here you can ‘like’ ‘follow’ and join in on the general conversation about Bible Month itself as well as find updates, links and details for Bible Month related events and resources.
The Bible Month YouTube Channel
Here you can find helpful videos including input from the Study Guide authors, full-length recordings of the various Learning Network events, and bite-sized studies to help you prepare sermons on the Mark lectionary passages.
Bible Month Events Calendar
Bible Month Further Resources
There are lots of Bible Month related resources coming out in the next few months and so we encourage you to keep checking out the Facebook page and YouTube channel. Here are few key documents though that might be particularly useful:
- B&W Version of Study Guide (Pdf)
This is not the full version of the Study Guide which you can order from the Preach website. This is a reduced, black and white version with the core preaching notes for those wanting to prepare for Bible Month sermons and small group sessions - Bible Month 2021 Learning & Development ‘Menu’ (Pdf)
This is a guide to the various Bible Month related training, events and learning opportunities being run by the Learning Network throughout 2021. It includes links and contact details for signing up to and finding out more about all the events. - Introduction to Mark and the 30 Days study notes (video)
This is a short and brilliant video from Kent Brower offering an overview of the study notes. He explains how and why he divided the gospel up into the four sections he has, and outlines some of the key themes he sees running through it. We recommend that this be played during Local Preacher’s Meetings as a way of introducing LP and WL’s to Bible Month and this year’s resource. - Feeding of the 5000 Illustration (.png images)
This year we were fortunate enough to have an illustrator create some bespoke images for the Study Guide. One of these, the image of the Feeding of the 5000 has been licensed for sharing and sending round for use in PowerPoints, Newsletters, on social media etc. Click on the heading above to download a zip file containing different sizes and versions of the image designed for different platforms and applications. - Bible Month: A Methodist Way of Life Discussion Questions
The Bible Month: Methodist Way of Life resource aims to enable Methodists to engage in ‘looking and listening for God in their reading of the Gospel of Mark.’ It does this by offering four questions related to each of the four aspects of A Methodist Way of Life. If you are leading worship or preaching from Mark, these might provide a starting point for your own reflections as you start to prepare.
Download full colour version (Pdf)
Download B/W version (Pdf)