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Formational Reading of Scripture: Methods of Studying the Word

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In previous posts we gave attention to the role that the study of the Scriptures plays in the various stages of the catechumenate. It entails less focus on information and learning what Christians believe and a much greater focus on hearing and reflecting on the Word of God and exploring the questions about Jesus, faith, and the church that seekers and catechumens pose. This type of reading and exploration of Scripture is often called formational reading of Scripture. As the book Understanding Faith Formation indicates, formational reading transforms the reader by the influence of the Word of God mediated through the lived encounter with the text by the power of the Holy Spirit (94).

As part of the general approach of the catechumenate for forming disciples who live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, formational reading aims to transform the lives of those encountering Christ in the church’s life. Formational reading is described by Understanding Faith Formation in the following ways:

  • The objective is not to cover as much material as possible
  • Formational reading is deep
  • Allows the text to master the reader
  • The reader is shaped by the text
  • Forms a humble, receptive approach to the Scriptures
  • Expects an openness to mystery (especially of God) as encountered in the text (95-96)

Since the reintroduction of the catechumenate with the RCIA in the 20th century, three primary approaches to study of the Scriptures have proven effective among Lutherans (and other Christians) as methods of formational reading: The African study method, the Luther method, and the Visualization method. All three forms are easily adaptable and can be contextualized to any given congregation. For example, instead of focusing on the lectionary readings, especially in the early stages of the catechumenate, some congregations focus on the Word as it is encountered in the worship experience of the church, through the liturgy.  Liturgical texts and actions become the primary encounter with the Word upon which these study methods focus. Over the next 8 weeks we will consider these three primary study methods and how they can be used to shape a formational reading of Scripture in a congregation’s catechumenate and in its life together.

One of the results of the catechumenate is that it builds community and incorporates newcomers into that community. Establishing such a formational reading approach to encountering the Word of God will form the community around the Word, with the Word at the center. It will lead the explorers and catechumens to fall “in love with the Scriptures” and to make it a daily part of their contemplation of and encounter with Christ (Macalintal, Your Parish is the Curriculum, 75) through their corporate life together in Jesus.

Pentecost

The Holy Spirit at Work in Small Groups

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In our recent workshop on the adult catechumenate, we stressed the importance of creating small groups to build community and foster an environment for seekers to ask questions and to respond genuinely to biblical texts. The research of Anna Clare Creedon (Do Small Groups Work? A Study of Biblical Engagement and Transformation, London, SCM Press, 2021) offers support for our claims about the value of small groups. Creedon set out “to explore whether the context of a small group provides the necessary conditions for transformative biblical engagement to take place” (1). Her data draws from study of three small groups associated with parishes in the Church of England.

The data point to three major themes:

  • The role of an “expert,” that is, a person with scholarly theological training (95)
  • “challenge [that] emerged as a result of engagement with the text and as a result of engagement with others in the group” (116)
  • The “use of materials” by the group to help them understand biblical material (137)

Creedon’s findings on an “expert” are twofold. First, she notes that those experts who “embrace their role as ‘skilled master builder’ [1 Cor 3:10], and use their expertise to serve the small group” are “more likely to facilitate transformative biblical engagement” than experts who offer “right answers” (115). The presence of the latter type of experts can create an environment where others in the group defer to the “expert,” dampening discussion (96-98), keeping it at an “intellectual level” (115), and thus inhibiting the desired transformation.

Creedon identified the second theme as “challenge” because the word was used by the subject participating in the research and because one can be “challenged” both by others and by a biblical text (116); a majority of in all the groups she studied named it “very important or fairly important that their views were challenged” (117). She also concluded that for “transformative biblical engagement” to happen, participants need to be challenged by the biblical text, and that “small groups can provide a facilitative context for this challenge to take place” (136, emphasis in original).

In her discussion of the third theme, “use of materials,” the author considered both what and how materials were used, primarily the latter (137). She offers these conclusions:

“… the data does suggest that incorporating a range of materials, either in one session or across a number of sessions … may be more likely to generate a great diversity of insights into the biblical text, and thus potentially lead to transformative biblical engagement” (158).

“The data points towards the conclusion that the deeper discussions emerged from material that had been altered or specially chosen by the group leader” (156).

Our own research has affinities with Creedon’s work. At one of our research congregations, participants were invited to respond to narratives from the Gospels. The lay catechist and pastor agreed that the latter’s presence in the group led to the kind of “deferring to the expert” that Creedon also uncovered in her research. At another of our research congregations, the catechetical gatherings were successfully led by the pastor, primarily because he developed his own material and because of his ability to “read the room” and adapt to the particular needs of the group.

In the end, of course, the work of the Spirit to transform lives by creating faith in Jesus Christ cannot be pinned down by modern “research methods.” Our research, as Thomas Aquinas might say, is a “handmaiden” to Scripture, one that can shed helpful light on human efforts to live out the Great Commission. Even as we hope that our research may led to more congregations adopt a robust adult faith formation process, we also keep in mind these words of Jesus to Nicodemus:

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8)

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Image: Pentecost icon, egg tempera on wood panel. Russian, 18th century. 53.5 x 45 cm.

Author: Anonymous

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Icon_of_Pentecost_(18th_c.,_Russia._Priv.coll.).jpg#/media/File:Icon_of_Pentecost_(18th_c.,_Russia._Priv.coll.).jpg

Mystagogy Cross

Formational Reading of Scripture: Introducing it to a Congregation

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Slow Walking Series

Last week we reflected on the reorientation of Scripture study as part of a faith formation process. Such a reorientation entails less focus on information and learning what Christians believe and a much greater focus on hearing and reflecting on the Word of God and exploring the questions about Jesus, faith, and the church that seekers and catechumens pose. This type of reading and exploration of Scripture is formational reading of Scripture. As the book Understanding Faith Formation indicates, formational reading transforms the reader by the influence of the Word of God mediated through the lived encounter with the text by the power of the Holy Spirit (94). One method of formational reading that we explored last week was the African Bible Study method, which seeks reflection that intersects the text with the life of the hearer.

As part of the general approach of the catechumenate for forming disciples who live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, formational reading aims to transform the lives of those encountering Christ in the church’s life. Formational reading is described by Understanding Faith Formation in the following ways:

  • The objective is not to cover as much material as possible
  • Formational reading is deep
  • Allows the text to master the reader
  • The reader is shaped by the text
  • Forms a humble, receptive approach to the Scriptures
  • Expects an openness to mystery (especially of God) as encountered in the text (95-96)

How might you establish such a formational reading of the Scriptures in a congregation unfamiliar with such an approach? Why is it important to establish this approach for the sake of a vibrant catechumenate? Since—as we have explored in previous blog posts—n the catechumenate the parish is the curriculum, this formational reading format needs to be at home in the congregation if it is to be experienced by seekers and catechumens as a living expression of the congregation’s faith life. One of the results of the catechumenate is that it builds community and incorporates newcomers into that community. For formational reading of the Scriptures to be part of the incorporation of newcomers it needs to have a formative place in building the community’s life. As an expression of the community’s life it is normally lay led with both trained catechists and sponsors participating in the leadership of formational Bible study. Lay catechists and sponsors first need to be formed themselves by this formational approach to reading the Scriptures.

So what might be the process for establishing such a formational approach to reading the Scriptures? It would be best to have this approach firmly embedded in congregational life prior to the start of a catechumenal process. To embed this approach start with small groups in the congregation. Familiarizing the leadership of the congregation with formational reading would be critical. Consider using formational reading with the board of elders or the church council and the leadership team of the congregation. Following upon an introduction to congregational leadership, formational Bible study could be used in one of the Sunday morning Bible studies. If there is a small group Bible study ministry in the congregation, this approach could be introduced to one or more of those weekly/monthly small group studies. Once formational reading has permeated the congregation’s experience with Scripture, then the pastor can begin training laity with exposure to this approach to serve as catechists for the weekly study of Scripture in the catechumenate. Establishing such a formational reading approach to encountering the Word of God will lead the explorers and catechumens  to fall “in love with the Scriptures” and making it a daily part of their contemplation of and encounter with Christ (Macalintal, Your Parish is the Curriculum, 75).