Church Alive May 30, 2011 Issue

The following was adapted from an article written in support of Church Alive, a focus of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, that explores the meaning and possibilities of awakening to the spiritual basis and impact of Church. 

Sunday School students read through the Bible

By Linda Ross

Our Sunday School class (now 10th and 11th graders) began and completed reading the Bible through during the last two years. Our church bought each student their own paperback copy of the Bible, and we made sure there were always plenty of pens for them to take notes directly on its pages. I reviewed each book of the Bible ahead of time and chose several stories and verses to highlight for my students.

Generally we covered a book a week, taking the summers off. Sometimes getting through a book took longer—for example, it took us at least a month to complete the Song of Solomon! Often passages caused the teens to pause and bring up situations in their own lives that have been helped by getting a deeper understanding of those passages.

Every student (there are seven) had several healings based on their growing understanding of their relationship with God and deepening their understanding of Christian Science. For most (some already had an appreciation of the Scriptures), it has been the beginning of a confident, inspired connection with the Bible.