As many of you know by now, a month ago I accepted the position as president of an organization named Neighborhood Bible Studies (NBS), a ministry very consistent with my passion and outreach goals. I started working officially with them two weeks ago by hitting the road traveling to our three strategic cities (New York, Chicago and San Francisco). Hence the break in posts on this Blog. :-( It is a DELIGHT and a PRIVILEGE to join NBS as their new leader and merge everything I have been doing in the bay area regarding seeker small groups into the new NBS ministry plan.
This verse from Isaiah 43:19 expresses succinctly what is happening at NBS and for me personally. These New Beginnings are authored by our Sovereign God: “For I am about to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not se it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home.” I want to share with you how these new beginnings got started.
As some of you might know, NBS was founded by Kay Schell and Marilyn Kunz back in 1960 in New York with the purpose of bringing unchurched people from a neighborhood together into a small group to discover what the Bible has to say. Hence, the name of this ministry was Neighborhood Bible Studies. The primary goal was to provide a safe place to question, reflect, learn and grow as people studied the Bible and figured out what it said and what they believed.
Our culture has substantially changed in the past 48 years. In the 60’s and 70’s, most people fundamentally believed that the Bible was worth studying, even if for a variety of reasons, they had chosen not to attend a local church. However, increasingly over the last five decades, this belief (that the Bible is worth studying) has diminished. In addition, NBS has struggled to thrive and grow since their beloved founders Kay and Marilyn retired fifteen years ago. Recently, the NBS board began asking tough questions: Did NBS still have relevance and purpose in today’s culture? Were there changes that needed to be made to continue it’s mission? Can we find a leader that can carry out these changes and maintain the values that have been at the heart of NBS?
Little did any one of the three of us know when we met in May, 2007 for the first in Cupertino, CA. that God was already “doing a new thing.” At the table that day were Fran Goodrich, the NBS western regional director and author of e-Help, Garry Poole, and I discussing the possibility of learning from one another.
Nine months later (January '08), a new birth occurred: NBS has adopted Garry’s Seeker Small Group concepts and resources for a more culturally relevant approach to those outside of our churches that are spiritually seeking, and they asked me to be their new leader. Our budding partnership with Garry will enable us to initiate “Question Forums” throughout the U.S. and ultimately the world, in which our friends, neighbors, and co-workers can discover truth in the context of a small group for themselves about the toughest questions regarding God.
Ultimately, when people genuinely start wrestling with the toughest questions about God, eventually they are ready and open to looking at Scripture. The 40+ NBS guides provide an easy way to transition a group from general questions about God into a serious, but non-threatening look at the Bible using the same self-discovery method. We are calling these “Bible Study Forums.”
Here’s a little about my background for those of you who don't know me well. Most of my professional adult life has been spent as an entrepreneur starting companies as well as new community/church initiatives. Six years ago, I enrolled in Fuller Theological Seminary and began a seeker small group in my Portola Valley, California home with two other leaders. This group was life changing as I saw friends of mine begin a relationship with Jesus. These activities culminated in a passion for effectively reaching those that don’t know Jesus (outside our church doors) with small groups for spiritual seekers. In the last 18 months since I finished my Masters in Divinity, God has furthered this work by enabling me to launch and support over 150 seeker small group leaders in the San Francisco bay area.
As I got to know Fran Goodrich and everyone at NBS, God knit our hearts together with a new vision to reinvigorate NBS with a more expansive outreach/discipleship strategy. My prayer is that you will catch the vision (if you haven't already) and join us in these exciting new NBS beginnings! - Mary
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