Beginning August 22, a group of people will gather at First Presbyterian Church to better understand the word of God.
The Explorers Bible Study has been in Vicksburg for 35 years, said coordinator Rosalye Baldwin.
“Explorer Bible Study is like Community Bible Study and Bible Study Fellowship, which are all organizations that strictly have Bible studies,” she said. “Explorers is out of Dixon, Tennessee, and they have groups all over the United States and on the Internet.”
Baldwin has been a participant for 20 years.
“We take a book or several books from the Bible each year,” she said. “We are doing the Gospel of John this year, and the manuals (for the program) are from Bible Explorer.”
The group meets every Wednesday for 30 weeks during the school year and studies one chapter per week.
“You have five lessons each week and then we meet the following week and have small groups and answer questions and discuss issues,” Baldwin said. “That was one of the beauties for me when I arrived is that every person is encouraged to use only the Bible.”
And although the group is interracial and interfaith, religion or the interpretation of a passage by faith is not discussed, she said. “We don’t ask what my church says about it; it is strictly the word of God,” she added.
The Bible, she said, is the only text used in the program and provides the answers to the questions in the manual.
Each meeting begins with a group gathering consisting of a hymn and devotional, then breaks into five small groups to discuss homework questions from the previous week. Once the questions have been discussed, the small groups come together for a video lesson by Marni McKenzie of Batesville.
At the first meeting on August 22, Baldwin said, “We’ll have an introduction to the Gospel of John, and we’ll have books that we always open with a coffee and we’ll settle in, and then we’ll have an introduction and they’ll have their books and start the first chapter that week. We’re all together, and that’s a beautiful thing.
She said that currently around 87 people are expected to attend the first session, “But people can come any time of the year, and we encourage our members to invite others. It really is a great group. »
The Explorers Bible Study meets from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 1501 Cherry St. The cost of the course is $60 and scholarships are available as needed. To register for the course or for more information, call Baldwin at 601-638-3994 or Jennifer Sluis at 601-630-7383.
