wfn.org | Bible study series puts Christians on same chapter each week

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

March 27, 2002  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-71BP{136}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph of Marvin Cropsey is available.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - You might not realize it when you meet with your
Sunday school group each week, but you are probably studying the same
Scripture as millions of other Christians around the world.

Many of the Bible study materials developed by the United Methodist Church
are written with the same outline as those used in other Christian churches.
The reason for this little-known fact is that the churches work together on
what is called the Uniform Series International Bible Lessons for Christian
Teaching, an outline of study materials that has its origins in the 19th
century. When the National Council of Churches (NCC) was founded in 1950,
the series became part of its portfolio.

The series has survived in part because of the nature of the lessons, says
Marvin Cropsey, editor of Adult Study Resources at the United Methodist
Publishing House in Nashville. "It's a good structure. It is designed
specifically for presenting the Scriptures in ways that children, youth and
adults are able to best grasp them and be engaged. 

"And then absolutely as important as that is the fact that it's an
ecumenical effort, and it's one of the few ways in which Christian churches,
Christian denominations, really work together on a common goal on a regular
basis," he says. "And the unity which comes from that process is really
vital to the church. I believe that sincerely."

The NCC Committee on the Uniform Series met March 15-21 in Orlando, Fla.,
for its annual workweek. The 46-member committee includes writers, editors
and scholars from 18 denominations, representing the diversity of mainline,
historically African-American and evangelical traditions. Two NCC staff also
work with the group.

The work brings together people who are knowledgeable about curriculum
development, the Bible, the issues people face and the needs of the church,
notes Harriett Olson, senior vice president of the United Methodist
Publishing House. "So it pools expertise from various denominations and
provides a wealth of perspectives."

It also provides a way for continuing the United Methodist Church's
commitment to ecumenical partnerships, she says.  "We benefit from people's
perspectives, but we don't hesitate to offer United Methodist views at the
same time, so we get a richer array of perspectives represented."

This year, the workweek included a celebration of the series' 130th
anniversary. The Rev. John Vincent, a Methodist Episcopal Christian educator
and pastor, is considered the founder of the Uniform Series program,
launched in April 1872 in Indianapolis, Cropsey says. Vincent organized the
early meetings with representatives from other organizations and
denominations.

Cropsey has begun a two-year term as chairman of the committee, on which he
has served for nine years. He is the third chairman in the Methodist
tradition, following Vincent and, a century later, the Rev. Harold Weaver,
who served from 1975 to 1977.

Cropsey estimates that tens of millions of Christians use the same outlines
and Scriptures each week. "Our knowledge of how far we reach is very
incomplete," he says. Some denominations send members every year to serve
with the committee, while others simply contract to use the materials. About
60 nondenominational organizations license the materials and create their
own lessons. 

The program's longevity is a source of strength for the committee. "Our
experience has been so long-lived that generations have lived with it and
passed and new generations have picked it up, and that means that when we
come together in our annual work session, we already have completely within
our souls and mindsets and expectations that success is guaranteed," Cropsey
says. "There's no other way to conceive it. We're going to do this. God
comes with us, and there's no way to lose."

That does not mean that Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Lutherans,
Presbyterians and others have to check their denominational histories and
beliefs at the door, he says. "And that's part of the miracle, that we don't
have to be transformed, but we get to be who we are together. That sense of
confidence in each other, and in our ability to work as Christian brothers
and sisters, is inviolable." 

All three of the African-American Methodist traditions also participate.

The committee's annual workweek is just that: work. In five days, members
work from 7 a.m. until sometimes as late as midnight to produce the Guide
for Lesson Development, which the churches use to create their lessons.

"We don't get it all done in one week," Cropsey says. Between annual
meetings, each committee member works on assigned lesson plans. That work is
compiled and provides a starting point for the full committee during the
next annual workweek. The group works several years in advance. At its
latest meeting, it worked on the 2005-06 plan and made interim assignments
for the 2006-07 plan. 

The Uniform Series is used in a wide variety of United Methodist Publishing
House products, including the Adult Bible Study; the New International
Lessons Annual; the Devotional Companion to the international lessons;
Mature Years magazine, which Cropsey edits; Lecciones Cristianas; Lecciones
Cristianas Para Jovenes (youth); Bible lessons for Koreans; and the Daily
Bible Study for adults. 

"I think the greatest witness for the Uniform Series is that it demonstrates
in a way no other Bible study has that it goes beyond one generation,"
Cropsey says. "... And I'm happy to say our demise is not in view. We plan
on going on. But we're going to have make some changes."

The group must find ways to create products for new kinds of users.
Historically, people in adult Bible studies would stick to a single product
for 50 or 60 years, Cropsey says. However, those people are being succeeded
by younger generations that are not likely to remain with the same study for
life. 

Four years ago, the committee began looking at redesigning the series for
the first time in nearly 60 years. "A group of us had said we're not taking
advantage of contemporary knowledge about learning theory, faith development
or anything that we know about religious education," Cropsey says. 

A redesign team came up with a matrix system that covers the Scriptures in
their original context, in contemporary context and in conjunction with
faith issues. The system also adds teaching helps, which hadn't been
available. When the matrix system is introduced in 2004-05, churches will
choose the material that they want to use from the outlines.

"We're looking for every opportunity to meet Bible students where they are
and with their particular needs and interests," Cropsey says, "and that may
have to do with race and ethnicity. It may have to do with handicapping
conditions." 

For example, a lesson on the miracles of Jesus would mean different things
to people with handicapping conditions and those without, he says. "When
Jesus helps somebody to walk, what opportunities and what meaning will
people who have been in a wheelchair take from that lesson? When they have
no expectation that they are ever going to live without that chair, what
does that miracle mean to them? We can highlight this, say, 'Be sensitive to
this, think about how others would respond to this.'

"Or when Paul glibly talks about slavery ... what does that mean for black
people whose families in the past have experienced being enslaved?" he says.

The matrix system will make its debut in the 2004-05 year. Looking ahead,
Cropsey says the study materials will be very different 10 years from now.
One of his chief responsibilities will be helping the committee determine
what users will need, he says, "so that God's word continues to be studied
and made a part of people's lives."
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United Methodist News Service
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