Lake Grove Presbyterian Church Knows the Nativity Stories
A Little Better this Christmas
December 7, 2009
– With Advent season in full swing, members of Lake Grove Presbyterian Church
have another reason to celebrate.On Sunday, December 13 they will hold a finish line celebration for
completing The Bible In 90 Days program.BIND, as the congregation fondly refers to it, is a guided reading
course whereby participants read 12 pages of the Bible each day over a
three-month period.
What began on September 13 as an opportunity for the
congregation to engage in collective experience and become more biblically
literate turned into more than anyone expected.According to Brent James, Minister of Community Life, “we
originally thought the program would be successful if we had 50 to 150 people
participate.”Since launching
BIND, over 1,070 people have registered for the program, more than 100% of the
average attendance on a given week.
The BIND program is designed for participants to experience
reading the Bible like one would read a novel, rather than reading single
stories in isolation or the entirety over a full year.The program also includes weekly group
meetings for review and discussion of each week’s reading.
A commitment and challenge for anyone, BIND became a 60-day
feat for RB and Amy Brandvold.Despite expecting their second child in early November, they decided to
start the program with the goal of finishing before the baby arrived.“To accomplish our goal we have
committed most evenings to sitting down together and reading aloud to one another
to stay focused, which has shown us how much time we really do have in the
evenings that is often spent on trivial things!We have been truly amazed at how much we have learned and
grown together in our faith in such a short time,” RB says.The arrival of their newborn – and
keeping up with their older child – undoubtedly places new
responsibilities and time restrictions on the couple, but
they are hopeful that they will maintain their focus on learning and growing in
their faith beyond finishing the reading.
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The program comes full circle for another participant, Gary
Lunsford, who developed the desire to read the Bible last Christmas.“I
wanted to read all the stories and ideas in context and order.Previous to this, I may have read only
a couple of Bible pages my whole life on my own.”He describes the program as a challenge but an even greater
experience.“Unexpectedly, I have
started conversing with some friends about the stories, something that would
have never happened otherwise.The
church community is great.”
Many others echo his sentiment, citing the community
experience as an integral factor for the program’s success.What has invigorated conversations
between spouses and families has extended to soccer games, blood drives, the
gym, and in one case, a prison.
“I am very pleased at the way this has helped the folks in
this church read the Bible and the way that we’ve accomplished this as a
community,” says Bob Sanders, Senior Pastor at Lake Grove.James anticipates that over 900 people
will finish the reading.That’s
going to be a pretty big celebration!
About The Bible In
90 Days
The Bible In 90 Daysä is a non-denominational
curriculum structured around a simple, straightforward mission for its
participants: “To read, attentively, every word of the Bible in 90 days” (www.biblein90days.org).Founded in 2002 by Ted Cooper Jr., the
nonprofit organization is based in Houston, Texas.In 2008, the first two community-wide readings were launched
in Albany, Texas and Waterville, Ohio.
About Lake Grove
Presbyterian Church
Lake Grove Presbyterian Church is located at 4040 Sunset
Drive in Lake Oswego.The church
has operated at this site for more than 80 years.Sunday morning services are at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 with
church school at that the later two services.Additional information about Lake Grove Presbyterian Church
may be found at www.lakegrovepres.org.
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