Friday, June 3, 2016

Bible study becomes growing outreach ministry



The Thursday morning bible study has gathered weekly, September through May, in the library at St. Andrew’s for many years. But this year they did something a little different and inadvertently turned their small weekly gathering into a growing outreach to the residents of The Arbors retirement community in Port Warwick.

One of the group’s facilitators, Terry Thomas, moved to The Arbors in the fall of 2015. Due to decreasing mobility, it very quickly became clear that traveling to St. Andrew’s each week just wasn’t possible any longer for Terry. Without hesitation, the group decided to bring bible study to Terry. Management at The Arbors reserved a meeting room on the fourth floor for the group and they quickly settled into their new location.

 It didn’t take long for news to spread around The Arbors community that there was a weekly bible study happening on the fourth floor. Residents stopped by and joined in the discussion. The group is growing and it won’t be long before they will need a larger meeting space.

“It’s wonderful to have new people and new voices added to our discussion,” said Mary Poole, one of the group’s facilitators. “It definitely makes things more interesting. We have very lively discussions each week.”

The bible study isn’t just a class, it’s also an opportunity for residents to meet new people and enjoy one another’s company. The group didn’t think of the bible study as outreach at first. But as member Cathy Frey said, “That’s what outreach means - going out, getting out of our building and into the community.”

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