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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