InterVarsity Bible Study Leader
During my first semester at MSU, I knew I wanted to join a campus ministry that would help me find a strong community in college and help me grow in my faith. I joined InterVarsity, which is a student-led Christian campus ministry. By my second semester, I felt led to transition from a member of the group into a leader. The advisor of the organization asked if I was interested in leading a Bible study. Despite my initial hesitations due to feeling unprepared to lead, I decided to pursue it. Each semester since then, I have led a Bible study on campus. What started as a small group of five girls wanting to learn more about Jesus has blossomed into a larger group of 20 girls meeting each week to study the Bible. As a leader, I planned a schedule for each semester and prepared a passage for each week along with discussion questions. During the study, I always tried to create an inclusive environment to make all members feel welcome, no matter what their background with the church or Christianity might be.
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As I prepared for each semester, I reached out to my InterVarsity advisor to see if she had any ideas or resources that we could use for our study. During the fall semester of my second year, I chose not to use any of the resources, but instead just went through a book of the Bible chronologically. This created more work on my end as I prepared for each study. Each week, I had to find background context on the passage, find definitions for unknown words, and create my own discussion questions. I had a very busy schedule this semester, so at times, I felt overwhelmed and even unprepared for the study. However, this was where my leadership and faith grew simultaneously. At times when I did not prepare as much as I would have liked, I felt much less confident leading the study. This was something within my control because I could have set aside more time to plan. There will be times though when I am called to lead but feel this same sense of being unprepared. This taught me that I can still lead and be confident in my abilities when I don’t feel like it. Leadership does not depend on how I am feeling day to day. If I chose not to lead on the days when I didn’t feel like it, nothing would be accomplished. Instead, leadership is a commitment that requires consistency and dedication.
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In a Bible study setting, the group dynamic amongst members should feel equal. The leader of the group oversees getting the study started, leading discussions, and providing guidance for the course of the study. As discussion takes place, though, members should feel that they can always speak up and share their thoughts and feelings. This was the environment that we modeled in the Bible study that I led. Each member contributed and shared during the studies.
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In this leadership setting, my goal was not to put focus on myself, but rather on the members of the study and the content that we went through. Although I was facilitating discussions, I did not want to make myself seem superior being the leader of the study. One way I tried to practice this delegative leadership was by being honest about topics in the study that I didn’t understand. There were several instances where questions came up that I could not answer, so I opened them up to the entire group, and other members were able to answer the question. This leadership style led me to take a stance of humility. Rather than trying to pretend like I knew everything, I was vulnerable and shared where I was lacking in knowledge. I recognized that I am the leader, but at the same time, I learn from each member of the group.
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This experience led me to reflect on my leadership strengths and realize how applicable they were to this specific leadership role. My top five leadership strengths are includer, belief, harmony, futuristic, and connectedness. As I began reflecting on this leadership experience, I realized a deeper meaning behind my leadership styles. These leadership styles strongly align with values found in the Christian faith: including others, a set of beliefs, supporting one another in community, and a vision focused on the joy that is to come. My faith is the driving force of my life. It is the most important thing to me, and it affects everything I do. Therefore, it makes sense that my leadership strengths would have many similarities with the values of my faith. Making this connection gave me an even better understanding of what I believe and how it affects my everyday life, specifically within a position of leadership. Now as I look back on other leadership experiences, I see the same connection in those as well. My decisions are greatly influenced by my beliefs.
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I learned from a previous leadership experience that even when I do not feel the most qualified, I can still be a leader. Leading a Bible study reaffirmed to me that this is true. I grew up in a Christian home, but I didn’t really start my own relationship with the Lord until late high school and early college. I don’t have the Bible memorized, and I have more questions about it than answers. However, I can use the knowledge that I have along with past leadership experiences to step up and lead where it is needed. Leading this Bible study has helped me gain confidence and experience in leadership that will help with any future leadership position.