Wightman adopts new Lent practice: Bible journaling

PROSPERITY—While many people will be giving up something for Lent, the congregation of Wightman United Methodist Church will be encouraged to take something up—Bible journaling.

Their pastor, the Rev. Brian Rainwater, will be challenging the congregation to read through the Gospel of John, journaling their insights and questions along the way.

“Everyone says we live a society that is biblically illiterate,” Rainwater said. “As a church we can either complain about it or do something about it.”

To facilitate the process, he and church member Kendell Healy have published a Bible journal that will help novices interact with the text and pull out significant truths readers can apply to their lives.

“This isn’t rocket science,” said Rainwater as he refers to Bible reading, “but many people are so intimidated they never pick up the Scriptures and start reading God’s Word for themselves.”

Healy sees the journal as a great way to start discussion about Scripture in small groups.

“We live in a day of easy small groups: Plug in a video and listen to what some well-known pastor says about the subject,” Healy said. “The result is that many people don’t know what the Bible says; they only know what other people have said about the Bible.”

Wightman hopes to start several weekly small groups of people getting together to talk about what they have read.

“I hope this will be something that continues after Lent,” Healy said. “The practice of Bible journaling can transform your life. Imagine what can happen in a church when a large percentage of people are consistently engaged in this process.”

The Bible journal can be used with any reading plan and can be obtained through Wightman UMC for $5.

“We ordered a bunch to get the price down, so we’ve got plenty to spare,” Rainwater said, laughing. “We’d love to have other churches join us in this spiritual discipline.”