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Christians keep tuning in to CBS

The Citrus County chapter of Community Bible Study has blossomed. Men and women, biblically knowledgeable and not, are welcome.

By GAIL HOLLENBECK
Published August 13, 2005

BEVERLY HILLS - Nature Coast Community Bible Study was born from the desire of several members of the community to have the same in-depth Bible study they enjoyed in other areas of the country.

Lori Hoopes, who had moved here from Virginia, called the west central Florida director and got the names of others in the area who were looking for a CBS group. She made some calls.

Sheila Michael had attended Community Bible Study in New Hampshire. After moving here, she wrote a letter to the national headquarters.

"Only in him do I ever find joy," Mrs. Michael wrote. "So if you have any study groups near me, please let me know. If not, maybe it's time to start a new one and if so, he'll send me a prayer partner to begin a foundation of prayer."

When Mrs. Michael received a call from Lori Hoopes, she thought she had an answer to her prayers.

"God just plopped her into my lap," Mrs. Michael said.

The two women met and prayed. They felt that God was telling them to start a chapter here. With the blessing and support of their husbands, who had also been in classes, they formed a "pre-CBS" class.

"A new class starts with an informal, community prayer group that has a desire to start a Bible study for the community," Mrs. Hoopes said. "That started in my living room over two years ago. Then, under guidance from the local CBS area director, the group seeks clear affirmation from the Lord that he desires the group to enter this ministry."

Mrs. Hoopes said group members felt God's hand on them from the onset.

"He provided the facilities to meet in, people moving into the area who had been in CBS elsewhere who desired this kind of study and people with the skills needed for leadership."

The prayer group evolved into a Bible study using materials provided for pre-CBS classes. Though the materials were good, they were not the in-depth studies used by those in official CBS studies.

Last winter, the class achieved the status of an official CBS class.

"Now that we are official and our key leaders have been to national training in Lansdowne, Va., we are able to use the in-depth studies," Mrs. Hoopes said. "It is akin to the illustration of first being fed milk and now having meat."

With the advantages of being an official class, the group has decided to expand its ministry.

"We are thrilled that because of our national training we now have a trained children's director and this fall we will have a children's program," Mrs. Hoopes said. "We are particularly interested in having young mothers join us with their preschoolers."

The group is especially grateful for First Baptist of Beverly Hills, which allows members to meet there each week.

"They have been so good to us," Mrs. Hoopes said. "They want us to be there and have encouraged us. They are perfect for our class as a whole group and when we break up into our discussion core groups. The fellowship hall building has several classrooms suitable for our children's classes. The church is almost geographically in the center of the county. So it was like the Lord put us there so we could reach out to all the parts of the county."

Because of the commitment of the organization to be interdenominational, leaders of the group are required to have planning meetings in a church of a different denomination.

"The Hernando United Methodist Church has been very generous also in offering us the use of their facilities," Mrs. Hoopes said. "We meet there every week on Wednesdays to prepare for the class on Thursday morning. This isn't a Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian study. It's interdenominational, and we have had 14 different churches represented in the group so far."

Mrs. Hoopes is the teaching director of the class. Mrs. Michael is class coordinator, Jan Kuhl, the children's director, and Judy Evans, the associate teaching director.

Mrs. Hoopes is looking forward to a study on the Book of Acts that will begin Sept. 8.

"Our goals are to reach out into an even broader cross section of the community," she said, "not just to those who already go to church but to those who do not have a church home and would like to know more about what the Bible says for living today. We want to continue to provide a warm, caring, supportive environment for this study experience to take place and to reach out to young moms and their little ones to begin early the foundation for living a Godly life in an ungodly world."

Mrs. Hoopes explained how the teaching program works.

"One of the beauties of this study is that people get information four ways. They do the questions on the Bible passage that we're studying that week at home, they have a group discussion of those questions, they have a lecture on it, and they take home a written commentary on it that's been prepared by scholars associated with the national organization."

Classes are open to anyone who will make a serious commitment to studying the Bible - the only textbook used for the class.

"We're looking for people who have lots of Bible study experience and people who have absolutely none and everybody in between," Mrs. Hoopes said. "They will all be comfortable in this study."

Gloria and Ray Ludwig have attended the study since its onset.

"We were looking for something like this," Mrs. Ludwig said. "When we were up North there was a similar group. My husband used to go two hours to get to his Bible study. When we came down here he went down to Tampa for a couple of years, so we were so happy that this came around, and it's very close to what we were going to."

Mrs. Ludwig is particularly happy that the class welcomes men and women, "so my husband and I can go together."

The Ludwigs are just one example of how God has brought people to the group, Mrs. Hoopes said.

"In our class we already have people who have been in CBS in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia and elsewhere in Florida who moved to Citrus County, found out we had begun a CBS class here and have joined us. We just know that the Lord moved them here. It's been so clear to see the Lord's hand in this."

For Sheila Michael, there is no doubt that it was God's idea to have the group in Citrus County.

"There is a scripture in Isaiah 25:1 that explains it," she said. "It says, "Oh, Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God, you do such wonderful things. You planned them long ago and now you have accomplished them just as you said.' That's like an amen to my prayer of April 2000."

Nature Coast Community Bible Study will host an informational coffee for men and women at 10 a.m. Aug. 27 at its host church, First Baptist of Beverly Hills, 4950 N Lecanto Highway. Mothers of young children are encouraged to attend, without their children, to learn about the new CBS program for preschoolers.

The interdenominational Bible study meets from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursdays during the school year and is open to men, women and preschool-age children. Child care is available for infants.

The fall class begins Sept. 8. To register for the adult class, call Sheila Michael at 527-4230. To register your preschooler, call Jan Kuhl at 527-0544.

Lori Hoopes, teaching director of Nature Coast Community Bible Study, will talk about what the study has to offer at 8 p.m. Wednesday on Crosspoints, hosted by Suzanne Koerner on WYKE-TV.

[Last modified August 13, 2005, 01:22:17]