Gadsden church sponsors 130 Bible studies across county

All over Etowah County, it’s happening in offices, in living rooms and on football fields — hundreds of people are experiencing God, and in a different way than ever before. 
   
MeadowBrook Baptist Church, Gadsden, is using the “Experiencing God” Bible study as a community outreach, an endeavor that has caught the attention of the study’s authors as the first-ever reported outreach of its kind.
   
The Etowah Baptist Association church began its “Experiencing God” emphasis Sept. 10, offering about 130 host sites throughout the county. Those locations — including one football field where players planned to gather after practice — give individuals the opportunity to attend the Bible study at a place and time convenient for them, explained Randy Gunter, senior pastor of MeadowBrook Baptist.
   
This emphasis — which culminates Dec. 10 — will take not only church members through the study but also people across the county who are not associated with MeadowBrook. This is “not just a MeadowBrook event,” Gunter explained. “(It is) not for the church alone to experience God. … We wanted this to go beyond us.”
   
The study was written by Henry Blackaby and Claude King and first released in 1990. It is designed for small groups, with the intent of helping participants “have a fresh experience with God,” Gunter said, noting it helps people understand how to have a real relationship with God.
   
Through the “Experiencing God” study, individuals come to see how God is already moving and that they can join Him in that work. 
   
By presenting the study to the entire community, Gunter said the church seeks to join God in His work there.
   
MeadowBrook’s plan to make the study a community endeavor was communicated to LifeWay Christian Resources, which publishes the study, and the “Experiencing God” authors, who are taking a personal interest in the church’s emphasis. 
   
King — who also serves as editor in chief of leadership and adult publishing with LifeWay — said this was the first time LifeWay had been informed of such a strategy being used with “Experiencing God.” He said he and Blackaby are watching MeadowBrook’s effort in order to learn from it. The two already were planning to restructure some of the “Experiencing God” resources for use on a wider scale when they found out about MeadowBrook’s community study.
   
“It was timely for MeadowBrook to be working on this,” said King, who will speak at MeadowBrook in the 9:30 and 11 a.m. services Oct. 29.
   
Gunter said the idea for offering the study to the whole community came to him during a conference in California. When he shared the vision with his church, 100 people that day offered to serve as hosts.
   
MeadowBrook undertook an informational campaign that included billboards and a mail-out to about 20,000 homes and has covered the cost of presenting the study to the community. The only cost to participants is for the study book. Gunter said, however, that arrangements would be made to cover that also if the cost of the book creates a hardship or prohibits someone from taking part in the study.
   
To accommodate hectic schedules during the “Experiencing God” emphasis, the church has suspended its Wednesday night Bible study time for adults. It will resume after Dec. 10. The usual Wednesday night activities for children and teens, however, will continue as planned during the study.
   
A Web site — www.experienceGodtoday.com — has been established to give information about the countywide study, as well as a calendar of events and a means for finding a nearby study site.
   
“I’m very excited about it, and I think it is going to be great to be involved,” said Denise Dover, a MeadowBrook member who, along with her husband, Max, is hosting a Monday night group in her home.
She said seven people attended the first meeting Sept. 11. The smaller group meeting in the more intimate atmosphere of a home made it easier for everyone to talk freely and discuss.
   
“I think that it is going to help me and everyone involved to recognize how God speaks to us,” Dover said.