What is the best way to start a Catholic bible study group?

That is a wonderful idea!!

Here are some LifeTeen Bible studies you can download for free:

http://www.catholicyouthministry.com/download/bibl...

Also, there are many Bible studies for teens, that come on CDs. They do cost money but perhaps you could get the Church to buy them for you. That way they'd have them for future youth groups.

http://biblestudyforcatholics.com/catholic-bible/s...

@Pastor Art - what a bizarre thing for you to say. The Catholic Church has Bible studies often. I'm in one right now and we are studying the Old Testament.

Don't discourage this young person by bearing false witness against the Catholic faith.

@ Pastor Art - I come here because you emailed me, then blocked me so I could not answer you. Interesting technique of attack and run, however, not one I use myself. Your experience with Catholicism should be stated as "in my experience" not as a fact that you have no knowledge of. St. Jerome said "ignorance of scripture is ignorance of truth." The Church did not discourage reading the Bible or Bible studies. The so-called Bibles burned by the Church, were not Bibles, they were poor translations that were a danger to the faithful. I'll be happy to discuss Catholicism with you, but you'll have to man-up and unblock me.

it's very important to have the backing of the priest or the parish council, as you are aware knowing the faith is important , and you must have someone to keep lessons under control time wise , otherwise everyone chips in and confusion can eventuate .

in the u.s.a there is one study called little rock bible study, very good, a video is supplied with books , cost about $15 p.p., each session of the lesson lasts 8-10 weeks , 1 1/2 hour sessions

Try this.

http://www.cssprogram.net/

Edit: Those are lesson plans outlines. Since you are 14,you are going to have to find a leader that is going to want to teach the class. Look over the plans on the website then go to your priest for approval. We had a CSS class for four years in one of our local parishes.

Good Luck and God Bless.

Whatever you do, do NOT listen to Art. He has NO clue what he is talking about.

You need to contact someone on the parish - whether it be the priest, a deacon, someone in the office, etc, and they can get the ball rolling for you.

God bless you!!! what a great idea. i would check with your pastor and make sure you have his blessing and then present the idea to your parish council. possibly there is a retired teacher who might enjoy this task. your local archdiocese has great resources too!! as for ideas.... Pastor Art and others like him will give you all the fuel you need for your first study.... what are the common misconceptions of non Catholics and how to combat their ignorance :)

"Pastor" Art:

Be serious. Every single Catholic church I've ever seen does Bible studies.

I applaud your idea.

The problem with the Catholic Church is what you've already mentioned.

Generally speaking they just don't do Bible Studies. Not for teens, not for anyone.

The best way to learn to run one is attend one already in progress at some other church.

Or contact a group such as Young Life or the Navigators and ask them to help you.

Young Life runs Bible clubs in high schools all around the country. It is a non-denominational Christian ministry that reaches out to adolescents though high school students through volunteers, staff, club meetings, and camps by building meaningful relationships.

http://www.younglife.org/us

Campus Life is the college and university version of Young Life.

If your priest is too busy for you, shame on him.

If you've never done a Bible study before, I'd suggest you start by studying the Life of Christ and the best place to start that, if you've never done it before, would be the Gospel of Mark.

Before you would begin as a Bible study leader, you should read the book through cover to cover and then find a Bible handbook to learn things about the book such as:

Who wrote it?

When?

Who was the original audience of the book?

The reason I suggest starting with the Gospel of Mark, is that it is the shortest Gospel, with the simplest version of the Life of Christ.

The author of Mark is John Mark, who was the secretary to Peter. Peter could not read or write, so John Mark wrote down the Story of Jesus' life as told to him by Peter.

John Mark is mentioned in the Book of Acts a couple of times and he is mentioned in the book as a young man wearing a linen garment:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2...

So John Mark was himself a follower of Jesus in his own right, but he wasn't a Disciple, he might have been your age at the time Jesus died for our sins.

Edit: The young man who asked the question said that his parish didn't have a Bible Study, I just agreed with him. The 27 thumbs down on this question is an example of what Jesus was talking about when He said that you'll know who is a true follower of me by the way they love one another.

John 13:34-35 (New International Version, ©2011)

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The logically equivalent statement is, "If you don't love one another, you are not my disciple."