Third Year Group Project

FIRST SEMESTER (Spring): Planning Your Bible Study Project

• Students must prepare and present a written proposal for a Bible Study program or project that they will implement during the Fall Semester. This is to be a group program/project; that is, it is to be prepared by three or more persons working together. As far as possible, all team members are to be registered participants in the Catholic Bible Institute.
• Two copies of the written proposal are to be submitted by the April session. One copy will be graded and returned at the May session. The other will be retained until the day of observation. Final evaluation will be done in the Fall Semester.
• Under special circumstances and after consultation with the course instructor(s), individuals may form a team with persons not in the Bible Leadership Program. Names of all team members must be submitted by the second session.

Guidelines for the Group Project / Program:

Content (15 points)

• Choose a major focus or theme (e.g., Exile, Gospel of Mark, Lectionary, etc.).
• Indicate the number of sessions and the topic for each session.
• List the resources to be used for the project overall, and for each session (e.g., speakers, videos, tapes, workbooks, handouts, bibliographies, etc.).

Process (15 points)

• Describe fully how your sessions will be run:
• Lecture with questions / answers?
• Lecture with group sharing?
• Passage Reading with teaching / prayer / sharing / dialogue?
• Bible Sharing group?
• Describe the roles of the various participants:
• Who will lead the sessions? How will they facilitate the group process?
• How many people do you anticipate? How will they participate?
• How will any conflicts or difficulties be resolved? By whom?

Evaluation (10 points)

• Describe your criteria for ascertaining the effectiveness of your program and each session.
• Explain how you will assess participation and obtain feedback from the participants.
• Mention some follow-up or future development plans, how you might integrate your project into your parish's ministry programs.

Administrative Details (10 points)

• Who: appropriate contacts / clearances needed (pastor, principal, DRE, etc.)
• What: announcements or publicity to be used (parish bulletin, existing groups, etc.)
• When & Where: dates, times, places to be arranged
• How: hospitality & environment to be organized

Details of one session for evaluation visit (50 points)
Indicate who on the team will be responsible for each item:

• Environment: flows from the theme of the session
• Hospitality and Refreshments: creates an atmosphere for the session
• Prayer: captures the theme of the session
• Content: presents and develops the theme of the session
• Process: integrates the theme of the session with lived experience
• Evaluation: assesses how well the content / theme was received
• Closing Prayer: summarizes the experiences of the session itself

NOTE: If students are already engaged in a Bible Study Program and want to use that as the basis of their project, the above outline still works. Simply indicate at the beginning that this will be a segment of an already existing program.

Project Grade will be derived using the following guidelines

• The clarity and precision with which each segment of the project is developed:
  • 50-70 points: C-C+
  • 71-85 points: B-B+
  • 86-100 points: A-A+
• How each member contributes substantially to the final written product. Participants seeking certification will evaluate each other's overall contributions to the group process.

SECOND SEMESTER (Fall): Implementation of the Proposed Project.

Grading for the second semester will be on a credit / no credit basis. Successful implementation of the project proposal presented in the first semester will constitute a grade of CREDIT.

Students are responsible to submit dates, times, and locations for observation of a session which they planned and submitted in detail. (See Semester I program / project proposal criteria). The Bible Institute Team will choose two persons to observe one of these sessions.

NOTE: Any substantial changes in the proposal need to be submitted one month before the arranged evaluation visit.

PROJECT TIMELINE

Bible Study Leadership

Due Februrary

• Formation of your team (indicate position if they are not in the Institute; get clearance in writing from Instructional Team).
• Selection of theme or topic of your Bible Study project for Fall

Due March (an oral presentation by each team)

• Sub-topics - themes of each of your Bible Study sessions (you must have at least four sessions).
• Dates and times of your Bible Study.
• Description and listing of resources you will be using.
• Description of your audience (for whom is your Bible Study intended: youth, RCIA, general adult audience).

Due April (written and oral vresentation by each team)

• Two copies of completed write-up of your project: Themes, content, process, team task assignments, promotion strategy, evaluation criteria, follow-up.
• Indication of first and second choice of dates for Instructional Team members’observation.

Due May

• Instructional Team returns project write-up to you with any suggestions and/or revisions.
• Instructional Team provides you with final date of observation.

Due at Time of Visit

• Detailed outline of the session, including assigned tasks of each of your team members.
• Revised project (if you were instructed to do one).

Clarification of terms:

• Team Member: Names of persons making the presentation
• Project Theme: General theme the project addresses (e.g Creation stories, Exile and deliverance, the Book of Wisdom, Gospel of Luke, Covenant in the Old Testament, Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels )
• Presentation Style: Team presents the project clearly, speaks distinctly, organizes material well
• Program Strengths: Theme is manageable in timeframe proposed; resources utilized; team work is demonstrated; topics are appropriate to theme;....