About the Book
A fresh look at a timeless promise. COVENANT IS A 24-WEEK, IN-DEPTH GROUP BIBLE STUDY in which people read and discuss the Bible together. COVENANT is based on the understanding that we can best discover the Bible's transformative power through shared study, reflection and engagement. THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF COVENANT, which serves as the study's unifying theme, speaks to an enduring commitment between God and God's people. This comprehensive study covers both the Old and New Testaments. COVENANT is organized in three 8-week modules, each dealing with a different aspect of covenant-Creating, Living, and Trusting the covenant-thereby underscoring the unique relationship that God chooses with us as God's people. The goal of COVENANT BIBLE STUDY is to deepen understanding of scripture, build community, and develop church leaders through small group study. It embraces a learning experience that builds trust in others and confidence in scripture for each participant-leveraging not just scriptural examples but also personal memories of God's faithful love. It helps participants apply the Bible to their personal story, cultivating a life-long trust in God and a love of scripture. The Covenant Bible Study Kit contains everything a leader needs. - Leader Guide: Contains comprehensive and detailed direction for the group leader to use in each meeting experience. Options are provided so that leaders can adapt to a group's unique characteristics. - Participant Guides: Walk participants through daily Bible readings and offer space to interact personally with the prayers, the group experience, and the weekly Covenant meditations. - Meditations: Contains 66 meditations to supplement those in the participant guides because many participants find great personal benefit and contentment in an intimate connection with God through "praying scripture." - DVD Videos (Set of 3): Feature two pastor cohosts who engage 23 prominent biblical scholars in the 24 video episodes. The cohosts meet around the Covenant table with the scholars, asking questions about the week's scripture readings that participants would likely ask the scholars. The conversations serve as a model for the kind of learning dynamic that is central to this study. There is one DVD for each Covenant module.
About the Author :
Shane Stanford (MA, Duke University; Doctorate, Asbury Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor of a 5,000+ member church in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Stanford is the author of numerous books, including The Seven Next Words of Christ, The Cure for the Chronic Life, and The Eight Blessings: Rediscovering the Beatitudes. His memoir, A Positive Life, details his life as an HIV+ and HepC+ hemophiliac, husband, father, and pastor. He is the co-host of the Covenant Bible Study program, now used in over one thousand churches. Dr. Stanford married Dr. Pokey Stanford, and they have three daughters. David L. Bartlett was Professor Emeritus of Christian Communication, Yale Divinity School, and Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA. -- Alejandro F. Botta, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible, Boston University School of Theology, 745 Commonwealth Ave., Box 371, Boston, MA 02215-1401 http: //www.bu.edu/sth/faculty/staff/botta.html Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible, Boston University School of Theology Director of the Malcom X Institute of Black Studies, Associate Dean, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN Christine Chakoian is Pastor and Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, one of the largest congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be led by a woman. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Yale Divinity School, and McCormick Theological Seminary (D.Min). She is an editor and writer for Feasting on the Gospels, a contributor to the Day1 radio program, 30 Good Minutes television show, and the Presbyterian Outlook magazine. Associate Professor of New Testament, Palmer Theological Seminary, Eastern Unviersity, King of Prussia, PA Jaime Clark-Soles is Professor of New Testament and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Perkins School of Theology. She speaks and preaches frequently in churches and contributes to various online resources, including workingpreacher.org. She is the author of several books, including Reading John for Dear Life: A Spiritual Walk with the Fourth Gospel and Engaging the Word: The New Testament and the Christian Believer. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Religion and Disability. As an ordained Baptist minister, she has served in both parish and hospice settings. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois Chaplain, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Hiram College, Hiram, OH Dr. David A. deSilva, an elder in the Florida Annual Conference, attended Princeton University, Princeton Theological Seminary and earned his Ph.D. in Religion at Emory University. He currently serves as Trustees' Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary. He has written over twenty books, including Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation's Warning, The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude, An Introduction to the New Testament, and Introducing the Apocrypha. He also served as Apocrypha Editor for the Common English Bible and has published extensively in journals, reference works, and adult Bible curriculum. Magrey R. deVega is the Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, Florida. He is the author of over a dozen books, including Questions Jesus Asked, The Christmas Letters, The Bible Year, Savior, Hope for Hard Times, Almost Christmas, and One Faithful Promise. He is also a contributor to numerous publications on preaching, worship design, and the spiritual life. He is the proud father of two daughters, Grace and Madelyn. Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible, Iliff School of Theology, Denver, Colorado Judy Fentress-Williams (AB Princeton; MDiv and PhD Yale) is Professor of Old Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary since 2002 and taught previously at Hartford Seminary. She is author of several publications, including the Abingdon Old Testament Commentary: Ruth. J.F.R. King Professor of Religion, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX. Associate Pastor, Belmont United Methodist Church, Nashville, TN Theodore Hiebert is Francis A. McGaw Professor of Old Testament, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL. He was an editor and translator of the Common English Bible. A leading scholar among theological educators, he has done groundbreaking work in the study of Genesis. Vice President of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Old Testament, Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, VA Matthew L. Skinner is the Asher O. and Carrie Nasby Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul and the Scholar for Adult Education at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. His published works include resources for church leaders and laypeople who are interested in the Bible's connections to faith and life. He is the author of Matthew: The Gospel of Promised Blessings and Acts: Catching Up with the Spirit and is a longtime cohost of Sermon Brainwave, a weekly podcast that accompanies preachers as they interpret biblical texts to prepare their sermons. Shane Stanford (MA, Duke University; Doctorate, Asbury Theological Seminary) is Senior Pastor of a 5,000+ member church in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Stanford is the author of numerous books, including The Seven Next Words of Christ, The Cure for the Chronic Life, and The Eight Blessings: Rediscovering the Beatitudes. His memoir, A Positive Life, details his life as an HIV+ and HepC+ hemophiliac, husband, father, and pastor. He is the co-host of the Covenant Bible Study program, now used in over one thousand churches. Dr. Stanford married Dr. Pokey Stanford, and they have three daughters. Thomas B. Slater is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language & Literature at McAfee School of Theology. He teaches introductory and advanced courses in New Testament studies and New Testament Greek. His Ph.D. is from King's College London. He is an ordained elder in the Georgia North Region of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and holds positions on denominational committees. Daniel L. Smith-Christopher is Professor of Theological Studies and Director of Peace Studies at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. A widely published scholar, he is the author of A Biblical Theology of Exile, Subverting Hatred, and Religion of the Landless, as well as the commentary on Daniel for The New Interpreters' Bible. Associate Professor of Theology, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA Teacher and Former Assistant Professor of New Testament, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, TX A.B. Rhodes Professor of Old Testament, Louisville Theological Seminary mail checks and correspondence to home address: 308 E. Market St., Jeffersonville, IN 47130 Adjunct Professor of New Testament, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Chicago, IL Michael E. Williams is senior pastor at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the author of numerous articles, stories, poems, and books and is general editor of The Storyteller s Companion to the Bible series. A frequent guest-speaker and workshop leader at regional, national, and international events, Dr. Williams has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival and has taught at the National Institutes of Storytelling. Associate Professor of Old Testament Language, Literature, and Exegesis, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA William P. Brown is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA. His teaching focuses on the use of scripture in the life of the church and the world, particularly in the context of ecology and justice. Recent books include The Seven Pillars of Creation: Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder, Wisdom's Wonder, and Sacred Sense. Christine Chakoian is Pastor and Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest, Illinois, one of the largest congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be led by a woman. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Yale Divinity School, and McCormick Theological Seminary (D.Min). She is an editor and writer for Feasting on the Gospels, a contributor to the Day1 radio program, 30 Good Minutes television show, and the Presbyterian Outlook magazine. Jaime Clark-Soles is Professor of New Testament and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Perkins School of Theology. She speaks and preaches frequently in churches and contributes to various online resources, including workingpreacher.org. She is the author of several books, including Reading John for Dear Life: A Spiritual Walk with the Fourth Gospel and Engaging the Word: The New Testament and the Christian Believer. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Religion and Disability. As an ordained Baptist minister, she has served in both parish and hospice settings. Magrey R. deVega is the Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, Florida. He is the author of over a dozen books, including Questions Jesus Asked, The Christmas Letters, The Bible Year, Savior, Hope for Hard Times, Almost Christmas, and One Faithful Promise. He is also a contributor to numerous publications on preaching, worship design, and the spiritual life. He is the proud father of two daughters, Grace and Madelyn. Associate Pastor, Belmont United Methodist Church, Nashville, TN Theodore Hiebert is Francis A. McGaw Professor of Old Testament, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL. He was an editor and translator of the Common English Bible. A leading scholar among theological educators, he has done groundbreaking work in the study of Genesis.
