Lowcountry Bible study group marks a milestone

A weekly Bible study that has been growing in the Lowcountry for 20 years will celebrate a major milestone this week.

The Community Bible Study on Hilton Head Island was the first group in South Carolina for the non-denominational program based in Colorado.

Now, four classes are held weekly on the island, including two for adults, one for teens and an after-school program. There also are now three classes in Beaufort and two in Bluffton.

Here and around the nation, the classes have grown by word-of-mouth. What started as a small prayer group in the Washington, D.C., area in 1975 is now a network of more than 600 Bible classes nationally, and almost 70 in other nations. South Carolina has 19 classes from the beach to the foothills, and one for prison inmates.

Jenny Morgan, one of the early teachers here, used a story from Alaska to explain the Lowcountry phenomenon.

"A little over five years ago, Mike and I became empty-nesters," she said. "So we called friends from our pre-children days, and we went to Alaska together.

"I prayed to be able to see Mount McKinley, which is often enshrouded by clouds. As the six of us stood there looking up, the clouds opened up like a curtain."

Morgan said that's what it's like to be a Bible teacher. In-depth Bible study is like opening a curtain, she said, and the majesty it reveals is the meaning of life.

Students read a workbook and answer questions, which they say takes about 20 minutes a day. Then they gather weekly to study, first in small "core groups" and then in a large group led by a trained teaching director.

Alison Littauer, Hilton Head's first teaching director, will speak Thursday morning when the group gathers at First Baptist Church on South Forest Beach Drive. The regular meeting will be followed at about 11 a.m. by a celebration and reunion for all current and former participants.

Morgan was the second teacher, followed by Margaret Jones of Bluffton. Jones later became the first teaching director in Bluffton, and she's now area director for the state. Andra Ostergard was the next leader, and today Jean Meaney is starting her fifth year as teaching director. Associate director Duchess Raehn, who provides music weekly, was in the prayer group that got the Bible study started. The seven-person leadership team includes members of six local churches.

"We all love studying the Bible," Meaney said. "We love it because it transforms our lives.

"We train people so they can go out and do things. We equip the saints, really. That's what we do."