What to do when
you're asked to lead.

What should I do before leading a Bible study for the first time?

Before leading a Bible study for the first time, pick one chapter, read it three times, write 4 to 6 questions, and find the exact verse that answers each one. That last step is the one that saves first-time leaders. When the room goes quiet or drifts, you can always say, "Let's look at verse 16."

The 14 steps above are in the order you will meet them. You do not have to do all of them perfectly. If you only manage four, do the four in "A week out".

Three ways to prepare, compared

There is no single right way to prepare; there is a trade-off between time and control.

A ready 60-minute plan for Ruth 1

Here is the checklist turned into one real session, so you can see it work. Scripture is quoted from the World English Bible.

1. 0:00 to 0:05 Settle in. Say the end time out loud.
2. 0:05 to 0:15 Read Ruth 1 aloud, all 22 verses.
3. 0:15 to 0:25 Ask: why did the family leave Bethlehem? Answer in verse 1: "In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land."
4. 0:25 to 0:40 Ask: what does Ruth promise Naomi? Verse 16: "where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God."
5. 0:40 to 0:50 Ask: why does Naomi want to be called Mara? Verse 20: "for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me." Let people sit with that.
6. 0:50 to 0:55 Note the closing line in verse 22: they arrive "in the beginning of barley harvest." Ask what that might hint at.
7. 0:55 to 1:00 One reflection question, then close.

How Wayfold helps in 3 steps

1. Study the chapter. Read it, answer a few questions, then see the exact words in the chapter that answer each one.
2. Trace it. Put the main events in order, each tied to the verse where it happens.
3. Print the guide. Save a leader guide for one chapter or the whole book as a PDF: print it, save it to Files, AirDrop or email it.

Free Ruth guide

Honest limits

• Wayfold covers six books in depth: Ruth and Jonah free, Philippians, James, Habakkuk and Philemon with the one-time Premium Lifetime purchase. If your group is studying Romans, Wayfold's reader, map and timeline still help, but there is no guided study for it yet.
• Scripture is the World English Bible. If your group reads the NIV or ESV, expect small wording differences.
• The notes are labeled (in the text, history, interpretation, traditions differ, debated), but they do not replace your church's teaching or your pastor.

One design decision we made: every question in Wayfold points to a verse. Opinion questions come after the text, never instead of it, because that is what keeps a first-time leader steady.

A scenario: the Tuesday text

The usual leader texts on Tuesday: "Can you take Thursday? I'm traveling." You say yes before you think. By Wednesday night you have read Ruth 1 twice, printed a guide, and written the verse number next to each question in pencil.

On Thursday someone asks a hard question about Moab. You do not know the answer, so you say that, write it down, and point to what verse 1 does say. The room relaxes. So do you.

First-time leader questions