Bible Memorization Club, Part 2: Getting Ready

by Sylvia Evert

I was so excited about my Bible memorization program that I mentioned it in nearly every message I sent to family and friends. To my surprise, several people asked if they could join me. They even wanted copies of my calendar, so we could do it together.

I was surprised and thrilled. I went to work right away and made a calendar in Microsoft Excel. Then I sent it to all those that had requested to join. Before I knew it, I had a Bible memorization club!

As I kept up with my club, I soon learned something wonderful: In trying to motivate others, I motivated myself. I could hardly encourage my friends to do something without doing it myself. When you know people are looking to you as a leader, you don’t want to let them down.

How about it? Do you want to start a serious program of Bible memorization? Would you like to encourage your friends to do the same? Are you ready to start a memorization club? If so, here are some pointers I learned along the way.



Before you start
Decide what you want to memorize. Having a rewarding goal, such as memorizing a whole book, will create an incentive to keep at it. I started with the book of John, but you might want to choose a shorter book, at least to begin with. Several excellent choices are James, 1 or 2 Peter, or 1 John.

Set reasonable goals. It might be better to start with one verse a day. Then, when the group is ready for more of a challenge, you can decide together to increase your daily goals.

Plan to include a review/catch-up day once a week. This takes off some pressure, and helps get the verses more firmly in the memory.

Getting organized
Learn to create calendars that can be marked with each member’s daily verses. A Google Calendar is ideal, as all club members can have instant Internet access to the calendar from their computer or smart phone. On a search engine, just type in “Google Calendar” and you’ll find information on how to access this tool. Of course, you can make your calendar in Excel or another program—or even write on a paper calendar and give a copy to each club member.

Decide on the number of groups you can manage. You might want to have just one option, but most likely you will end up with several groups, as new members will join at different times. You also may need to form a group that moves at a slower pace. Caution: Don’t overwhelm yourself with too many groups. Try three groups—it’s relatively easy to keep track of that many. If people keep joining and it looks like you will have more than three groups, you can encourage a member of the club to start their own group.

Have a system for keeping track of your members’ personal information. This can be in a spreadsheet or database program on your computer, or on separate 3 x 5-inch cards. You should have the following records for each member:     

• Name and address and/or e-mail address. Use this to send out encouraging notes, calendars, memorizing tips and techniques, and newsletters. 
• Which memorization group they belong to (see above).

Most of all, pray for your club as you begin to organize it. We all need God’s help when we memorize the Bible. The devil will throw many things at us to discourage us—and we need perseverance from God to continue on when those discouraging times come.

Next week, I’ll give suggestions on starting your club and keeping it running.

Next week: “Your Own Club”