There are 10 weeks between the end of Advent and the beginning of Lent on March 6th, 2019. The Media Center recommends the following 10-session studies for groups that meet weekly. We have also listed 8 and 9 session studies in case you like to factor in some wiggle room for missed sessions.
Although most of these titles include a DVD, some of them are book-based studies. Click the red links under Components to read the full details and check availability.
10-Session Studies
The Means of Grace: Traditioned Practice in Today’s World by Andrew C. Thompson; Seedbed, 2016.
Faith Under Fire: Exploring Christianity’s Ten Toughest Questions hosted by Lee Strobel; Zondervan, 2012.
- Features interviews with: Henry Cloud, Joni Eareckson Tada, Randy Alcorn, William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, Hugh Hewitt, David Limbaugh, Tony Campolo, and Richard Land
- Topic: Controversial questions often asked by those outside the faith
- Author: Journalist and professor best known for “The Case for Christ”
- Components: DVD, Book
Holy Spirit Here and Now by Trevor Hudson; Upper Room, 2013.
- Topic: The Holy Spirit in the Christian life
- Author: United Methodist pastor
- Components: Book includes discussion questions
The Shelter of God’s Promises by Sheila Walsh; Thomas Nelson, 2011.
- Topic: God’s promises for your life
- For: Women’s groups
- Author: Christian author and teacher
- Components: Kit with DVD, Leader’s Guide, and Book
Neighbor: Christian Encounters with “Illegal” Immigration by Ben Daniel; Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.
- Topic: Immigration
- Awards: Religion Book of the Year, ForeWord Reviews
- Author: Presbyterian pastor
- Components: Book includes discussion questions
What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey; Zondervan, 2004.
- Topic: God’s grace
- Awards: Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Book of the Year
- Author: Christian author and editor-at-large of Christianity Today
- Components: DVD, Book
The Four Acts of Prayer by Walter Wangerin, Jr.; Paraclete Press, 2005.
- Topic: Prayer
- Author: Lutheran pastor
- Components: DVD includes discussion guide
9-Session Studies
Grow at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Family Discipleship by Winfield Bevins; Seedbed, 2016.
The 7 Experiment : Staging Your Own Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker; LifeWay, 2012.
- Topic: Stewardship
- For: Women’s groups
- Author: Christian author and speaker
- Components: Kit including DVDs and book
BASIC: We Are Church by Francis Chan; David C Cook, 2011.
- Topic: How to be the church
- Author: Christian pastor and author
- Components: Book, DVDs on Fellowship, Teaching, Prayer, and Communion
8-Session Studies
The New Testament You Never Knew: Exploring the Context, Purpose, and Meaning 
of the Story of God by N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird; Zondervan, 2019.
- Topic: The New Testament
- Author: New Testament Scholars
- Components: DVD, Study Guide
Our Purpose is Love: The Wesleyan Way to Be the Church by David N. Field; Abingdon Press, 2018.
- Topic: The church as the embodiment of God’s love in the world
- Series: Faultlines series on the church and human sexuality
- Author: Academic Coordinator for the Methodist e-Academy
- Components: Book, Leader Guide
A Firm Foundation: Hope and Vision for a New Methodist Future by the Wesleyan Covenant Association; Seedbed, 2017.
- Topic: Traditional approach to the UMC Way Forward
- Host: Jessica LaGrone, a United Methodist pastor
- Components: DVD, Book
Dialogues On the Refugee Crisis; Sparkhouse, 2018.
- Topic: Refugees
- Author: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America publisher
- Components: DVD, Facilitator Guide, Learner Book
A Woman’s Place: A Bible Study Exploring Every Woman’s Call to Work by Katelyn Beaty; Abingdon Press, 2017.
- Topic: Women’s work and calling
- Author: Editor at large at Christianity Today, Co-founder of Her.meneutics
- Components: DVD, Leader Guide, Participant Guide
Amending Through Faith by the General Commission on United Methodist Men and AMEND Together, a program of YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee, 2018.
- Topic: Men’s prevention of violence against women
- For: Men’s groups
- Components: Participant Workbook, Leader Guide Flash Drive
Interrupting Silence: God’s Command to Speak Out by Walter Brueggemann; Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.
- Topic: Speaking out against injustice
- Author: United Church of Christ pastor and professor
- Components: Book study
One: A Small Group Journey Toward Life-Changing Community by Nick Cunningham; Abingdon Press, 2016.
- Topic: Building community within small groups
- Author: United Methodist pastor
- Components: DVD, Leader Guide, Book
Ask: Faith Questions in a Skeptical Age by Scott J. Jones and Arthur D. Jones; Abingdon Press, 2015.
- DVD Presenters: Lisa Yebuah, Matt Miofsky, Scott Chrostek, and Amy Wagner
- Topic: Controversial questions often asked by those outside the faith
- Author: United Methodist bishop and pastor
- Components: DVD, Leader Guide, Book
The Class Meeting: Reclaiming a Forgotten (and Essential) Small Group Experience by Kevin M. Watson; Seedbed, 2014.
- Topic: How to build an accountable community
- Author: United Methodist professor
- Components: Book
Request These Resources
These resources can be borrowed by anyone associated with the North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church, free of charge. We can even mail them to you! All you need to do is fill out the Resource Request Form.