Join the NC Conference Media Center’s Study Harder Challenge! Your group is invited to expand your circle of influence and try something new by studying resources that apply any of 12 characteristics that will help you think outside the box. Read more about the Study Harder Challenge and download your worksheet.
Challenge: Features Pop Culture
It’s summer! Have some fun with your bible study! All while relating Christian principles to the culture in which we live.
Choose a study that features pop culture – TV shows, movies, literature, any media widely known and consumed outside of the Christian market. You will end up with some great conversation starters, some new tools for evangelism, and a deeper understanding of the relationship between Christianity and culture.
The Entertainment Ministry
Many of our churches have studied North Carolina’s most loved television show, The Andy Griffith Show, in their small groups. The Entertainment Ministry by Stephen Skelton offers four volumes of The Mayberry Bible Study. Each volume includes four episodes of the show. Each session is focused on a Christian principle that is illustrated in that episode. We also have a collection of 40 video clips from The Andy Griffith Show that could be used as sermon or lesson illustrations.
Skelton has produced similar DVD studies for the following icons of pop culture:
- The Beverly Hillbillies
- The Lucy Show
- Gilligan’s Island
- The Van Dyke Show
- Bonanza
- Super Man
- John Wayne
- Harry Potter
- Twilight
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- A Christmas Carol
Skelton has also written study booklets that provide a Christian perspective on these items of pop culture:
- The Wizard of Oz
- Superman
- Charles Dickens
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- The Gift of the Magi
- The Night Before Christmas
- Paintings of Jesus
Bonus! Every study from The Entertainment Ministry comes with a reproducible study guide. The NC Conference Media Center holds a Certificate of License so that you can copy the study guide or booklet for everyone in your group. Borrow the DVD and study guide from us, and you’ve got a free bible study!
Matt Rawle
Rev. Rawle is a United Methodist pastor and author of the Pop in Culture bible study series. These 6-week DVD studies offer insight, humor, and inspiration based on some of your favorite pop culture classics. The series explores:
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Doctor Who
- A Christmas Carol
- The Nutcracker
- Superheroes
- Jesus and Christ figures in films
The Gospel According To…
It was popular for awhile to publish books with the title, “The Gospel According to (fill-in-the-blank pop culture reference).” These books try to tease out Christian themes in popular culture. We have several of these books in the Media Center that would make good companions to a study of these well-known icons:
- Dr. Seuss
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- Star Wars
- The Simpsons
- U2
- Bob Dylan
- Disney
- Starbucks
- Hollywood
Christian Movies
Lately, some Christian movies have been brought into mainstream culture with big-name actors or theatrical success. The Media Center offers small-group studies that include clips of the following movies:
- God’s Not Dead
- Do You Believe?
- War Room
- Courageous Living
- Heaven is for Real
Additional Resources
View our Genre Collection of DVD Studies Featuring Pop Culture to find links to many of the studies mentioned here as well as additional titles.
Podcast!
The NC Conference produces a podcast, Watercooler Christianity, that explores Christianity and pop culture. It is co-hosted by NC Conference pastors Laura Wittman and Aaron Hayworth. Previous episodes have talked about:
- Superheroes
- Fitness
- Beer & Hymns
- Christmas movies
- Bird Box
- Marie Kondo
- Captain Marvel
- The Office
- Lord of the Rings
Request These Resources
These resources can be borrowed for free by anyone involved with a United Methodist Church in the North Carolina Conference. We will mail them to your home! All you need to do is fill out the Resource Request Form.