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Last week we hosted our first-ever Bible Journaling event at our church.
In all honesty, I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it. I’m okay with making notes in my Bible margins, but I wasn’t sure I could handle using craft supplies…
Not only did I end up getting much more out of our event than I imagined, but it was obvious that our women enjoyed it too!
Like many of our women, you may be wondering what exactly is “Bible journaling”.
Sometimes called illustrating your faith, Bible journaling is the act of using craft supplies in a Bible to make note of a verse or idea that God has drawn one’s attention to. Many people consider it a time of worship. It’s a great tool to use for scripture memorization too.
It can be as simple as illustrating a verse or writing a verse in a fancy font.
It can be as complex as a watercolor and ink drawing.
There aren’t any formal rules and there’s really no wrong way to do it.
We were fortunate enough to find a speaker, Krissy, who has been journaling in her Bible for almost 10 years.
Before we picked up that first roll of washi tape, Krissy shared the story of how she began Bible journaling, how she uses that time to worship God, and some specific ways she’s responded to God in her Bible.
Understanding why Krissy journals in her Bible helped me to let go of the hesitation I had to use craft supplies in mine.
Krissy brought with her a huge assortment of supplies – stamps, watercolors, sponges, note cards, templates, washi tape, colored pencils, markers, etc.
The best part was she taught us how to use them!
We learned how to:
- Do a “tip in” – using washi tape we were able to attach note cards, drawings, and other mementos to our Bible.
- Use acrylic paints. We put a small amount on the plastic paint cards and pulled them to keep the paint transparent so the text in our Bible showed through. (See photo above.)
- Use stamp pads and sponges with templates to create a background.
Krissy demonstrated two Bible journaling techniques for us to try out, though we were welcome to use any of the supplies in any way we wanted.
- Sponge ink around the letters for “be brave” in our Bible.
- Trace and color an anchor in our Bible.
8 Tips for Hosting a Bible Journaling Event
1. Find someone experienced that can lead your event. Krissy led an event at a church nearby and they were kind enough to share her contact info with us. You may already have some women in your church that could teach your women a few basic Bible journaling techniques. If not, this Bible Journaling Handbook may be helpful. (Please note I have not personally reviewed this book.)
2. Show your women what Bible journaling is all about. Even though one of our women had her journaling Bible out at registration, several of our women thought we were going to be journaling (writing). Use photos in all of your publicity to help communicate your event.
3. Budget for supplies. Washi tape is a must! Consider purchasing some items to use as door prizes. Charge a small fee, maybe $5 a person, if needed to cover your costs.
4. Provide an alternative. Some of your women are not going to want to or be ready to put paint, stamps, washi tape, or anything else in their Bibles. You can provide sketch paper, a printed copy of scripture, or pages from a hymnal for them to practice on. You could even offer some coloring pages.
5. Be encouraging! Chances are this is a new experience for most of your women. It’s intimidating to permanently mark in your Bible. And the ideas you’ll find online can be difficult to recreate. Coach them into taking baby steps. If all they do is add some washi tape and a tip-in celebrate!
6. Be a role model. If you want your women to try it, you’ve got to be willing to do it too! I still can’t believe I put paint in my Bible. Admittedly I chose a page without text, but I did it!
7. Journaling Bibles are nice, but not necessary. Some of your women may want to eventually purchase a Bible with wide margins, however, it’s not necessary. You can be creative in any Bible!
8. You don’t have to be artistic! Most of your women will think they can’t do this because they can’t draw. You don’t have to draw – you can use stickers and stamps. You can embellish with washi tape. You can trace.
You may also want to read:
105 Christian Ladies Night Out Ideas
30 Summer Fellowship Ideas
One year ago: Teach Your Team to Pray Out Loud
Two years ago: No More Notecard Stress
Three years ago: Christmas: Wrap It Up Game
I cannot find the site for Illustrated Faith. I don’t think that site is available anymore.
Rebecca, thank you for letting me know. That is an older post and I don’t believe DaySpring is carrying Bible Journaling materials anymore. I’ve updated the post.
I love this idea! I’m not sure I know of anyone that journals though😬 I live in Conover, NC. If that’s close to Kristy, would you share her contact info if you have permission? Thanks so much!
Tricia, I’m sorry I don’t. Someone in your church might know someone. Unfortunately, I don’t have Kristy’s contact information.
I am in the beginning stages of starting a Bible jounaling group at our local library. We’ve met three times so far. Can you send me samples kits or supplies to get us started besides coloring?
Andrea, I’m sorry but those aren’t resources that I offer. You may want to check out the DaySpring website or search Bible Journaling on YouTube. I hope that helps!
Hello Cyndee,
This is very helpful. I am hosting a Soul Care event at my church, which focuses on the wellbeing of our mind, emotions & spirit. I am incorporating a painting & vision board activity. I read that you reached out to DaySpring to see if they would be willing to send a few supplies. Was this free? I’m wondering how I could go about doing this as well.
Thank you!
Hi Amanda, that was many years ago. They still have many Bible journaling materials available for purchase. You could always email DaySpring to see what kind of response you get.
Since you mentioned it, I want to encourage you to reconsider your vision board activity. Here’s a resource that shares concerns about this activity. https://youtu.be/-ccsTSlO63s I hope you’ll check it out.
This is such a great idea to bring women of the church together, doing something different and at the same time meeting some of your own church members for the first time. Getting to know one another in a different atmosphere but with a spiritual way. I would like to try this at my church, but with the pandemic going on I don’t think I would get too many that would come. But I will not let me stop, some will have the want to and come. You have so many ideas for Women’s Ministry I just love them. In all honesty the women at my church does not have any enthusiasm to do anything different, they are set in their ways. I’ve been there for 8 years (merthodist), coming from (pentacostal) background. But I will press on. I recently picked up my first magazine, Day Spring and shared one with a co-worker.
Cassie, Thank you for your comments. It can be hard when leaders do not see the need to do things differently. I pray you’ll be a positive influence in your situation.
Hi Cyndee
I was thinking about seeing if my bible study group would be interested in this. I have a couple questions.
How is your time spent during the study? Do you discuss the verse or jump right in?
Do you just pick different verse each week or do you have a theme?
I was thinking about adding verse mapping with it to discuss the verse.
Thanks a bunch
Tara, our coordinator picked a different theme and verse for each time they met. I did not attend the other evenings, so I’m not sure quite how they ran. I do remember that they were meeting monthly and the theme was sometimes related to the holiday/season, but not always. I think she tried to introduce a new technique at each meeting after discussing the verse/focus for that night. DaySpring has a great selection of articles and tips that you may want to read through. You can find them here: https://www.dayspring.com/nsearch/?q=bible+journaling#/?&Nxttype=article
I just became the leader for my women’s ministry. This is something very new and scary for me. I was thinking about having some kind of beginner to bible journaling but I have no clue where to begin or what materials to use. Would you be willing to give me some ideas as what is the best things to use, or how may supplies to have when introducing this in a class…any help would be fantastic, thank you for your time
Tara
Tara, bless your heart! A few ideas for you – reach out to your local LifeWay store and see if they have someone who could come and teach a class at your church. DaySpring has a bunch of articles that will give you ideas on what to use and how to get started. You can find them here: https://www.dayspring.com/articles/category/bible-journaling-ideas-and-inspiration . Ask around – you may find someone in your church or community is already doing Bible Journaling and they could help plan an event. Praying God will help you to bring the details together!
I don’t think I have the skill set to host these, even with these great tips. Do you know anyone in Indianapolis/northside who does this? We’d love to have her come and do a workshop for our women.
Amy, sorry for the delay in my response we were away for Spring Break. I do not, however I suggest calling your local Christian bookstore and asking around in your church and connecting with other local churches to see if they know someone. I’d even “Google” “Bible Journaling Indianapolis” to see if there are events like that going on in your area already. Praying one of those avenues will bring about someone to do a workshop for you all!
Is there any way I can get Krissy info. I love this idea!
Our ladies group is getting smaller and I believe hosting this event would call more ladies to attend our group. I hope you can help us out.
Sorry for the delayed response – we were away for Spring Break. Krissy is located near the Charlotte, NC area – if you’re local and would like her contact info let me know either here or via email and I’ll get it to you. Otherwise I would try to Google “Bible journaling” and your hometown to see if you can connect with someone in your area. Ask around your church too – you may be surprised to find a woman in your church that would be willing to teach others. I hope those ideas help!
Very good information.
Thanks Lynette! 🙂
What a great idea.. One for my list to do and keep.
So glad you find this idea and the tips helpful! Please let me know how your event goes. 🙂
definitely saving this idea! How fun!!!!!
Thanks Melissa! Hope your group has a great event!!