Growing up Baptist and being a visual learner, it is hard for me to fathom not taking my own Bible with me to church. Yet I know that in some denominations it is unusual to do so.
The church we are currently attending is one of those. Very few people bring their own Bibles with them and instead use the Bible in the pew rack. This is such a paradigm shift for me.
(And, yes, I still bring my own Bible and plan to continue to do so.)
So how about you? Do you take your own Bible to church? Why or why not?
Please vote in the poll in the sidebar and feel free to leave a comment! 🙂
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We bring our Bibles and encourage our kids to do so too. Even when they were small and just using storybook Bibles. Hubby wanted them to get in the habit of bringing their Bibles to church. As an aside, we also dress up for church, but our preteen has requested to be allowed more casual clothes as none of his friends get all dressed up! At least he always brings his Bible. 🙂 And usually his tithe.
Yes ~ I take my Bible to church. I was raised Catholic & never had a Bible until high school when I started going to Campus Life. My husband was raised Lutheran and we were married in a Lutheran church. We went to a Lutheran church for about 12 years & never took a Bible. I don’t think anyone did. We started going to a non-denominational church almost 6 years ago and NOW I take my Bible every Sunday. And (gasp!) I even write in my Bible. I love having the notes to remind me of a message/lesson. It also helps with my Bible study. Blessings to you! Patricia
I started taking my Bible to church when I made the choice on my own [not dedicated by parents as a baby…:>) ] to follow Christ as my Lord and Savior. My Bible is “my” Bible… it is underlined, has notations in the margine, on blank pages… And when it is old, broken down and exhausted I will get a new, clean, unlined and un-noted upon one and relegate it to pasture with the other old friends of the past. I’ve never had a Bible just for show — my Bible gets a workout [but not as much as it could get]. And what a great way to see how much I have grown in the past 40 years!
Miss Meg
I guess I can’t imagine not taking mine. Not that pew Bibles are bad – we have them at our church. But if I want to make a note on a verse, it’s awfully handy having my own Bible right there. 🙂
I grew up bringing my Bible to church and still do. I like using my own Bible because I like to underline/write in the margins, etc. I also think it’s important for our daughter to see us using our own Bibles as much as possible at home and at church. My husband on the other hand, grew up using the Bible in the pew. Our church provides Bibles for those who need them, but they are not in the pews. We are encouraged to bring our own Bible. For a time our church was projecting the verses used in the sermon on the screen above, but they are longer doing this so people will use their Bibles. I was happy to see the change.
I have always taken my Bible to church, ever since I was a little girl. If for some reason I forget my Bible in the mad rush to get out the door, I feel so lost without my Bible.
The church where we were previously was very small, and almost everyone left their Bible in their pew! Which I never could really wrap my mind around. Did they not read their Bible at home? Or hopefully they had a Bible they left at home?
Yes, I bring my Bible. I use the Inductive Study Bible and there’s lots of room to take notes. The pew Bibles are nice for people who forget to bring theirs but I can’t imagine going week after week without my own. Mine is very marked up 🙂
yes I take mine — I have since I was in jr high or younger but then I was in the minority — It just doesn’t feel right to not pick it up
Why schlep something I don’t have to schlep?
When I went to a non-denominational church, I always brought my bible (pretty much everyone did). Now I go to an Anglican church, and I don’t. Usually our Bible readings are printed in the songsheet each week. I bring my prayer book, and sometimes my journal in case I want to take notes.
Our church meets in our home, so we have ALL of our Bibles with us every Sunday– does that make us super-spiritual? 😉
~Jess
We both take our bibles with us to church. There’s something special about turning to the Pastor’s scripture for the day and finding a note in the margin from 5 years ago when that same scripture ministered to me!
What, there are people who don’t always bring their own Bibles? 😉
I even brought my own Bible to our chapel services when I was in college! Hehe 🙂 Not that I’m trying to appear super spiritual or anything. It’s just a habit for me that it would be really hard to stop doing.
Not only do I take my Bible but so does Terry and sometimes I take more than one for me.
I grew up in a Bible Church and now we’re Baptist. Lots of Bibles in our lives and never would it occur to me not to bring my Bible to church.
No Bible to church??????
That would be like a shower without soap, a meal without food, a house with no door, etc.
I used to always take mine, but since having kids, I’m in the non-schlepping minority with Marie.
Oh, definitely. I, too, am a visual learner and so it’s helpful for my memory and retention. My husband, on the other hand, is distracted by trying to find things quickly, so he makes notes and then digs through his Bible more slowly over the course of the afternoon.
I used to always take my Bible every week. Perhaps I’ve gotten lazy since having the baby and want one less thing to carry. My Husband brings his and we share or I look up on the powerpoint or I use the pew Bible or I use Hubby’s Blackberry and pull the Bible up that way. Either way I get the Word. I always take notes, though.
We attended a church (before we moved earlier this year) that had Bibles in the pews but we still brought ours, although many, many people did not bring their own. The church we are in now doesn’t have Bibles in the pews, although they do have some in the back on a table for anyone who needs one, and almost everyone brings their own. My husband is a preacher’s son and always, always, always brought a Bible to church and for him it is like putting a watch on is to some people – he doesn’t feel completely dressed for church without his Bible.
I don’t bring my Bible with me. My church hands out a sheet each week which has the collect, the two readings, the gospel for the day, as well as the post communion prayer. I believe this is quite common in the CofE nowadays.
I do make sure to have a pen with me so I can scribble any notes on the back of the sheet.
I’m quite the opposite! I’m too visual, so if I start reading, I end up reading on in the text and forget to listen to the sermon! Plus, reading during worship puts me in the wrong state of mind: I’m a graduate student, so I pretty much read for a living. I come out of “me and God time” mode and end up in “Working” mode.
We are ELCA Lutherans. We don’t carry our bibles with us to church as everything we need is printed for the week for our use. We have “pew”bibles, but they are kept on a bookshelf in the back of the sanctuary (don’t know that i have ever seen anybody grab one). During morning coffee study on Sunday, nobody brings there bible with them either. Pastor reads out loud then there is discussion.
I use my bible a lot at home for reading and it is starting to get quite marked up with my notes. Writing in my bible really, really bothered my catholic mother when I was growing up.
The differences between denominiations always surprises me for some reason.
I like Dawns response and it pretty much sums up my feelings.
As we all head out the door Walter yells out “Got your Swords?” We just purchased a good bible for our 5 year old and he gets very upset if he forgets to take it to church.
I am in the minority too. I do not take mine basically because I find the passage and then lose track of the sermon because I get to reading (one of the things i love to do!) I find it more conduesive to me listening and taking notes and then transferring them (as needed) into my Bible later and remembering more that way. It works for me. The writing in my Bibles drives my Grandma crazy too!
I used to be in the habit of bringing my own Bible every week, but have gotten out of the habit in the past 5 years or so. Our church meets in a multi-purpose room that has to be gym-ready during the week, so we don’t have pews or pew Bibles, but the Scripture for the sermon is always printed in the bulletin and is projected onto the wall.
I prefer to have my Bible with me so that (1) the kids see that these words come from the Bible and are set apart from the hymns and songs that also get projected and (2) I can look up other parts of scripture that aren’t part of the sermon text or call to worship.
But, with the fact that I don’t “have” to have my Bible because I know the relevant passages will be available for me, and because at least once a month I’m working the nursery or kid’s time and won’t have time to use my Bible, and because of the “non-schlepping” mother-of-many factor mentioned above, I fall into the “often/sometimes bring my Bible but not always” category.