WELS: [Welstech] Online Bible Study

[Timothy Wagner]

Greetings!
Our congregation, like most (all?) congregations, struggles to get people to attend midweek Bible studies. One factor is that our people are geographically spread over a pretty large distance, and, combined with the travel times of suburban Chicago, many simply cannot commit to traveling 45 minutes or more to drive one way to church for an hour Bible study. And yet, in general, our people have welcomed the concept of more Bible study opportunities.So, I am trying to introduce Bible studies in some different formats. In addition to our regular Sunday bible study, I would like to begin an online Bible study. For this study, I would likely distribute lessons and questions via e-mail or our website and then invite the participants to discuss their answers online in some way.
I'd also like to begin a "Book Club" style Bible Study. I'd like to begin with Paustian's "Prepared to Answer" books. In the future, this might include WELS books like the People's Bible Teachings books or "mainstream" books like Rick Warren or Max Lucado stuff. For the book study, I'd like to offer options for face-to-face discussions (either at church or in member homes) or online discussions.
 
My goal is to try to involve as many people as possible by offering as many different formats and settings as possible. 
I guess all my rambling comes down to these few questions:
--Do any of you have experience with using an online Bible study format? What tips or suggestions do you have for this? (We use Finalweb for our website)--What experience to you have with a "Book Club" format? What tips or suggestions do you have for this? How often should the group meet (weekly, bi-weekly, just at the end of the book...)? How structured should the discussions be (discussion guides for leaders? studyguides for members?)?--Do you have or know of any resources for a discussion/bible study based on Paustian's books?Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts and suggestions.
In Him,Pastor Tim Wagner
Abiding Peace Lutheran Church, Elgin, IL
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