The National Urbana Manuscript Dig-In is on the InterVarsity calendar for this week. It effects a handful of staff leaders now but ultimately will impact everyone who attends Urbana 06, December 27-31, 2006, in St. Louis, Missouri. The book of Ephesians has been chosen as the scripture focus for Urbana 06 and this week the focus begins to intensify.
Why Ephesians? Ephesus was the third largest city of the Roman Empire in the first century, and a gateway to the province of Asia (which made up a large section of what is today western Turkey). Paul invested almost three years of his ministry there. His letter to the Ephesians is one of the best scriptural guides on what it means to live as a Christian in a global city, says Urbana Program Manager Lucy Meade. Its theological focus includes issues such as power and reconciliation.
Every Urbana conference has had a scriptural theme that was studied in student-led small groups each morning, and then exposited by a speaker in a plenary session. Urbana 06 will be different, with Bible study done in groups ranging in size from several hundred up to one thousand. This will result in a better quality Bible study experience for all, and is made possible because of the venue change to St. Louis.
“The group that’s meeting this week will help select staff leaders for Urbana 06 from around the U.S. & Canada,” Lucy says. “They will lead them in ‘dig-ins’ into Ephesians (going through the book in manuscript from start to finish over the course of a few days) & then help in training these staff on the skills necessary to lead the delegates in mass manuscript study at Urbana 06.”
Manuscript Bible study is one of the hallmarks of InterVarsity’s ministry with students. “InterVarsity believes the power of a scripture study does not rest primarily in the skill of the teacher or the skill of the studiers, but in the intrinsic power of God speaking through the Bible,” writes Eastern Iowa Area Director Lindsay Olesberg, who is leading the Manuscript Dig-In. “Therefore studying the Bible is not primarily an intellectual activity, but a spiritual discipline which helps us encounter God.”
More than 20-thousand delegates are expected to attend Urbana 06, and will encounter God in exciting new ways, including through the study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
