The material is so solid that it helps the committed worshiper predicate what's going to come on Sunday morning. What I mean is that they have done their homework on the lectionary passage so thoroughly they can confirm and confront the sermon.

One Bible Workbench group has met weekly for two years; the second group for one year. I've watched the change in the twenty or so members of these two groups. Their confidence with theological thinking has skyrocketed.

We playfully argue theological points, stimulated by original perspectives and persuasive rebuttals. The discussions start during the Bible Workbench session. They pick up after the Sunday worship service and continue well into the next week. These conversations blur the division between clergy and laity and we see each other with renewed respect. We are not so much teacher and learner, but fellow explorers.

- Episcopal Priest