About the Four-Year plan
The example of a possible four year plan is a practical application of the principles developed in the paper The Teaching Program of the Local Church in an age of Biblical illiteracy. This page explains the thinking behind the four year plan. This is followed by a more detailed examination of how a series of messages could be developed for one particular book of the Bible - in this case, Paul's letter to the Romans.
The principle underlying all of this is to let the message of the Bible determine the content of the teaching program, both at a macro and a micro level. The overall four-year plan is designed to cover the whole Biblical story in a balanced way. In developing the outline teaching plan for Romans we have worked from a detailed breakdown of the book, allowing the natural structure of Paul's argument to determine the passages chosen for individual messages. We believe that this 'top down' approach - from Bible to book to individual message - is the best way to make sure that the teaching program reflects the message of the Bible.
A Possible Four Year Plan
The article 'An example of a possible four year plan' gives an overview of a suggested four-year plan. This is just a worked example of how such a plan can be put together; it is not a suggestion of what should be done in any particular context.
Timing
The plan is based on three twelve week terms and a six-week summer series. This covers 42 weeks, or something slightly over 80% of the year.
This allows flexibility to accommodate special seasons (Christmas, Easter etc) and other services such as student welcoming service and Mothers' day.
The twelve-week terms should not be seen as constraining. The program is intended to be flexible, and if a particular series requires more or less time than is allowed by a twelve week term, it should be possible to accommodate this.
Content
Clearly it is not possible to teach through every book of the Bible in four years. An attempt has been made to give balanced time to teaching the Old Testament and the New Testament. In addition, this plan is also a serious attempt to balance the teaching of different Biblical genres. The principles behind this approach are described in the article 'The teaching program of the local church in an age of Biblical illiteracy.'
We have also tried to balance the teaching between the morning and evening services so that those who only attend one service will still receive a cross-section of Bible teaching.
Priority has been given to teaching whole books of the Bible. This is done through extended series (though no series is longer than two terms) and short overviews of one or two weeks. Teaching whole books best reflects the way in which the Bible was inspired and transmitted to us.
Gospels & Acts - 25% of the suggested program
It is important for any Church to spend regular time studying the Gospels, as a record of the life of Jesus Christ. One reason for this is that they are the heart and foundation of the Christian message. Another is the particular appeal and relevance of Christ in our postmodern setting. Graham Johnston says, 'Since postmodernity cherishes a fondness for Christ, preachers would do well to explore the richness of the Gospel accounts, giving ample study to the life of Christ on a regular basis.'[1] This program has extended series on John and on one synoptic Gospel (we have chosen Luke in this case) as well as two shorter summer series of Gospel extracts. In this way someone who attends both services will be exposed to Gospel material at least once every twelve months, and someone who only attends either in the morning or the evening will hear something from the Gospels every two years.
Epistles - 25% of the suggested program
It is important to study some epistles in significant detail. (We have included Romans in the sample program) For the rest, it is important to cover both Pauline and non-Pauline Epistles. We have also included a brief overview of Revelation.
There is a six week series of 'Epistles in 30 minutes' These are intended to give an overview of the message of one Epistle per week, thus providing a variety of approaches to studying the books of the Bible.
Pentateuch - 16% of the suggested program
The message of Genesis is essential to understanding the whole story of the Bible, so we have included a two term series on Genesis. We have also included a series on Exodus and then a short series on the other books of the Pentateuch. The suggestion here is that two weeks are given over to each of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The first week in each case gives an overview of the story of the book while the second looks at how the law is taught in the book. An overview of this sort would serve to whet the appetites of people for books that are rarely read, and even more rarely understood.
Old Testament History - 10.5% of the suggested program
Under this section we have included an extended series on pre-exile history (Chronicles) and a short section of post-exilic material (Esther). Other books could easily be substituted for these, but it is important to give a balance across the history of Israel.
Old Testament Wisdom literature - 10.5% of the suggested program
We have included a twelve-week series of Psalms. Given the theological, historical and personal importance of the Psalms it would seem important to include them at some point in any four year plan. It would also be possible to have short series or even individual messages on Psalms at points where the program allowed. We have also included Job and Ecclesiastes, though other wisdom literature could be substituted for these.
Old Testament Prophecy - 9% of the suggested program
We have included a series on Isaiah as a major prophet and a short series on Minor Prophets. Once again other prophetic material could be substituted here.
Bible Overview - 4% of the suggested program
It would be good to have an overview series as a regular event. This could be based on a book (e.g. Vaughan Roberts' 'God's Big Picture') or on an overview of Biblical theology.
For an example of how this planning approach, going from Bible to book to individual message, can be applied, see our sample breakdown of Paul's letter to the Romans.
[1] Johnston, Graham, 'Preaching to a Postmodern World,' IVP 2001, p. 101