BARABOO — Over the weekend of February 19 to 20, St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo is hosting the Great Adventure Bible Timeline (GABT). Thomas Smith, the presenter for the weekend, tells people he “took the scenic route” to the Catholic Church, as he was raised Mormon and became a Protestant minister prior to being received into the Church.
Throughout this weekend, he will break open the story of Sacred Scripture with insight gained from his experience converting to the Catholic faith and directing the Catholic Biblical School in Denver. The presentation for adults and high school students begins Friday evening and continues throughout the day on Saturday.
As Smith explained in his YouTube video to the people of St. Joseph Parish, “The problem for us as Catholics isn’t that we don’t want to learn the Bible. The problem is how to know the Bible. Most of us get very frustrated when we try to read the Bible cover to cover . . . most of us hit a huge road block called Leviticus.”
In order to solve this problem, he suggests that nothing compares to the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, a Catholic Bible study set of resources developed by Jeff Cavins. As a trained facilitator of the timeline, Smith is excited to come and share the knowledge and help all interested Catholics regain the story we may have lost by breaking open the 14 narrative books of the Bible.
After completing the study of these books and being a part of the GABT, Smith assures that “you’re going to find that your faith is strengthened. It’s going to help you tell the story of God’s plan of salvation to your family. You’re going to find that the readings of the Mass come alive in a whole new way.”
In addition to serving as the February session of the St. Joseph Parish Growing In Faith Together (GIFT) Program, this presentation of the Great Adventure Bible Timeline in Baraboo is open to anyone who is interested from around the Diocese of Madison and beyond. To register for the timeline or obtain more information, visit www.stjosephbaraboo.org and click on the Bible Timeline Banner. Registration is also accepted at the door.
This presentation is also part of the sequence that kicks off the Seat of Wisdom Diocese Institute (SOWDI) coursework for beginner certification for catechists, Catholic school teachers, and others who work in religious education settings. For more information about how to begin this certification process or register for this coursework, visit the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis page on the diocesan Web site or use the link off of the homepage (www.madisondiocese.org).
For the younger members of the family, in grades one to eight, there are opportunities for them to also come and learn about our story of salvation with their peers during the Saturday session. Youth in grades one to five will participate in a winter vacation Bible school with the help of the VeggieTales cast. Middle school youth will learn the story with the help of T3: The Teen Timeline and young adults who will present the material. Registration for any of those younger members of the family can also be found on the St. Joseph Parish Web site.