Aunt Bee, Opie, and Jesus Too
New Bible study groups use themes from 'The Andy Griffith Show' to explore scripture.
BY: Hillary Wicai
Her church was advertising a Wednesday morning Bible study, but, as usual, Cheri Guenzel had her doubts about signing up. "I'd never taken Bible study before," she said.
But Guenzel, 53, was willing to try the sessions at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in St. Louis, Mo. The study group watches episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" and uses themes from the show to launch into biblical discussion.
"I enjoy the show, and I enjoy seeing how it ties into the Bible," Guenzel said. "Plus, it's not intimidating."
The Rev. Scott Lohse, the senior pastor at Mt. Zion, got the idea from the Internet a year ago, and this is his second round of Andy Griffith-based classes.
In fact, Bible study classes all over the country, made up of people of all ages, are now listening to the familiar whistle as they watch the "Griffith" father and son head down a country road with fishing poles in the show's opening credits.
Software engineer Joey Fann, 33, of Huntsville, Ala., came up with the idea two and a half years ago. Fann, a longtime Andy Griffith fan, wrote the Bible study curriculum for his own church, Twickenham Church of Christ, then put it on a website he created (BarneyFife.com) for others to use. The site currently gets 200-300 hits a day. Fann knows of at least 100 churches in 23 states that are currently running some form of his class.
Fann says "The Andy Griffith Show" seems an obvious choice for such a format, because Griffith and the show's writers made sure each episode had a moral lesson. George Lindsay, who played Goober in the series, told Fann it made sense that the show was being used for Bible study. "One of the incredible things about every single episode is that Andy insisted each show have a moral point, something good, lofty, and moral," Lindsay said.
But Guenzel, 53, was willing to try the sessions at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in St. Louis, Mo. The study group watches episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" and uses themes from the show to launch into biblical discussion.
"I enjoy the show, and I enjoy seeing how it ties into the Bible," Guenzel said. "Plus, it's not intimidating."
The Rev. Scott Lohse, the senior pastor at Mt. Zion, got the idea from the Internet a year ago, and this is his second round of Andy Griffith-based classes.
In fact, Bible study classes all over the country, made up of people of all ages, are now listening to the familiar whistle as they watch the "Griffith" father and son head down a country road with fishing poles in the show's opening credits.
Software engineer Joey Fann, 33, of Huntsville, Ala., came up with the idea two and a half years ago. Fann, a longtime Andy Griffith fan, wrote the Bible study curriculum for his own church, Twickenham Church of Christ, then put it on a website he created (BarneyFife.com) for others to use. The site currently gets 200-300 hits a day. Fann knows of at least 100 churches in 23 states that are currently running some form of his class.
Fann says "The Andy Griffith Show" seems an obvious choice for such a format, because Griffith and the show's writers made sure each episode had a moral lesson. George Lindsay, who played Goober in the series, told Fann it made sense that the show was being used for Bible study. "One of the incredible things about every single episode is that Andy insisted each show have a moral point, something good, lofty, and moral," Lindsay said.
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