Every Tuesday, a group of women and children gathers for lunch at Emmett Street Community Church in Christchurch. Afterwards, they split into smaller groups—someone takes the little ones to play, while others head to a quieter space away from the noise. Around the building, small circles of women pull their chairs close, Bibles open.
Emmett Street sits within the wider Shirley community, in a part of Christchurch often described as rough around the edges and is home to people from diverse backgrounds, many of whom are pushed to the margins of society.
The ladies’ Bible study reflects that diversity. “It’s a mix of people,” says Dannielle Bell, a deacon at Emmett Street. “Probably half of the ladies have been coming to the church for a while, while the other half are a mixture of new believers, and women from the wider community who are interested in faith and seeking.”
Together they pray, read a passage, and talk about what it means.
“We’ve been reading through James this term and talking about where we put our hope and trust—it has been really challenging and encouraging to see women of all different backgrounds connect with what James is saying... there have been some real lightbulb moments as we read together... particularly how we can be tempted away from the truth and how that gives birth to sin and death. Some of our group reflected that they’ve seen that in their lives before. And then we’ve been encouraged together that when we come back to the truth that is where true healing and restoration is.”
Danielle says the study is an organic process. “The groups will work through some questions prepped by a leader, or some kind of resource, but we’re there to dig into the passage together. Sometimes we go off on some rabbit trails or spend a longer time in certain places because that’s what people are needing.”
The team read David Helm’s One-To-One Bible Reading: A Simple Guide for Every Christian as a starting point, gaining helpful tools to unpack God’s Word together. “I’ve found that having the conviction that the Bible is valuable for people has been the most helpful tool, the Bible is something that in my own life I’ve really valued and seen the benefit of studying God’s Word and I’m excited to share that with people.”
The greatest encouragement, says Dannielle, has been seeing God at work. “As I read with a lot of women with backgrounds that are very different than mine, I see how God is transforming their hearts and giving them the strength to work through really difficult circumstances in life. I’m encouraged about how God works in people’s lives and transforms them.”
