Director Cackie Upchurch said Little Rock Scripture Study has experienced several firsts lately, helping the program become more widely known around the world.
Upchurch spent most of March working in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia to promote Bible study among the laity and meet with facilitators and participants.
“It was a wonderful experience,” Upchurch said.
Little Rock Scripture Study partners outside Brisbane, Australia, hosted their first Bible Institute, a weekend conference for leaders, participants and anyone interested in the Bible.
Upchurch was invited to be the main speaker for the event March 17-19. She spoke to about 80 people on “The Transforming Power of God’s Word.” The event was modeled after the LRSS Bible Institute held each summer since 1990 in Little Rock.
About eight years ago LRSS formed a partnership with Our Lady of the Way Parish in Petrie, Australia, to distribute LRSS materials and offer leadership training. They also work in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tasmania.
In 2004 ministry coordinator Jan Health and a co-worker Kathy Robbie came to the Bible Institute in Little Rock to see how it was organized.
Upchurch traveled to Australia and New Zealand in 2000 to lead workshops for those interested in Bible study but was ready to return to visit other areas of Australia.
She said Australians could also relate to her story of how the Bible was once an unused book in everyone’s home. “It went from being off limits holding our sacred family documents to us now holding it and writing in it. We are enshrining it in our hearts and where we live,” she said.
She said most of the Bible Institute participants had used LRSS materials and knew about her work as an author of many of the study guides and as a presenter on the videos.
“I was so impressed with their faith and their maturity,” Upchurch said. “It was so exciting to see the Scriptures alive. It made it feel fresh for me.”
Also while in Australia, Upchurch met with Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane and held information and enrichment workshops in parishes in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.
For the first time Upchurch was able to meet leaders in Singapore and Malaysia who have been using the program over the past few years. As in Australia, LRSS has a partnership with Gerardine Yee and Noah’s Ark bookstore in Singapore to distribute materials and offer workshops. Yee and her team also work in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
“The Catholics I met there are very devout,” she said of Singapore. “They are deeply religious. It is not a very secular society.”
In order to more fully use the materials in Malaysia, the Laity Bible Study Society in Kuala Lumpur was given permission to translate the studies of the Gospels, Exodus, Acts and Paul’s prison letters into Chinese. The translators also have taken the videos and write scripts in Chinese that leaders can use for their wrap-up lectures.
About 200 people who read and speak Chinese have already used the program. The participants are so committed to the program that on Mondays all of them wear orange T-shirts with LRSS’s name in Chinese and English, Upchurch said.
“There is a huge potential in that whole region,” she said. “There is great potential to grow.”
While in Singapore, Upchurch gave a presentation called “The Gospel Across Cultures” to about 500 people and met with 13 young women who were studying the book of Isaiah. In Malaysia, she met with archdiocesan leaders.
In both Singapore and Malaysia, Upchurch talked with people about the history of LRSS and how it developed to help lay people apply the Bible to their daily lives.
“These regions have active Catholic biblical apostolates and the Little Rock process is an effective complement to what they are already doing,” Upchurch said.
She said the LRSS staff has to stay aware that they are producing materials for a worldwide audience.
“From the very beginning we were a southern diocese and it was being used by big dioceses such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. It was already a challenge,” she said.
By word of mouth, the materials began to be used in Canada and Europe.
“I do think a lot more globally,” she said. “It helps us to be broader in scope and more sensitive to how a discussion might develop.”
As the LRSS director since 1998, she said she is still surprised when people approach her like she is a celebrity.
“It is not because of me,” she said. “I symbolize something that is a meaningful part of their lives as Catholic Christians. That is why they are excited. I do think, ’Wow, what a responsibility.’ Our entire staff is aware that we are stewards of this ministry. We have to guard what we have been given.
“The Spirit is still doing amazing things,” she said. “The Spirit is alive and well in the Church. It is a privileged experience to have.”
More than 3 million study guides in English and Spanish have been sold since LRSS was formed in 1974. It is currently used in more than 54 countries.
