The Bible & Theology Toward Christian Maturity

Lectio Celebrates Four Years of Free Online Bible Resources

The Word in the World

By Colleen Steelquist (steelquistc@spu.edu)

Since its beginnings in 2009, Seattle Pacific University’s Lectio online guided Bible readings have been listened to and read hundreds of thousands of times by listeners in more than 59 countries.

With commentary by 25 authors from SPU’s School of Theology, the free resource was created to counter biblical and theological illiteracy. “From Genesis to Revelation, Lectio has been a great adventure in exploring God’s word together,” says Celeste Cranston, director of the Center for Biblical and Theological Education.

Retired Pastor Dan Miller of Newport Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington, started using Lectio three years ago with his “Mighty Men” Bible study each Friday morning.

“Lectio has opened sections of the Bible which I would probably never have studied on my own.”

“It’s made us more aware of being Christ-centered men in every walk of our lives,” Miller says. “Because we read the notes and listen to the podcasts ahead of time, we get deeper into the Word and in our discussions.”

SPU Associate Professor of French Michelle Beauclair asks her intermediate-level students to translate Bible verses from each week’s Lectio as a way to connect their studies with the larger exploration of faith occurring across campus.

“It is a direct way to integrate faith and learning on a regular basis in the classroom, and students appear both eager and gratified to be able to read parts of the Bible in French,” Beauclair says.

She notes that some of her students hope to do Christian outreach in French-speaking countries. “Knowledge of the French language, culture, and la Bible are essential for such endeavors,” she says.

For 90-year-old Kneldrith “Kay” Kline of Wichita, Kansas, Lectio helped her make sense of Revelation’s “wild and lurid images.”

“I found through Dr. Wall’s comments and explanations a way to think through what previously seemed like a morass of strange and confusing statements,” she says. “Lectio has opened sections of the Bible which I would probably never have studied on my own. I am grateful for the ways these have broadened my understanding and enriched my life.”