Pulling Back the Curtain

A Short Word, August 2026
To people in the pews, a sermon can feel like magic: How did he get that from this text? But it doesn’t have to. North Park Presbyterian Church in San Diego wanted to give its congregation “shared vocabulary and shared tools to look at Scripture,” says Women’s Bible Study Leader Aimee Suffridge. The men’s and women’s ministries worked together to offer First Principles and First Principles (Women). They didn’t know how many would be interested but were happily surprised when more than half of the adults signed up. “It was really cool that no matter where I was I could talk to people about First Principles,” Aimee says.

Participants grew in their ability to read and understand Scripture. One said that the training “is pulling back the curtain of what teachers do so that it doesn’t feel like magic.” Another said, “I’ve never engaged with Scripture this much before.” Aimee says, “That’s a huge win. To give people the opportunity to engage with Scripture on this level and then to give them tools to do it: that’s a gift forever.”

Please pray for continued fruit at North Park Presbyterian Church—and at the many other churches around the world using Online Courses to help people engage Scripture more deeply.

In Christ,
Guyton Garland
Manager of Online Resources
Charles Simeon Trust