How One Bible Study Builds a Lasting Community

From the beginning, God designed people to live in community. Recognizing that “it is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18), He created a companion for Adam in Eve. And thousands of years later, in a mirror of that design, God established the Church—a family of believers united by Christ and called to encourage one another as we follow Him.

Yet in a world increasingly divided by distance, circumstances, and now even screens, community has become harder to find—making our need for it more apparent than ever.
The good news is that while the world often settles for community that comes and goes, God offers something more enduring. When believers gather together to study His Word, we build relationships that are rooted in more than just companionship—because we share roots in Christ.

That’s what Cindy Orange and Amy Clark have found to be true after several years of leading the Wake Forest Campus’ Women’s Wednesday Morning Bible Study. Their story began with a simple opportunity to step into leadership—and a willingness to trust God with what He would do next.

Cindy Orange used to work in women’s ministry at Crossroads—and for as long as she can remember, the ladies of the Wake Forest Campus had been meeting for a Wednesday Bible study. But like so many other ministries, those meetings ground to a halt in 2020 when the pandemic changed the way people gathered. After a long year of parking lot services and limited connection, Cindy felt a need to return to an in-person setting—specifically to study the Bible.

“There were still a lot of people not wanting to meet in person,” she recalls. “But Amy did.”

God had nurtured the same desire in Amy Clark throughout the pandemic. Though she was still able to meet with another long-running group online, there came a point where that kind of interaction was no longer enough.

“I came here honestly just to be in person and be with people that I loved, and I really had no expectation beyond that,” Amy says.

But God had other plans for her. Soon after joining the group, she started taking over the admin for Cindy—since, as Cindy jokes, “if somebody needed something communicated, they were not going to learn it from me.”

Cindy and Amy knew of each other before they started co-leading the group, but it was while working to bring the study back to life that they discovered each other’s giftings and formed a connection. Over the years, the group grew from a dozen women to around 25 regular attendees—some of whom have been showing up since 2021.

In many church settings, it can be easy to place the weight of our social lives on the groups we join, expecting them to become our primary source of friendship. But through leading the study, Cindy and Amy have discerned something deeper about Christian connection: it grows best when the focus remains on God, without placing pressure on the rest.

“I mean, we do like to talk,” Amy admits, “and we do set aside time for that. But the Lord really convicted us of like, hey, we are studying God’s Word while we’re here.”

That focus on the Word has been instrumental for the group—giving Him room to move in ways the women could never expect.

This past May, they wrapped up a study in Jeremiah—a choice the entire group, including its leaders, wasn't so sure about. At face value, the book is not the most encouraging read, focusing primarily on the judgment God was preparing to cast on Israel if they didn’t turn away from a lifestyle increasingly defined by idolatry, injustice, and disobedience.

But just recently, there came a moment when Amy realized the purpose of what God had asked them to do. “While we're doing the summer study, a lady in our group shared there was a part of Jeremiah where the Lord showed her that she had been living under a false narrative since she was, like, five years old,” she explains. “Then you listen to that, and you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, He is doing major work here.’”

“It really does floor me sometimes what people are willing to share,” Cindy says. “But what’s so beautiful is that when we express what God is showing ‘me’ and how ‘I’ need this—being able to share that weakness, that vulnerability, I feel that gives other people permission to do the same.”

Because of this vulnerability, Cindy and Amy have observed that the women aren’t just learning together—but allowing the lessons they bring home to shape the way they live.

God’s call to obedience has come in ways they might not have chosen themselves. Cindy recalls how one study member wrestled with caring for a difficult family member through an equally difficult health crisis. She also remembers times when God prompted one of the women to revisit a past career or open her home to families in need of refuge.

But even in those difficult, individual circumstances, Amy has noticed a shared heart of generosity always growing among the women. And when they have come together to carry out His work—in preparing the Crossroads building for IF:Gathering, providing meals for the Gateway retreat, and hosting Embrace Grace baby showers—their joy overflows.

“I really do think that’s part of why God made the Church the way He did,” Cindy asserts. “He designed us to need that kind of interaction with each other—to work toward things together and experience the joy that comes from it. It’s a blast.”

Proverbs 27:17 says “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”—and for Cindy and Amy, that truth hasn’t applied only to their relationship. Just as they’ve poured into their group, God has used the women to teach and shape them, too.

One study has made such an impact on Cindy and Amy that they’ve led the group through it twice: Experiencing God. And what they personally took away from that study changed the way they lead in general.

“I think when you actually make the connection and decide you want to not create the plans of God but to join Him in what He’s already doing—I mean, it is freedom,” Amy says. “That’s why when we decided to study Jeremiah and Deuteronomy”—the book they’ll dive into in the fall—“it was so cool. He taught us that ‘it is not about you, and you don’t have to do it. I’ve already set in my mind the plans I have. All you have to do is join Me.’”

Thanks to this mindset, they’ve been able to embrace some of the challenges that come with leadership, reminding themselves that God is the one who ultimately holds the women in their group—not them. But that doesn’t mean He allows them to be hands-off. As they’ve walked alongside the women, they’ve learned to release defensiveness and shame and choose understanding and humility instead.

That lesson came when a new member called them out after her phone calls to them went unreturned. Amy remembers being caught off guard—but when frustration started to brew, she realized the Lord was presenting her with a choice. Instead of becoming defensive, she reached out to get that woman’s perspective—which started off one of the most precious relationships she and Cindy have formed within the group.

“It’s been amazing to see how He works on us, especially because we’re trying to lead,” Cindy reflects. “It’s like parenting: you think you’re raising your kids, but then you realize He's saying, ‘No, I’ve got them. I’m raising you now.’ That’s kind of what it’s been like. Yes, we get to be used by the Lord, hopefully, but we’re also getting to see what He’s teaching us in the middle of all this.”

Over time, the relationships formed in the study have naturally extended beyond Wednesday mornings. Cindy notes that many of the women have formed friendships that flourish outside their time together. Amy recalls first learning about one such friendship when she came across a picture of the two of them on a camping trip.

As Christians, “doing life together” doesn’t happen only on Sunday mornings or in our weekly study spaces—it spills out naturally into our lives. But through Cindy and Amy’s experience, we can see that happens not simply because of mutual interests or a need to fill a relational void. It’s because Biblical community lays a strong foundation for friendship right out of the gate—since we’re all already anchored in Christ.

“If you are in fellowship with people who are genuinely seeking to understand God’s Word, He will use them to reveal things to you through other people,” Amy shares. “Of course, He uses the Bible and our own prayer and study, but He uses God’s people, too. And if you never surround yourself with other people, you’re going to miss some of the revelation He has for you.”

That’s the gift of Biblical community: He meets us through one another, using the experiences, wisdom, struggles, and faithfulness of His people to help us see Him more clearly.

What Cindy and Amy have experienced in the Women’s Wednesday Morning Bible Study isn’t limited to them alone. Whether they lead or not, or have been attending for years or not, these women have found a place to encounter God’s Word, be shaped by one another, and discover how He wants to work through their lives—all because they took the step of showing up.

You don’t have to start with dozens of people or lead a study yourself. You just have to be willing to take the same sort of step—and trust God with what He’ll do next.

Looking for a place where you can find a Biblical community of your own? Crossroads offers countless ways for adults to connect and grow together—from Spark Groups, to small groups, to classes and Bible studies.

Use the button below to explore all the ways you can get plugged in—and see where God might lead when you make room for other believers in your life.