Beginning Aug. 22, a group of people will gather at First Presbyterian Church to better understand the word of God.

The Explorers Bible Study has been in Vicksburg for 35 years, coordinator Rosalye Baldwin said.

“Explorer’s Bible Study is like Community Bible study and Bible study fellowship, which are all organizations that have strictly Bible studies,” she said. “Explorers is out of Dixon, Tennessee, and they have groups all over the United States and on the Internet.”

Baldwin has been a participant for 20 years.

“We take a book or several books of the Bible each year,” she said. “We’re doing the Gospel of John this year, and the workbooks (for the program) come from Bible Explorer.”

The group meets every Wednesday for 30 weeks during the school year, and studies a chapter a week.

“You have five lessons each week, and then we come together the next week and have a small groups and answer questions and discuss the questions,” Baldwin said. “This was one of the beauties to me when I came in, is that each person is encouraged to use only the Bible.”

And while the group is interracial and interdenominational, religion or one’s faith’s interpretation of a passage is not discussed, she said. “We don’t ask what my church says about it; it is strictly God’s word,” she added.

The Bible, she said, is the only text used in the program, and provides the answers to the questions in the workbook.

Each meeting starts with a group gathering consisting of a hymn and a devotional and then breaks up into five small groups to discuss the previous week’s homework questions. After the questions are discussed, the smaller groups gather for a video lesson by Marni McKenzie of Batesville.

At the first meeting Aug. 22, Baldwin said, “ We will have an introduction to the Gospel of John, and get books we always open with a coffee and get set up and then we’ll have introduction and they will have their books and begin the first chapter that week. We all come together, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

She said presently, about 87 people are expected to attend the first session, “But people can come in at any time during the year, and we encourage our members to invite others. This is really a great group.”

The Explorers Bible Study meet from 9:30 to 11:15 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 1501 Cherry St. The cost of the course is $60, and scholarships are available as needed. To register for the course or for more information, call Baldwin at 601-638-3994 or Jennifer Sluis at 601-630-7383.