The History of Bible Book Club
At my church they have small groups and a couple of people I knew, a couple of people who work with me at Family First said, will you do a book of the Bible? I just want to study a book of the Bible. I’m like, yes, that’s the way to do it. Let’s do it. I can do that.
These were all young, professional women who were in this Bible study. And I said, okay, if we’re going to do a book of the Bible in 12 weeks, that means we’ve got to do with Genesis five chapters a week. That means you have to come having read those five chapters, because I’m not going to have time in an hour to read them to you.
The first year we did this, I realized they’re not reading and therefore they would come and I would try to teach on five chapters and they would glaze over. It was too much. So I decided that I would read it to them on Marco Polo (App) every morning at 7 a.m. They didn’t have to listen to it live. They could listen when they were doing laundry.
They could listen on their way to work. They could listen whenever they want, but a lot of them would get on live. And so every morning, five days a week, 7:00 a.m., I would read one chapter of the Bible. And then every Tuesday I would teach on those five chapters. Well, after two years of doing this, Heather and Haley said, this really is a podcast.
You could do a podcast of this. And at the time, because I was teaching five chapters, I wasn’t going that deep. I was like, okay. I said, Well, finally I just said, All right, if you all organize it, I’ll do it. We’ll just start in Genesis again. And I’d already done Genesis and Exodus with them. So it was like, okay, it’d just be redoing.
Well, I didn’t realize when you do a podcast, you go a lot deeper. It was one or two chapters then. But once you start, it’s kind of hard to stop.
About Bible Book Club
Bible Book Club is a weekly, chapter-by-chapter Bible podcast. Join Heather Rubio and Susan Merrill as they read and explore every word of the Bible for you. From Genesis on, each season dives into a different book, offering insights and discussions on the only book that can change your life forever. A new episode drops every Monday.
Meet the Team
Susan Merrill, Bible Book Club Co-host
If you had to describe her in one word, Susan’s descriptor: teacher. Susan’s lifelong and constant love of learning is where the podcast idea and book club originated. Along with her love of learning, Susan is also a wife to husband Mark, mother of 5 now-grown children, full-time marketing and program officer at Family First, and author. Even though an open skeptic of the Enneagram test, (she’s a 7 in denial), she loves to learn the ins and outs of everyone she meets (personality tests are her favorite obsession). And if you are to know Susan, you have to know her favorite word: ponder. Give her any moment of downtime and Susan will use it to ponder (given it is NOT Monday night–The Voice, anyone?)
Heather Rubio, Bible Book Club Co-host
Wife, mother of 2 teenage kids, professional advertising & marketing executive, avid reader, lifelong learner, and lover of Jesus, Heather makes up ⅓ of the Bible Book Club crew. Heather’s enneagram?: 1. (She might be a recovering perfectionist.) And for those of you familiar with the DISC test–Heather’s DISC profile is a straight-up D. Don’t ask her if she likes your outfit if you don’t want to know the truth! When not podcasting, Heather fills her days enjoying work, church, date nights with her husband Chris, family time, boating in sunny Tampa all while juggling at least one (more like 5) DIY house projects.
Hayley Mowatt, Bible Book Club Producer
The millennial of the group, Hayley owns the behind-the-scenes of the Bible Book Club operation. Being the detailed one of the trio, Hayley uses her sass and scheduling skills to ensure that the podcast recordings actually occur. Loyal as they come, Hayley is a 6 on the Enneagram test to a T. When not writing for the book club, Hayley works with Susan at Family First as a project strategist and spends downtime surrounded by family, friends, and her new husband.
