Brief Participant Observation Report
The group attended was a religious group meeting. The group members were friendly, and they welcomed the visitors to participate in group activities. The group met to study the Bible and learn about the Bible’s lessons. The leader of the meeting reminded the group members of the group rules, which included respect for personal views regarding the day’s topic, equal participation and giving specific answers. The leader reiterated that the visitors should also participate in giving out their views and answering the questions in the Bible study guide. The members began the meeting by prayer. The total attendance was 12 members whereby two of the attendants were first time visitors.
The discussion was collaborative and members shared their views throughout the meeting. The leader of the meeting was effective in controlling the activities of the group, such as answering the questions and reading the scriptures from the Bible. In this context, the leader exemplified excellent leadership skills during the meeting. The leader also ensured that all members were offered equal opportunities in responding to various questions and issues. The leader also invited members to give personal views and case studies, which relates to the issues under discussion. This helped to improve comprehension and give the members an overview of a real life situation. The leader also ensured that the group members focused on the topic and issue under discussion. Whenever a member gave an opinion that did not align with the topic, the leader requested the member to focus on the topic. Furthermore, the leader was conscious of the time allocated. The leader balanced the time with the number of questions in the discussion guide. This ensured that each question was discussed thoroughly and conclusion made within the set time.
The group members displayed maturity and seriousness throughout the Bible study. The participants in different questions and issues gave specific answers that aligned with the issue under discussion. There was also respect of each person’s opinion regardless of the weight of the opinion towards the issue under discussion. The interesting observation about the group meeting was eagerness among group members to give their views of different issues and questions. This made the discussion active, welcoming, and interactive. The group members also encouraged the visitors to give their views regarding the issues that the group was discussing. This helped to make visitors to feel they are part of the group despite that it was their first time to visit the group.
Furthermore, in order to ensure that all members participated in the discussion, the leader stated that the reading of scriptures would follow a line pattern. In this case, each person was to read a single verse and the next person sitting adjacent reads the next verse. This way, all the members both silent and talkative would contribute towards the bible study discussion. Whenever a member remained silent for a long time, the members requested the leader to give the person an opportunity to give their views. The set time for the meeting was two hours and the meeting ended within the set time. The members had discussed all the questions and exhausted the important views from the group members. The members also agreed on the next meeting, venue, and leader. The leadership of the group meetings was rotational which helps to develop leadership skills among the group members. The leader ended the meeting with a prayer.