Matthew, Mark, Luke or John? Who’s your quarterback? Inventive faith-sharing ‘Bible Draft’ comes to parishes

Imagine the Bible like this: The four Gospel evangelists are the quarterbacks. The Wisdom books are the coaches, and the poetic and praiseful Book of Psalms is the half-time performer.

That is how Tim Daub, a 43-year-old parishioner of St. Louis in Clarksville, envisioned the “Bible Draft,” an inventive and interactive faith-sharing experience that is catching on in parish communities in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Modeled after fantasy football drafts that draw sports fans every season, the Bible Draft is a way to engage the faithful in contemplation, fellowship and a friendly spirit of competition. Here’s how it works: People join a league and take turns picking – or drafting – sections of the Bible to read, splitting up the entire 73-book canon and writing and sharing personal reflections on what they’ve read.

Daub came up with the idea nearly a decade ago and guided Our Lady of Victory in Arbutus this fall with its first-ever draft. As word spreads, other parishes are considering forming their own leagues.

“No matter if you are a great theologian or not, folks are connecting with Scripture,” said Daub, a former professional baseball umpire who now works for the federal government.

While a student at Virginia Tech battling with depression, Daub turned to the Bible and read the Word as if it was written directly to him, reflecting on Paul’s letters to Timothy and other passages. And, as it does, the Bible spoke to Daub. Over time, the turmoil he felt eased and, with the faithful example of the late Monsignor Joseph L. Luca and the belief Monsignor Luca had in Daub, “my heart came back alive.”

“I grew up in a Catholic family, and at a certain point in college, I had my own ‘Come to Jesus’ moment,” Daub said. “Instead of my faith being something I was taught, it became something I choose to believe and live for myself.”

He turned to the Bible once again while sharing a house with four Christian men who were looking to make a commitment for Lent. They divided the Bible into sections and drafted the books they would read in the 46 calendar days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. As a group, they read every page.

In the years since then, Daub has brought the draft to his church and launched a website, BibleDraft.com. He even proposed to his now-wife, Nora, at one of the “closing ceremonies.”

At Our Lady of Victory, Father Bill Keown recently invited parishioners to the draft. The pastor’s message: “It is one more way we can grow in friendship and closeness to our Lord through sacred Scripture.” Plus, he told them, no real sports knowledge is required.

The draft followed Daub’s playbook. Over pizza and beer, it kicked off in mid-September with about 15 men and 10 women in the parish hall. They will finish before the start of Advent.

Father Keown said his hope is for participants to find small and big takeaways – “perhaps a line or a scene that evokes an emotion or memory” – to further connect them to Christ.

He recruited Sean Haler as a co-commissioner.

Haler, a 42-year-old computer programmer, is active in the parish along with his wife, Alicia, and their 12-year-old daughter, Gianna. The draft is a way for the Halers to get to know the families they see weekly Masses a little better and they find more opportunities to pray together and support one another.

He drafted the Second Book of Maccabees, parts of Hebrews and Philemon. St. Luke is his quarterback.

“I picked the quarterback last,” Haler said. “It’s hard to go wrong with any Gospel you get.”

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