Mary Willis teaching her weekly Bible study for women.
Walk into the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church of Sugar Land on Wednesday mornings at 9:30 AM, and you will likely find a couple of hundred women laughing. But the woman at the front of the room prompting the laughter is not a comedian; she’s one of the most popular Bible study teachers in Fort Bend County.
Mary Willis starts every session of her weekly Bible study called “Merry Ministries” with a joke. Most have some biblical or religious reference. Like most jokes, some are truly funny and others just prompt a moan or gratuitous chuckle from her captive audience. But Mary doesn’t care, she loves to tell a good story and the jokes help show her audience right from the start that she doesn’t take herself too seriously.
However, once the giggles subside, her tone changes, and she bows her head in prayer as she thanks God for bringing this room full of women together once again to explore God’s word. With that, she opens her Bible and continues the journey she began twenty years ago---leading women through the bible ---one word at a time.
“I started this study in 1990 when I realized my Baptist church didn’t have a morning bible study just for women,” says Mary. In the beginning, the group was made up of about a dozen ladies, mostly like herself at the time with young children. Today, Mary’s three children are in their 20’s and 30’s, and she even has a 2-year-old granddaughter. Over the last two decades, her bible study has grown as well. Currently, nearly 400 women of all denominations, who range in age from 20 to 92, are signed up to attend the weekly classes that run from September to May. This semester, she even added a second class on Tuesday evenings to accommodate women who aren’t able to meet on Wednesday mornings.
As Mary watches the sanctuary fill each week, she never stops marveling that so many women take time out of their busy schedules to come hear her teach. “I just thought this would be a little Bible study at the church,” she says modestly. “Years pass by, the world becomes more complex and life becomes more stressful, but the Bible’s relevance in our lives is unchanged. Times have changed, but people haven’t. We have the same basic struggles that we’ve had since Genesis. There are so many lessons to be learned from the scriptures.”
Each week, Mary continues her sequential page by page journey through the Bible covering two to three chapters each lesson. At this rate, it takes her about eight years to get through the entire tome. She spends countless hours preparing for each lesson, pouring over reference materials, as well as reading both the Greek and Hebrew translations of the scriptures. Mary won’t deny that it’s a lot of work, but she’s committed to getting it right. “When you teach the word of God, you have an awesome responsibility.” she says. And, she finds her students aren’t the only ones who benefit. “Even though I’ve read and studied many of these scriptures dozens and dozens of times, I always learn something new - something I can’t wait to share with everyone,” she says.
While helping women gain a greater understanding of the Bible is a goal of Merry Ministries, it’s not the only focus. Providing fellowship and prayer support is just as important. Lou Ann Davis, who has been one of Mary’s faithful students for the past 18 years, says, “No group mobilizes faster than the women in Merry Ministries when there is someone in need. “She and her husband were on the receiving end of this outpouring of support a few years ago when they endured the loss of their parents. Her eyes tear up as she remembers the kindness. “There was always someone bringing a meal, or calling on the phone to check in. It was remarkable.”
To help ensure that every woman feels connected to the group, each is invited to join one of the small support groups that come together for prayer and fellowship immediately following Mary’s lesson. In this setting, women have the chance to share what is going on in their lives and to make individual prayer requests. Laura Sanislow recently moved to Sugar Land from Connecticut, began attending Merry Ministries and joined a small group at the suggestion of a neighbor. She says the support and encouragement she’s received over the last nine months has made the transition much easier for her entire family. “Being part of Merry Ministries has helped take away that layer of the anxiety and worry that you experience when you pick up your life and move to a new place. Being able to talk to Mary and the ladies in my small group helped me realize that everything was going to be okay. They truly, truly care,” she says.
As Mary wraps up yet another year of teaching in a few weeks and gears up to start another semester in September 2010, she prepares to teach one of the most challenging books of the Bible, Revelation. If everything goes as planned, she will complete her second full journey through the Bible in December of this year. When asked what her plans will be after that, she says enthusiastically that she will open to the first page of Genesis once again. With no plans to quit, Mary says with a smile, “I will keep teaching as long as I feel He wants me to teach.”
