Since beginning their club on Dec. 9, 2025, club leaders junior Tori Nielson and junior Miles Jorgenson, along with senior Sawyer Glanzer and senior Alivia Amundson, have grown their “welcoming community,” junior and member Holly Bouthilet said. The Bible Study Club is hosted in math teacher Pete Hamilton’s room, E207, every Tuesday morning and it offers a safe place to explore Christian faith while connecting with others.
According to Pew Research, about 63% of American teenagers ages 13-17 identify as Christian. This implies that Christianity is a popular religion and that a club focused on Christianity is beneficial for students who want to explore their faith. By creating the Bible Study Club, it makes members feel heard within the school community and allows them to be able to talk about their beliefs with other students they might otherwise not have connected with.
Bouthilet said she joined the club “to share [her] personal beliefs with others and this club is a great example to be able to do so with other students.”
According to the Freedom Forum, the Equal Access Act of 1984 protects students’ rights to create religious clubs in public schools. This allows students to express themselves freely and share what they believe in. Students being able to express how they feel can also help create relationships with others who have the same beliefs. The Bible Study Club offers this by creating a place where students can get to know each other and connect on a spiritual level.
Nielson said that being able to meet a bunch of new people and becoming close with people who share the same religious beliefs is a great part of this club.
People of Christian faith use bible study as an effective way to comprehend the story of their god. They do this by collaborating with others and using different perspectives to better their understanding of the Bible. In Bible Study Club, the leaders focus on ensuring everyone understands the scripture and feels heard. By allowing the members to share their interpretations, it creates a new perspective and engages their learning.
“I know that there are a lot of students in this school that are searching for purpose and worth in their life, and I think it’s really cool to have started a place people can come in and learn about the god that created them,” Nielson said.
Common characteristics that are usually associated with Christian believers include love for others and fruitfulness. Being fruitful means being productive, hardworking, and pursuing spiritual growth. The Bible Study Club does not accept people based on these characteristics, but rather based on one’s willingness to work toward growing and learning how to gain more of these traits.
“It’s a welcoming environment. They’re very supportive. They seem happy, pleasant, and they seem to have a sense of commitment,” Hamilton said.
Bible Study Club offers a comforting environment to learn about Christianity and to make new friends. This club provides different activities that engage students’ learning and help them understand different interpretations of the Bible. Doing so is important because studying a religion can help grow beliefs and also make one feel more spiritually connected. Bible Study Club can also make one feel more connected to the people around them, which is crucial but also difficult, especially within a larger school.
