When alumna Felicity Lorenz graduated, she knew she wanted to pursue ministry, but she did not know in what capacity she, as a young woman, should pursue it. A month later, when she and her friends went to stay at a cabin on Big Bear Mountain, it came to her. Though the beauty of the mountains surrounded her with its peaceful eloquence, she could not sleep. Concern plagued her mind, concern for her generation and their apathy towards studying the Bible. Her concern drove her to create a Bible study series specifically targeting millennials.
engaging peers in reading
“Millennials are not reading their Bibles every day, I would be at Biola and no one was reading their Bibles. And that’s not a reflection of Biola, it’s our age where we’re so busy,” Lorenz said. “Cultivating that relationship with the Lord is so important, and so often times, we only give God like five minutes a day.”
Lorenz created Deep Roots Bible Studies as a way to engage her peers in reading the Bible. Though she started it on her own entrepreneurial whim, she now has a team of four Biola student interns, a large following on social media and a wide range of customers.
The Bible studies, which target both men and women, cover an array of topics in different booklets, such as the book of Acts and a Proverbs 31 woman. The booklets also contain a more minimalistic approach in their design.
“They also are designed more for millennial aesthetic because a lot of Bible studies are more for the older generation, so they’ve got like flowers and are very old fashioned rustic chic, and ours is more life minimalist,” Lorenz said.
The devotionals take around 15 to 20 minutes to complete each day, making it doable for the fast-paced lives young adults lead. Lorenz has also launched a podcast and a blog along with the Bible studies in order to discuss difficult topics. She hopes to combat legalism and give young adults a space to question and doubt.
Lorenz used her skills from writing teen Bible studies for a church and her history in graphic design to create an appealing Bible study for the 21st century young adult.
“I enjoyed writing the [teen] Bible study so much and seeing teenagers get into God’s Word everyday and they were enjoying it,” Lorenz said. “So I was like, ‘Why don’t I just take my concern that millennials aren’t reading their Bibles every day with the passion that I have for writing Bible studies and bridge the two?’”
She wrote her first curriculum on the Proverbs 31 woman, hoping to dismantle the “homemaker” mandate that our culture has placed on the passage. In the booklet, she presents the woman as a hard working business woman who is capable of handling her own affairs. She hoped to portray the message that women have the choice to have a career or to stay at home.
“I just felt so concerned how every time I would hear Proverbs 31 taught at church or in books or anything, it was always just very like homemaking kind of perspective, and you know, the good Christian girl is meek and mild,” Lorenz said. “I really want women to feel more empowered, that they have options.”
Gender inequality
Her most recent booklet focuses on the book of Acts. Having studied it for a year, she is excited to present it to the public and move on to her next project. Running this business mostly on her own right after college has given her quite a challenge, but she happily accomplished it, although she does admit taking a few more business classes in college could have helped.
Lorenz did not expect to write Bible studies when she graduated from Biola over a year ago. In fact, she did not even expect to major in communications. Since she held a talent for graphic design at a young age, everyone expected her to study it, but she found a love for communication when she ended up in the communication group during Biola Bound. After presenting a powerpoint on majoring in communications, she got her parents on board and pursued her passion at Biola. Growing up, and still to this day, she dreams of becoming a Christian speaker, and these Bible studies may play an important role in getting there.
However, she has experienced some opposition in her ministry as a young woman. Often, she feels people do not respect her because of her gender or her age. With this in mind, she hopes to attend Talbot School of Theology to get a master’s in Bible exposition, hoping this will allow her to thrive as a female in ministry.
“But people have this thing of like, ‘How are you qualified to write Bible studies?’ and it’s because I’m 22, and I’m a female. I’m like, ‘Well, if I were 22 and male, you would not be asking this question,’ and so having a Talbot Master of Arts would really help better qualify me,” Lorenz said.
