More than an online class.

An online community, growing disciples in and through God’s Word.

Since 2010 the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan (CBSM) has launched 37 class-cohorts at different parish and community locations across Michigan, making a prayerful understanding of the Scriptures as a disciple of Jesus Christ possible for thousands. But, time and geography can still be limiting. Because of this, we offer an online virtual class-cohort called Inspired Discipleship to make the full CBSM experience accessible to  everyone who desires to know God better. From Michigan, to North America, to the world, we invite you,  wherever you are, whatever your schedule, to consider joining us in an online virtual class. 

How does a virtual class online work?
What's a typical lesson or week like?
What tech skills/resources will I need? 
I'm interested. Now what?

How does it work?

Each virtual class-cohort will be led by a CBSM teacher, all adjunct faculty members of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Micghian with a Masters degree or higher. Each year, from mid-September through mid-May we'll journey together through 28 lessons covering a major movement in the story of Sacred Scripture. We call the first year, Year A, second year, Year B, etc. Visit our  Inspired Discipleship website for more detailed course descriptions.  
 

What's a typical lesson like?

Every week of class (also known as a "lesson) we'll grow together through:

Lecture

Reading

Small Group

1. live video teleconference at a set time
2. “talk” by typing short conversational remarks, at any time, in a group discussion board
3. gather a group of local friends/parishioners for an in-person weekly chat at a convenient local location

Written Responses

Every lesson includes a handful of short-answer questions designed to prepare you for small group discussion. You’ll send/submit these to your teacher, who will provide written feedback and insights--a way to grow and ponder God’s Word as an individual.

Prayer

A weekly written or recorded prayer prompt connected to the week’s content will be shared by your teacher.

Live Q&A (Optional)

Each week your teacher will host two 30-minute “live” video conferences for open conversation. It’s a great time for Q&A on the week, new questions on previous lessons, and conversation about living out the Catholic faith. It’s optional, simply drop-in when your interest/schedule allows.
 

What tech skills/resources will I need?

At CBSM, we exist to help grow disciples of Jesus Christ in and through God's Word. For us, it's about removing barriers and helping people engage and connect with God in the Bible and in our daily lives. In this spirit, we use simple, straightforward websites and links. While all of our sites and applications are mobile and tablet friendly, we recommend you also have weekly access to a desktop or laptop computer or tablet-keyboard for composing your own short written responses.

In general, if you're currently able to use the internet for emailing, downloading attachments, browsing text-based websites (like this one), and watching live-streamed video, your technology readiness is just right for a virtual class experience like ours. 

If you're not quite sure about your computer readiness, here's a more detailed breakdown of specific technology skills/resources needed to get the most out of a CBSM virtual class-cohort:

Can I watch online videos? As a test, try viewing this inspirational Catholic video on the Holy Spirit, "God's Love Poured Out" 


Can I download or view attachments from Google Drive? As test, click here to open a two-page handout describing our virtual class-cohort. You may be able to view it online. You may also want to download it for offline viewing.
Can I view a Google Classroom website?  You can access Google Classroom using the web on a computer with any browser, such as Chrome, Firefox ^® , Internet Explorer ^® , or Safari ^® . In general, Classroom supports major browser releases on a continual basis. If your internet-data speed supports viewing this CBSM website, you'll be able to view your class website, as it will have a similar mix of graphics and text.

Google Classroom is also available for Android and Apple^® iOS^® mobile devices. For more information, see the Google website Get the Classroom App.

Optional: Can I use "Google Hangouts Meet" for video conferencing? If you choose a small group that meets live via video conference at a set time each week or choose to talk to your teacher during weekly live Q&A (both optional), having a built-in or external microphone and camera will enable you to participate with the live feel of face-to-face interaction. However, if you do not have this capability, it's okay! Every video conference will also have a telephone dial-in number for those who wish to participate using audio-only. 

 

Interested? Take the next step.

Wheter you're just curious or already excited to begin, we encourage you to attend  one of our video (or tele) confrence Information Sessions:

Register for Wed June 26, 8:30 pm (Eastern Time) Info Session

To find out about future Information Sessions, please share your contact information and time zone below and we'll send you a schedule. Information Sessions will run through August.