Kimm Carr says she became a Christian in elementary school but never really studied the Bible until her 30s, when she joined a study hosted by a group called Community Bible Study in an Athens, Ga., church.

“I somehow missed the fact that God speaks through his word,” she says of the quarter century during which she heard plenty of sermons and teaching about the Bible without studying it closely herself. “And don’t think I’m unique in that.”

Joining — and eventually leading — that Athens group transformed her faith experience and career path.

“God does speak through Scripture,” she says. “I can learn who Jesus is, learn what he has to say and enjoy his presence.”

Carr was completing her doctorate and preparing to open a private audiology practice when she says God intervened and brought her and her family to Colorado Springs. Seventeen years after she heard of Community Bible Study, she’s starting her second decade leading the Springs-based $13 million international ministry that helps about 900,000 people — the vast majority of them outside the U.S. — dig deeper into Scripture.

The ministry’s mission is “to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in our communities through caring, in-depth Bible study, available to all.”

The goal is to reproduce the experience Carr had: “Transformed Lives Through the Word of God.”

In a recent interview, Carr says Community Bible Study invites both seekers and believers with the same offer the prophet Isaiah gave long ago:

Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

Give ear and come to me;

listen, that you may live.

Anybody can join a Community Bible Study group, either in person or online, by clicking the “Find a class near you” button on the organization’s home page (communitybiblestudy.org) and providing your ZIP code.

Two live classes meet in the Springs. Local volunteer leader Laura Pittman says about 350 adults and children attend two local in-person study groups that meet in the Springs’ north end, one in daytime and one in the evening.

Community Bible Study was founded in 1975 in Bethesda, Md., as a group for Washington, D.C.-area women from different Christian denominations to gather and study Scripture in depth alongside their children. The organization still promotes age diversity and provides materials for various reading levels.

The ministry moved to the Springs in 2007 after land was donated on Stout Road near The Classical Academy.

For this class year, Community Bible Study offers 14 courses covering one or more Old and New Testament books, with five new courses in the works. The organization publishes in more than 85 languages and its material is used in 121 countries.

Carr says participation by males is growing and work in six international regions is “exploding.”

Community Bible Study participants are shown in Burma.

Community Bible Study participants in Thailand. The ministry’s material is used in 121 countries.

Courtesy photo

Community Bible Study participants in Georgia.

A Community Bible Study study guide.

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Kimm Carr, Executive Director, Community Bible Study