Leaving BSF 2023: Testimony from a former teacher

This is a timeline that I wish I didn’t have to share. But I love helping Christian women find solid teaching resources, and also warning them about the sand traps in most of the women’s “Bible Study” materials offered in our current time. Please follow the article links provided. If you are considering signing up for Fall 2023 at a local Bible Study Fellowship session, this warning is for you.

A Concerning Trajectory

Back in 2015 I was deeply troubled to learn that BSF International, or Bible Study Fellowship, had become infected with New Age teachings at the top level of leadership. I wrote about it in an article titled, BSF, Jesus Calling and a plea from the heart. At that time I contacted some dear sisters in Christ at my local BSF chapter. They had not heard this was happening, and vowed to keep their local study free of any apostate teachings.

Solid beginnings

Up until 2015, BSF had been solid (as far as I knew), offering a full year of weekly studies for men, women and youth, covering seven subjects: Genesis, Matthew, Life of Moses, Romans, John, History of Israel and the Minor Prophets, and The Acts of the Apostles. At the end of seven years, the studies would start over.

BSF was no coffee klatch. This was serious stuff. There was a dress code (no jeans). And there was a strict mandate at BSF: Absolutely NO outside books other than the Bible. I loved it, and wish I could still be a part of it, at least the way it was.

I prayed fervently for BSF to turn things around. After all, my eyes had been opened by God’s grace during my first year of learning in this organization back in 1998. I was part of BSF in Minnesota where I was first saved. When we moved, I joined BSF in Florida, and later in Wisconsin.

No Turning Back

To my dismay, a new study track was launched in 2018 that revealed BSF International was in fact not interested in Scripture alone as authority. I shared a letter from a former BSF leader about this in an article titled, BSF Leader resigns; warns members about 2018 Study.

The apostasy happened again in 2019! See my article at Naomi’s Table titled, “Vision-Casting” ministry? An open letter from a leader.

It’s now 2023, and BSF has become unrecognizable.

I have shared my experiences and my Gospel testimony many times before, including in the A Word Fitly Spoken podcast that I co-host with my dear friend, Michelle Lesley. We started that weekly podcast in 2019 to help women understand biblical truth and how to “walk worthy” in a day and age when the lies of the enemy are infiltrating our culture and even our churches. And that’s where one of our listeners – A BSF Teaching Leader – learned the truth about some false teachings that she had been taught and believed.

In an email to A Word Fitly Spoken, she shared with us her experience as a BSF leader, and how the leaven of the modern Pharisees has now encompassed the unbiblical Enneagram (which is pure sorcery and must be avoided), and includes BSF giving women the green light to teach men and having authority over them, something we ought not do.

Michelle and I are thankful that she has agreed to allow us to publish her letter. And this fall, when we are back from our summer break, this listener has graciously agreed to allow us to interview her for a September podcast episode.

Here is her letter. I have left her name private for now:

“Four years ago I became the Teaching Leader of a women’s class with Bible Study Fellowship and left for four days of Training in San Antonio under long-time Executive Director Susie Rowan.

I was gratified to see that all the training and teaching was biblical and handled according to Scriptural principles. The men’s leaders and trainers were all men and the genders only came together for the opening and closing events. There was always a male leading worship.

The next year’s conference (2020) was online due to COVID 19, and that’s where the trouble began. I was asked to attend a required Teaching Leader Training Course on “Vision Casting.” The course trainer quoted half a line of Scripture and encouraged us to pray and ask the Lord for a “Word” that would exemplify the goals that “we, as the Visionary of our individual classes wanted to cast to grow and expand BSF in our area.”

We were encouraged to be “bold and audacious for God” and, if necessary, open our Bibles and look at some verses that might inspire.

We were given 4 Steps to Cast Vision with our staff and local leadership that encouraged allegiance to the “Vision.”  I’m ashamed to tell you that I went along with this simply because I wanted to be pleasing to the Leadership as the newbie, though I experienced an uncomfortable “check” in my gut.

At the time, I had no real ability to explain why “Vision Casting” was not Biblical; it just didn’t sound right.

When a small satellite class in my area, which I was responsible for overseeing, closed due to lack of interest in providing a children’s program and leadership, my area team told me that I “needed to go down to that class, bang on the podium and cast your vision.” It sounded like bullying to me.

Needless to say, my area team became less and less enamored of me as I was not onboard with living out Susie’s expansion Vision.

That same year my area team let us know that Susie Rowan and three other Bible Teachers (2 men and 1 woman) would, as a gift to us exhausted teaching leaders, be sending out four lectures provided by Headquarters for our class to use instead of lecturing ourselves.

When I asked my area team if the men’s classes would be using those lectures, I was told that I only needed to worry about my own class and that all the women’s classes in their area would be compliant in using these excellent lectures. The Men would concern themselves with the Men. I found out a year later that several Men’s classes used the provided lectures, and I was dismayed that Headquarters would even allow this to be an option.

Meanwhile, I started googling “is vision casting wrong” and “Christian personality tests” and “has BSF leadership left sound doctrine.” and, I found you. From you, I learned why the Enneagram is unbiblical and why “Vision Casting” is not how godly leaders encourage those they serve. I also learned how Susie was touting Contemplative Prayer and Jesus Calling.

Looking back, I could see so many red flags that I just did not catch. It took months for me to process all that I was learning.

I had to repent of the pride that opened the door to this false teaching. I like being liked. And I struggled with leaving BSF because I love studying and teaching the Bible to women without the fluff. But you helped me to remember that this is best accomplished in my local church where I’m under the authority of faithful Bible-loving pastors who are qualified, and not under the authority of women who have lost their desire to be under the authority of Scripture. I don’t need a large platform. I just need to be faithful in the sweet local church God has provided for me.

Susie Rowan

In November of 2021, we got word that Susie Rowan was stepping down. I was greatly relieved, and after much prayer, my husband and I agreed that I would stay on another year under BSF’s new Executive Director, Hollie Roberts, giving her the benefit of the doubt. We were both certain that Susie was the source of all this extra-biblical teaching. We prayed for Hollie and hoped that BSF would turn the page on this “new-agey” nonsense.

Hollie Roberts

As it turned out, Hollie was not different. She announced that she would be teaching to the men as well as to women. This time, because of your very excellent teaching, I was ready to gently confront my area team and hand in my letter of resignation. I also prepared a letter to send to Hollie because there is no way for me to directly contact her by phone or email.

It was a tough conversation, and I was spoken to as if I was a naughty and confused child. I was told that women teaching to men was a cultural construct, and that if I had a weak or sensitive conscience in this area I should step down. I told them I didn’t have a weak conscience, I had a right Biblical understanding that Hollie and Susie were in rebellion to what is a clear statement of who is qualified and who is not qualified to teach Scripture to a gathering of Christian men.

I also let them know that BSF’s insistence that all their teaching leaders teach using the NIV might be playing a role in how they’ve arrived at a false understanding. They were shocked and ready to listen when I explained that the ESV and NASB have not added to the Bible in their use of the word “assume authority.”

I also let them know that the NIV under Zondervan has removed all the footnotes to make the male and female pronouns appear universally gender neutral. They did their own research and asked me to include that in my resignation letter. I’ve not received a reply from Hollie to date.