In 1893, Margaret Lyttle formed the Girls’ Brigade in Dublin with the aim being 'the extension of Christ’s Kingdom among girls.'  Over 130 years later our Aim has not changed.  Encouraging and discipling girls to Seek, Serve and Follow Christ is very much at the core of what we strive to do.

To inspire and challenge our girls GBNI produces a new bespoke Scripture Course each year where the girls will study relevant topics and Bible passages appropriate to their age.  We encourage the girls to give us feedback on the course each year and we ask them to suggest topics they feel would benefit them in growing in their faith and living their day-to-day lives.  The Spiritual team prayerfully consider the girls’ suggestions and then develops a course.  Everything is done in-house and then we send it to professional printers.

Our prayer for the Scripture materials is that each girl regardless of her age, ability, and background would be transformed by the truths they are learning from God’s Word. 

It is our desire that those girls who do not know Jesus would be introduced to Him through the Bible class.  For those who are already on their faith journey, we would love our materials to inspire, challenge, and equip them to go out into the world around them and Seek, Serve and Follow Christ every day and everywhere.

The greatest joy in Girl’s Brigade is to share the love of God with young lives.  This is the very heart of everything that we do.  It’s our mission, and it’s a privilege.

Scripture Course 2026/27

Every year, it is the pleasure of the GBNI Spiritual Team to produce our Scripture Course. We are proud to continue a tradition, that has gone on for many years, writing a Course that is relevant to our girls while remaining biblically robust. Over the last few years, we have looked at ‘The Promises of God’, ‘What We Believe In’ and last year, we spent time ‘Meeting Jesus.’

This year’s Course will focus on ‘The Fruit of the Spirit’. This famous passage comes from Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, a teaching that has never lost its relevance to young and old alike. In all, there will be ten sessions that will follow each aspect of the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ and then a lesson on living it all out in our lives.

As always, there will be plenty of suggestions for activities that will help teach the lessons, with crafts that will reinforce the message, and further suggestions that will enhance your sessions. Below is a breakdown of what to expect from each book.

Under 5s

·      Our youngest Explorers are not left out by our Scripture Course. We believe strongly in our littlest members having access to the Scriptures with age-appropriate lessons and bespoke activities.

·      This year our Under 5s Leader Notes will provide lesson plans and layouts that will help you prepare and deliver the teaching. As ever, these will include the stories, a breakdown of the teaching, craft ideas, song suggestions, and activities to do with your girls.

·      NEW this year will be our Under 5s Colouring Book. In previous years, we have provided colouring pages at the back of the leader’s book. But that has meant photocopying and extra preparation that is not always easy for busy leaders. Our colouring book will provide the girls something that they can work on and provide a keepsake at the end of the session. 

Explorers and Juniors Teaching Notes

·      Our Explorers and Juniors Teaching Notes prove to be a popular book every year. Each year we try to make changes and keep things fresh by adding new features. A feature that received a lot of praise with our ‘Meeting Jesus’ Course was the lesson on a page section. The idea of this was to give an overview of a whole session on one page that would allow for freedom and for the leaders’ own voice to be heard. This year we will continue to improve on that concept.

·      Familiar features such as crafts, activities, music recommendations and lesson scripts will be included.

Explorers Activity Book

·      Our Explorers Activity Book will feature a cover designed by one of our girls. The Spiritual Team and the Activities Team ran an Art Competition which saw over 460 entries, all vying for the opportunity to have their artwork grace the cover. Each book will feature puzzles, activities, songs, crafts and much more.

Junior Activity Book

·      This book always proves to be popular with our girls and is intended to supplement the session you teach. They can be used alongside the session or to reinforce the teaching over several weeks. Last year we listened to the girls who told us they wanted lots of wordsearches. This year will include some features that girls have asked for. It is the prayer of the Spiritual Team that your girls enjoy Scripture and have it as something they look forward to each GB night.

Seniors/Brigaders Teaching Notes

·      Each year we engage with some of the best youth work minds in the province to provide the best content we can for these girls. These lessons are intended to be adaptable to best suit the needs of your girls. That means the lesson on a page will give suggestions for teaching that is appropriate to your girls. There will also be the usual suggestions for icebreakers, games, activities and music recommendations.

·      Our Journals were very popular last year. So popular that they completely sold out and there were some who were left disappointed because they were unable to get their hands on one. This is a nice issue to have, yet it is one that can be easily remedied by making sure to pre-order in plenty of time. We aim to build on the positive impact and progress made last year and will seek to make the Journal as usual and meaningful to our girls as possible.

As you can see, there is much to look forward to from our Scripture Course this year. It is our prayer that more and more of our members come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and learn what it means to serve Him with their lives each and every day. 

 
For any queries regarding the course, please email aaron@gbni.co.uk.

'An amazing well thought out experience, the girls really calmed and settled for it.'

'Really well thought out and useful time for the girls and leaders!  Great for girls who struggle to pray and especially not having to pray out loud could be private and more meaningful.'

'I loved the prayer room as it allowed me to relax and forget about any worries and really helped me focus on God.'

'I thought the prayer stations were great!  They have helped me grow as a Christian.  It was a great night!'

'I have really enjoyed tonight as I have been able to stop, reflect and think which I feel gave me intimate time with God.'