Contact: Kimberly Reeve, Q Place, 718-594-4910, KReeve@qplace.com

DOBBS FERRY, NY, Dec. 17 /Christian Newswire/ -- After 48 years of ministry, Neighborhood Bible Studies is re-launching with a new name - Q Place - and renewed mission and vision.

Neighborhood Bible Studies (NBS) began in the 1960s at a time of significant societal change. Billy Graham crusades were awakening people to their need for a relationship with Jesus and to the importance of studying the Bible. NBS responded by mobilizing Christians to invite unchurched people into an inductive Bible study to discover the content of Scripture. The basic premise of the ministry was that a participant would come because he or she believed the Bible was worth studying.

Now, the U.S. is in another period of societal change, and a growing segment of America's population today is not inclined to attend church or study the Bible. The challenge NBS faced was how to effectively meet this new target audience.

Q Place President Mary Schaller states, "The ministry's initial task in engaging people far from God is to create a non-threatening 'questions place' for them by asking more basic questions about the existence of God and the reliability of the Bible as a worthy text to study - this is why we chose the name: Q Place."

The revised vision of Q Place is to be a global resource for spiritual seekers to question, discover, and grow in their relationship with God through a facilitated small group process. The mission of Q Place is to mobilize Christians to facilitate group discussions so that spiritual seekers can find God as revealed in the Bible.

Q Place is already generating enthusiasm from other ministry leaders. Former atheist Lee Strobel proclaimed, "I wish Q Place had been around when I was a seeker investigating spiritual issues! This is where the action is: a safe place of discussion and discovery, where open-minded people can pursue answers to satisfy their hearts and minds."

As part of the re-launch of the ministry, Q Place is developing new Bible study resources, rebranding existing resources and will be developing a new online presence.

For more information, please visit www.qplace.com.