In recent columns, I shared the historic practice of congregational storytelling in all-day or multiple-day associational gatherings. There was then a transition from associational letters to a mostly statistical Uniform Church Letter and then to an Annual Church Profile.
The columns address why the return of all-day or multiple-day preaching, debating and storytelling gatherings are no longer feasible. In my most recent column, I addressed the motivation to gather what are likely some wonderful missional stories in many congregations.
Now let’s talk about telling missional stories in the innovative ways available today, which can make storytelling come alive within the fellowship of associations.
RELATED: Check out more articles on the impact of Baptist associations.
Learning how to tell missional stories
I advocate for a certain type of stories to be told. A change is needed among many congregations and associational fellowships.
The stories I am talking about are not testimonies we typically hear. They are not what the minister, missionary or volunteer did and how it impacted them. These are stories of being “sent.” Many of these are great and inspiring.
In telling these stories we often hear Isaiah 6:8 quoted: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
I am talking about stories of the living Word of God being “received.” This involves telling the stories from the perspective of the people who received compassion, love and life-changing ministry.
Consider the parable of the soils in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. The people who received the ministry of those sent are like the different types of soil. Tell the stories from the perspective of the soils rather than the sower.
What are the stories of the people transformed by the message of God’s love? Those stories are spread like seeds among the people who needed to receive acts of Christian kindness and words of eternal life.
Just like teaching people how to share their testimony, this type of storytelling may require learning labs to refocus storytellers.
Sharing great missional stories
The exciting news is that more ways exist to tell the missional stories of the ministry of congregations than we have ever before experienced. Consider these ways to write and distribute these stories:
1. Storytelling: People can tell the story of missional engagement in a live setting to one person, a small group or a large gathering of people such as an annual associational meeting. When people tell their stories live, always record them for distribution. Video is best. Audio by itself will also work. Use storytelling learning labs to teach people to tell these stories.
2. Written stories: The writing of stories can be commissioned and then shared in newsletters, news journals, handouts in groups and large gatherings and other ways. The Baptist Paper itself is one way to share the missional stories of congregations.
3. Podcasts: Conduct live or recorded podcasts to distribute online through the association and beyond. Associations can establish their own podcast channel and market it even beyond their association.
4. Video recordings: These recordings of people telling missional stories can be used in various venues and also distributed online. Launch a channel on YouTube, Vimeo and other services. Regularly post stories to your channel.
5. Books: Collections of written stories can periodically — at least annually — be compiled into a printed book or an online flipbook.
6. Social media: My goodness, we have not even mentioned social media yet. Consider social media channels and all the posts that are not Christlike. Thousands of good news stories need to be posted annually to tell the wonderful things God is doing through Christian congregations that are soaring with faith.
7. Newspapers: Do not forget the secular press. Newspapers — particularly weeklies — reach people outside your associational fellowship. They are often looking for high-quality stories about real people in real time in real situations.
With all these many ways to tell the stories of the missional engagement of congregations, what’s stopping you? Do you need a plan? Do you need resources of various types to make the plan possible? Do you need a person or a group of people with a vision for telling the narrative stories of congregations?
Always remember Habakkuk 2:2: “Write down the vision and inscribe it on tablets so that one who reads it may run.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — George Bullard spent 45 years in denominational ministry. He served on the staff of three associations, was a key staff person working with associations in two state conventions and served on the association missions division staff of the former Home Mission Board of the SBC. He retired in June 2022 as director of Columbia Metro Baptist Association in South Carolina. He has led strategic planning processes in more than 100 associations and has written extensively in this area. Bullard now serves as a strategic thinking mentor for Christian leaders through his ForthTelling Innovation ministry and a correspondent for The Baptist Paper.
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