About

Bible Storying is the generic term for the primary use of Bible stories to evangelize, disciple, plant churches and train emerging oral church leaders. The term evolved from roots in Chronological Bible Teaching which focused mainly on the chronological organization of teaching beginning with key Old Testament passages leading to the Gospel accounts. This led to a further focus on the value and role of the Bible stories themselves being told along with appropriate teaching activities. This was then called Chronological Bible Storying to highlight a focus on the value of the told story both as a resource to teach from and for the benefit of learning by the listeners. Over time many variations and strategies subsequently evolved which then led to the use of the more generic term inclusive term Bible Storying. One motto might be: If you aren’t telling and teaching the stories, then it isn’t Bible Storying!

Bible Storying is the intentional use of Bible stories as the primary teaching mode accompanied by culturally and educationally appropriate learning activities associated with each story. Also the emphasis is on the uninterrupted stories, that is, stories told with stopping for discussion or teaching before finishing the story. This is for the benefit of oral learners who might have difficulty distinguishing between what is Bible and what is teaching. Also the uninterrupted story is easier to learn than one that is parceled out between commentary.

While Bible Storying has great value with oral learners, it has also proven to be attractive and useful among those marginally literate and literates who prefer learning via oral means. To encourage listener comprehension and retention of the stories, there is need for some adaptation of stories that are overly long, complicated, or that have many proper names, numbers and other details that are not readily understood by listeners.

Bible Storying can be as simple as telling only the Bible stories alone. But it normally includes with the stories appropriate learning/teaching activities to develop themes and to promote understanding, internalizing and application of the stories.

While Bible Storying is often chronologically organized, it can also be thematically organized using clusters of stories that are linked in theme giving perspective or that progressively develop a theme. Also certain worldview-related themes are useful in developing and utilizing Bible stories among listeners of different spiritual and cultural backgrounds. An example would be Shepherd Stories among those who live in pastoral cultures.

Bible Storying as a methodology has proved valuable in reaching those listeners who have been traditionally resistant to the Gospel or hostile and rejecting Christianity as a Western religion.

Knowledge of listeners’ spiritual worldview is of great value to inform the best story selections and instruct how best to tell and discuss the stories. The Bible stories are however primarily selected based on the spiritual truths that listeners need to hear and understand.

Many strategies for Bible Storying have developed that make the methodology useful not only among rural oral learners, but also in public as well as personal witnessing, and in many ministry-related opportunities for sharing from the Bible.

The book Basic Bible Storying was written to explore these concepts of Bible Storying and give a handy manual suggesting how to select, prepare, tell and teach the stories in response to many potential strategies of use and ministry opportunities.