Pastor’s Column
“I love to tell the story! ‘Twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story, of Jesus and his love.”
Stories are powerful tools. Stories are ways to share information and teach lessons. Stories connect generations and keep memories of events and people alive. When a story is told well, the listener not only remembers the message, but through the sharing, becomes a part of the story.
When I was a little girl, I had the great privilege of living in a story-telling community. My grandmother lived next door and summer evenings were the prime opportunity to sit in lawn chairs with a cool treat and listen to stories of life growing up on a farm and meeting Grandpa at the square dance. Sometimes, my aunt and uncle and cousins would visit, and there were opportunities for more stories, and often, songs (another form of story-telling).
You may remember a time when the front porch was the place to gather, to rest, to share stories and build community. People might stop by uninvited and join in the conversation, just because they saw you there and wanted to visit. Our culture has moved our places of gathering to the back yard – (where passersby cannot determine when you might be out there, where it is implied that an invitation to join might be in order) or even inside behind closed doors. In many ways, we have lost our literal front porches, as well as our “front porch” mentality.
Rev. Jake Jacobson is interested in reclaiming the “front porch” and our storytelling culture as a way of sharing God’s story. In order to do this, we listen to Bible stories, we think about our own stories and we discover all the places in which God makes appearances in our story or ways in which God’s story influences our own. The goal is to become comfortable sharing our stories about God with others, creating that front porch mentality wherever we may be, and bringing the Gospel to those with itching ears.
I will be leading a workshop developed by Rev. Jacobson in September to see if we can reclaim our stories and learn to share them with others, as a way of bringing the good news and encouraging others to listen and share their own stories. Stay tuned for date and time – and yes, there will be snacks.
“I love to tell the story, for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest. And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song, ’twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.”
Peace and blessings,
Pastor Sam
Peace and blessings,
Pastor Sam