mDNA - The function of stories
Another helping of mDNA soup:
The function of stories
Stories can inspire, challenge and nurture us. As faith communities we need to release the power of stories to portray the vision and mission of the people of God. The apostolic leadership within the Church needs to preach, teach and gossip the stories that paint a picture of the challenges of the present and the possibilities of the future. There are three stories that have been powerful for Northern Community Church of Christ. They are stories that I have repeated many times. I used to think that we should always have new stories for our preaching but I have become to believe that a number of key stories should be repeated many times to allow the stories to infuse themselves into the community. Each of the stories has been chosen to highlight a different aspect of managing change and creating missional movement for our church. The first speaks to the pain, grief and loss of change, the second to the creative acceptance of different people and the third encourages the celebration and acceptance of different spirituality and worship expressions. Each story reminds us of key aspects of the impact of change but also encourages us to reflect on our stories, to see the way Northern Community Church of Christ handles the grief and pain of change, to see how we allow creative acceptance of different people and how we celebrate and accept different worship styles.