The Healing Power of Storytelling
Christian ministry is participation in the story of God's creating, redeeming, reconciling, and transforming involvement in the world. Incarnation is at the heart of the Christian story. Incarnation affirms that God has come among us in the Jesus story, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The Transcendent comes to us in the routine and commonplace of human existence. Within the stories of human struggle and triumph, love and longing, brokenness and mending are God's mysterious presence and unfolding redemption.
Excellent ministry requires a self-awareness of one's own story and how that story intersects with The Story of God's action and presence. Awareness of the themes running though our experiences and relationships and how those themes relate to the unfolding salvation drama is a component of fruitful ministry. Sharing those themes and stories facilitates healing in us and opens the possibilities for healing in others.
Creating safe space for storytelling is one of the challenges facing pastors and congregations. Sharing our stories requires courage, for among the themes in all the narratives are failure, doubt, hurt, and brokenness. Our lives are all a mixture of comedy and tragedy, sham and genuineness, failure and triumph, joy and sadness.
Personhood and community are formed from shared experiences woven reflectively into stories of life's meaning and existence. Religious faith involves narrating life's experiences in relationship to a larger, transcendent story of meaning. Seeing our individual and corporate experiences through the lens of the story of God's salvation is the essence of faith and faithfulness.
Earlier this year, the extraordinary power of storytelling was brought home to me anew. In February, five months after Hurricane Katrina, almost 250 United Methodist pastors from across Mississippi traveled to Jackson , coming together for “A Time of Healing.” The event was led by faculty and staff from Duke Divinity School and planned in consultation with the Center for Ministry at Millsaps College , one of our SPE grantees. Many pastors were from Gulf Coast parishes hardest hit by the storm. Some lost their homes. Some had church buildings damaged or destroyed. Many of their congregation members were displaced by the storm, forced to leave home, scattered virtually across the nation. Hurricane Katrina has dramatically changed the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church , shifting its priorities and creating uncertainty for all its pastors and leaders.
So why, amidst such upheaval, did they come to Jackson ? For storytelling. To tell their stories and to listen to the stories of others. For three days, Feb. 6-8, pastors from the coast shared their experiences while colleagues listened with disciplined attentiveness and empathy. Theological reflection, silence, prayer, and worship provided the context and framework for the sharing of stories. Willie King, a local blues artist, afforded through music a vehicle for expressing the feelings of hurt and hope, pain and praise, sorrow and joy.
For three days, these pastors in Mississippi practiced being a caring community of hospitality as they shared stories within a suggested framework. As various pastors told their stories of Katrina, their colleagues listened without comment. They were instructed to listen with three questions in mind: Where in this story do you experience connections with your own story? Where do you see signs of God's presence? Where do you see God's absence? A period of silence followed each story. Then the participants were invited to share with the group their responses to the questions.
After periods of sharing, silence, and theological reflection, the pastors gathered the themes and feelings from the stories, offering them up in spoken and sung prayers. In Bible study and corporate worship woven throughout the three-day event, the pastors connected their experiences with stories from Scripture and tradition.
During the closing session, the pastors were asked, “How do you expect to be different as the result of our time together?” A District Superintendent gave perhaps the best answer, which was affirmed by all those present as a commitment they will try to keep. He said that the format and content of future gatherings of pastors and laity will change. Rather than being primarily task oriented, the gatherings will give priority to being a caring community that provides hospitable space for storytelling, attentive listening, and theological reflection.
Since returning to Durham , I've thought many times about those three days in Mississippi . I've wondered if the lessons we learned there apply as well to our Sustaining Pastoral Excellence program. Clearly, storytelling is a practice of excellent ministry. It not only enables healing, it engenders hope and encourages commitment and action.
Much of our work together in Sustaining Pastoral Excellence is, or should be, about the telling of stories. Indeed, this Web site is testament to our efforts to share with one another our stories about pastoral excellence. The annual project reports, which you will soon be filing, are also an important avenue to share your stories.
As that District Superintendent in Mississippi suggested: What a difference it would make if storytelling becomes integral to all our gatherings.
Kenneth L. Carder is director of Pulpit & Pew: The Duke Center for Excellence in Ministry and professor of the practice of pastoral formation at Duke Divinity School. He was bishop of the Mississippi Area of the United Methodist Church from 2000 to 2004 and the Nashville Area of the UMC from 1992 to 2000.
