Telling our story

The heart of our work as communities of faith is to share, tell and reflect how God’s love and abundant generosity flow into our lives. It is these faith experiences that shape who we are – and become part of our wonderful story of God’s work in our lives!

We all have a beautiful and meaningful story to tell. Whether a person is early in their faith journey, seasoned in a life of faith, attending a small or large church – we all have stories to tell that can lift up one another and encourage us all on our journey.

Telling your story – personal or congregational – is a significant way to encourage people on their journey of generosity. It’s an important core strategy for nurturing a healthy and strong stewardship ministry.

Stories unleash a huge number of benefits:

• Stories reveal God at work. When this happens, we uncover how our vision and mission is being fulfilled, and how we are living into our call and purpose as Jesus’ followers.
• Stories inspire. When someone shares part of their story, it creates connection and a bond with others. We are encouraged by each other when we share our experiences.
• Stories witness to others. Our stories can bless others, help validate God’s love, and show that we serve a God who provides and genuinely cares for us.
• Stories can encourage others to give. This giving includes time, talents and yes, even their finances. Stories can help us not only feel good about our congregation and how God is at work within our community faith – they can also motivate people to find ways they can contribute as well.

When you implement this stewardship ministry practice, it uncovers the power of telling your church’s story. As stewardship leaders, one of your roles is to help unearth the beautiful and incredible stories that exist within your community and then find ways to share them so that your entire faith community can benefit.

Story tip

Consider doing something like a survey – formal or informal – that invites people to share ways they have seen God at work in their lives and in the congregation. This invites people reveal how they are experiencing God in their lives and creates a powerful connection and provides a wonderful opportunity for storytelling.

Story power idea

A narrative budget captures a congregation’s financial commitments (normally expressed via a line-item budget) by highlighting key areas of ministry in a written and storytelling format. Learn more about how your church can incorporate a narrative budget approach and make your numbers come alive.

For more story tips or ideas like the narrative budget, contact your stewardship consultant. We would love to share even more ideas of how to implement a storytelling strategy in your congregation.