Wonders and Signs: Storytelling as a Method for Growing Church Unity Open Access
Horton, David (Spring 2024)
Abstract
Theological and psychological research supports the claim that storytelling can provide a context where unity can flourish. Storytelling helps people think through the theological beliefs of others, increases the perspective-taking dimension of empathy, and strengthens feelings of togetherness. This project tests the hypothesis that participation in a storytelling ministry in a United Methodist local church will increase unity as measured by three variables: the capacity for theological reflection, empathy as perspective-taking, and the desire for togetherness with people who hold different beliefs.
A storytelling ministry was implemented in one United Methodist congregation. The ministry was called Wonders and Signs (WS). Participants were asked to complete a survey before and after participation in WS. Participants who completed the survey fell into three sample groups: 1) “WS Participants” (n=13), those who had been exposed to a storytelling workbook and participated in a storytelling workshop, 2) “WS Storytellers” (n = 5), a subset of the WS Participants, those who told their faith story in front of the congregation, and 3) the “Congregation” (n = 39), those who were not exposed to the workshop or workbook but listened to the faith stories in public worship. It was expected that the participants in all three sample groups would report an increase in the three variables of unity, with the greatest effect being on empathy.
The hypothesis was partially supported. Not all participants in the storytelling ministry scored higher on the survey after exposure to the ministry. The average “Congregation” score did not increase. However, the average “WS Participants” score did increase and there was positive change in score on six survey questions in both the “WS Participants” and the “Congregation” groups.
The data from this project support the conclusion that storylistening, where people passively hear the stories of others, does not automatically lead to an experience of church unity, but storytelling, where people actively tell, hear, and respond to stories in a small group setting, can increase these measures of church unity and is one possible method to increase the experience of unity in a United Methodist congregation.
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About this Dissertation
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Primary PDF
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Wonders and Signs: Storytelling as a Method for Growing Church Unity () | 2024-04-26 10:25:41 -0400 |
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Supplemental Files
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How to Tell a Faith Story (Storytelling Workbook) | 2024-04-26 10:25:51 -0400 |
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Appendix I: TrET Survey Data (Dataset from Theological Reflection, Empathy, and Togetherness Survey) | 2024-04-26 10:26:07 -0400 |
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