Have you ever experienced a process that shifted your world? What would it look like for members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to hear storytellers and engage our narratives? And what kind of church might we have if we imagined a narrative of a shared future?
The Church Narrative Project aims to facilitate the collectively developed preferred narrative of the shared future of the Christian Church.
Through StoryHour gatherings followed by an ongoing series of engagements in the Transforming Community Conferencing process, the whole church will participate in a shared process of transformation in person and online not just learn about transformation. Through a facilitated process of interaction and dialogue led by Rev. Dr. David Anderson Hooker, the Church Narrative Project will engage participants in difficult and faithful work towards that aim.
The preferred narrative of our shared future is about who God is calling us to be in light of who we have been, who we are, and how we imagine we might meet God in the future given those two realities. It’s about imagining a future by being honest about the stories that make us who we are as a church, and deciding together which stories to carry forward and which may not serve our shared future. The preferred narrative of the future will encompass the tenets of being anti-racist and pro-reconciling, and yet goes far beyond antiracism to state a positive and affirmative vision of the church as a result.
One of the guiding scriptures Dr. Hooker engages in the process is Luke 17:21 (NRSV) “nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
The process will answer a question of faithfulness: “When we as a church are manifesting the full power of our witness, who/what will we then be?”