I recently finished a final paper for a class in my doctoral degree program in Creative Writing and Public Theology. This particular class was on Storytelling in Times Like These, and it asked questions about how we can tell stories that are more true and more helpful.

As I wrote the final paper, essentially explaining my own theology of writing in these times, I kept thinking about us as a congregation. What stories are we telling? What stories are we centering? What stories do we need to be hearing right now?

These are questions I will be carrying with me for a long time, and exploring in various ways in congregational life. My initial belief is that there are at least two kinds of stories we need right now:

1. Stories that tell the truth of what is happening to people, especially people more vulnerable than many of us are
2. Stories of a better future that is possible, even if it feels distant now

Both of these categories are stories that can inspire us to action. One comes from a place of righteous anger at injustice, and the other comes from a place of creativity and love. Neither is better or worse than the other, but in a given moment we might need one more than the other.

We tell these stories, of both kinds, in worship on Sundays but also in other parts of congregational life. They are inherent in the stories we tell about who we are, both within and beyond the walls of our building.

Let’s write more true and helpful stories together, for a world that needs them desperately.

 

In gratitude,

Rev. Diana