Preaching with Storytelling
Jackson Day. Self-Published by Jack Day. 230 pp. (Paperback).
Sharing the gospel through storytelling is a concept I have found captivating for many years. After all, who doesn’t love a good story told by an enthusiastic teller? I can clearly remember the Bible stories told by my Sunday School teacher when I was in primary class — and I’ll bet many of you can too.
While the technique is frequently used on the missions field to reach verbal learners, it is increasingly being used in other settings, regardless of whether the hearer is literate or not. In “Preaching with Storytelling,” Jackson Day advocates the use of storytelling to enhance sermons and has written this book as a “how-to.”
The book is carefully presented with the steps and concepts broken down for the reader. As I was reading the first chapter, I was thinking a concrete example would be helpful. Turning the page, I found — guess what? — an example! Now this is a writer who cares deeply about communicating with his readers.
As icing on the cake, appendices include a list of all of the stories of the Bible in chronological order, a list of all of the miracles in the Old and New Testaments, and a compilation of Jesus’ own stories, or parables. Pure gold!
Day is from Enterprise. He and his wife, Doris, (think about her name for a minute) spent more than 30 years serving as missionaries to Brazil and they now consult and train others in storytelling techniques.
Reviewed by Martine Bates Fairbanks, Ed.D.
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