METHODIST THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL IN OHIO

CAN I GET A WITNESS?: RECLAIMING THE BAPTIST TESTIMONY TRADITION TO ENHANCE SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN A CHURCH CONGREGATION

BY CHRISTOPHER ERIC GEORGE DELAWARE, OHIO APRIL, 2015

Methodist Theological School in Ohio

APPROVAL OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY PROJECT

Date__April 15, 2015_____ Term & Year of Graduation_Spring 2015__

Name George Christopher Eric Last First Middle

PROJECT TITLE Can I Get a Witness?: Reclaiming the Baptist Testimony Tradition to Enhance Sense of Community in a Church Congregation______

FACULTY ADVISOR Dr. Diane Lobody, Ph. D.______

SECOND READER__Dr. Timothy L. Van Meter, Ph.D.____

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The above named student has successfully completed the research project and the final presentation of the project to faculty, students, and interested parties on ______. Date

Approved by: Faculty Advisor______

Second Reader______

Academic Dean______

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Though this Doctor of Ministry thesis has one author, it would not have been possible without the assistance, support, wisdom, and perseverance of many people who helped me on this journey.

I wish to express my heartfelt love and appreciation to my dear wife, Jennifer George. We have been married ten years and more than half of those have been spent in pursuit of this degree and this dream. You are and will always be my hero, my minister, and my inspiration.

I want to express gratitude to my three boys, David George, Evan George, and Andrew George. You are the best storytellers that I have ever known. My favorite story is the one we are writing together as a family. I can’t wait to see what is around the next corner.

I wish to thank Mike Jones, a self-professed “Man for all Reasons.” On this journey, he has served as a coach, a critic, and a kindred spirit. He is also an able editor who has not only enhanced my paper with his suggestions, but enriched my life with his presence.

I am eternally grateful for my mother, Celeste George, who has been proofreading my papers for the better part of thirty years. Her patience and persistence, during early mornings and dark nights, bear witness to her love for me which is nothing less than a miracle and nothing more than the absolute embodiment of grace.

I thank God for my Doctor of Ministry cohort, a collection of some of the finest people I have ever met and finest ministers I will ever know. I count myself blessed beyond measure to have made this journey with such a company and am honored to call these men and women my friends.

I am grateful for my advisor, Dr. Diane Lobody, whose red ink filled many of these pages, but not because she reveled in criticism, but rather because who believed in the importance of this entire endeavor to save storytelling. She shaped not only my thesis, but also my theology.

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CONTENTS

Approval Page iii

Acknowledgements iv

Chapter 1. Introduction and Rationale for Study 1

Chapter 2. Theological and Biblical Underpinnings 23

Chapter 3. Contextual Analysis and Statement of Theological Construct 49

Chapter 4. Research Design Procedures 69

Chapter 5. Results and Evaluation of Research 89

Chapter 6. Summary and Significance 121

BIBLIOGRAPHY 146

APPENDICES 155

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I. Introduction and Rationale for Study

In a world where technological advances enable a greater degree of interconnectedness, many people still grapple with feelings of isolation and separation.

While new online global communities are emerging each day, traditional communities formed around geographic proximity (neighborhoods), shared values (religious organizations), and common cause (civic and fraternal organizations) have experienced a significant decline in participation and engagement.1 In the process, many people struggle with a sense of loss, detachment, and disconnectedness.

In 1995, Dr. Robert Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of

Government-Harvard University, published his ground-breaking work, Bowling Alone:

The Collapse and Revival of American Community. This book, which documents the decline of sense of community in American life, became a catalyst for conversation and consideration in academic circles as well as coffee table conversations. Putnam points toward the loss of connectedness in neighborhoods, the lack of cross-generational interactions, and even the decrease in time spent with family and friends. The memorable book cover image of a person bowling alone serves as a powerful illustration of the shifts from interconnectedness to individualism, from interdependence to independence.

Employing accessible language and using strong statistical data to support his assertions,

Putnam makes his case in a manner that proves persuasive to many people. Putnam boldly concludes, “The bonds of our communities have withered, and we are right to fear

1 “Active Participation in Voluntary Organizations Declining Faster Than Checkbooks Can Keep Up,” American Sociological Association, published on August 20, 2011, accessed February 7, 2014, www.asanet.org/press/participation_in_voluntary-organizations_declining.cfm. 1 that this transformation has very real cost.”2 While Putnam’s research is now nearly twenty-years old, many of the trends observed in his work still persist; some have even increased in intensity, serving to strengthen his arguments. Putnam’s description of the collapse of community not only offers observations about his world, but also seems prophetic given the present situation.

The loss of community is certainly not an exclusively American phenomenon, but rather resonates with the experience of many people in a postmodern world. The phrase

“global neighborhood” has been used to describe a world connected by technology.

However, within this new neighborhood, sense of community may have been sacrificed on the altars of convenience and efficiency. According to Claire Ghoussoub, campaign manager for the non-profit volunteer organization CSV (Community Service Volunteers) in Britain, “We are becoming more efficient consumers with more internet-shopping, but the loss of local amenities like post offices and shops” leads to increasing feelings of separation which make life “difficult and isolated,” especially for the elderly.3 In this postmodern world, many people struggle to find places (settings) and spaces (time) to engage in community-building conversations and activities.

While it is important to recognize and acknowledge the global manifestations of this loss, this research paper focuses exclusively on the loss of community in the United

States. Loss of community may indeed be a growing global problem in a postmodern world, but addressing this problem globally is beyond the scope of this research paper. As

James Howard Kunstler, writer for The Atlantic, assesses the situation in the United

2 Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001), 6. 3 Annie Kelly, “Report Reveals Loss of Community Spirit,” The Guardian, (August 15, 2006), accessed on February 7, 2014,theguardian.com/society/2006/aug/16/communities. 2

States, “Americans sense that something is wrong with the places where we live and go about our daily business. We hear this unhappiness expressed in phrases like ‘no sense of place’ and ‘the loss of community.’”4 In this quotation, Kunstler makes a clear connection between a loss of sense of community and a growing sense of discontent or unhappiness which results from this loss of connectedness.

In 2011, the American Sociological Association published a detailed report documenting troubling declines in community involvement and expressing concerns about the impact on American society and civic engagement. The study examines six broad categories of participation associated with sense of community including service and fraternal organizations, recreational groups, political and civic groups, job-related organizations, church-related groups, and all other groups and organizations. The findings provided a clear, but startling, trend affecting these organizations and associations. According to the survey, the largest decreases were seen for fraternal, recreational, and “other” memberships, but declines were present in all categories of membership. Recreational groups experienced the greatest decline at 6%, while church groups fared better with only a 3.5% decline. Political and civic associations saw the smallest decline at only 2%, but researchers noted the survey was conducted during an election year.5 Interpreting these results and their implications, Dr. Pamela Paxton, a sociology professor at The University of Texas, writes, “There is a lot of evidence that our democracy is based on having citizens connected to one another….When we connect with one another in associations we learn that our self-interest is actually connected to the

4James Howard Kunstler, “Home From Nowhere,” The Atlantic 278, no. 3 (September 1996): 1. 5 “Active Participation in Voluntary Organizations Declining Faster Than Checkbooks Can Keep Up,” American Sociological Association, published on August 20, 2011, accessed February 7, 2014, www.asanet.org/press/participation_in_voluntary-organizations_declining.cfm, 1. 3 self-interest of others. That gives us a conception of the public good, common identity, and sense of common responsibility as a nation and as citizens.”6 Alternatively, without this sense of connectedness, people fail to understand and appreciate the importance of cooperative efforts to further the public good and enhance the larger community.

In Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam addressed gradual decline in engagement in the voluntary civic organizations that fostered and facilitated community in American life.

Since the publication of his book, this trend has increased dramatically with many traditionally strong civic organizations experiencing significant drops in membership and an even steeper decrease in active engagement. In 1941, the Masons counted more than 4 million American members while by 2011 the number had decreased to less than 1.5 million.7 Similarly, the Order of the Elks has experienced a decline from nearly 1.6 million members as recently as 1980 to only 900,000 members by 2011, a loss of nearly

44%.8 From 1992-2000, Kiwanis International lost at least 1% of its membership each year.9 Since 2002, Optimist International has lost nearly 32% of its total membership.10

Meanwhile, during this same period, membership in many of these organizations has become more inclusive, with exclusions based on gender, race, or geography often being removed and qualifications for membership being lowered. Even so, with very few exceptions,11 these voluntary civic and fraternal organizations are experiencing significant declines.

6Ibid., 2. 7 Jon Ostendorff, “Masons, Other Service Groups Fight Membership Declines,” USA Today (January 31, 2011), 1. 8 Ibid, 2. 9 Kate Shatzin, “End of ‘Glory Days’ of Service Clubs,’’ Baltimore Sun (March 31, 1999), 1. 10 “Service Organizations See Decline in Membership,” The Morning Sun (December 25, 2012), accessed February 7, 2014 at www.themorningsun.com/article/MS/210121225/NEWS/121229767, 2. 11 The lone exception to this statement is the Lions Club International which saw a very, very slight increase in membership in 2011 according to the Jon Ostendorff article referenced above. 4

This decline in voluntary civic organizations is not only evidenced by these statistics and trends, it is relevant to the loss of community in America. These organizations provided a vital setting for people to engage in meaningful conversations, collaboration, and cooperation across traditional divides and to create new communities of practice. Tom Sander, Executive Director of the Saguaro Seminar at Harvard

University’s Kennedy School of Government, emphasizes the unique role formerly played by these organizations. “One thing fraternal organizations often did, which few organizations are doing today, would be bring people together across their differences.

Most of the things that are in some ways replacing fraternal organizations, such as professional societies, tend to be more stratified by class.”12 According to Sander, fraternal organizations offered a shared space where people could communicate and connect despite their differences. The replacement of these fraternal organizations by professional societies creates less diverse communities which are defined primarily by social class.

While the membership has declined numerically, the average age of members has risen significantly. Researchers point toward a general decline in interest and participation with organized civic and fraternal activity among the younger generations.

Frank Cunningham belongs to the Lions Club and laments the loss of younger members.

“Our district in Michigan has dropped from 26,000 to 15,000 in a few years. Getting younger members is a tough sell. Lions International says we have an average age in the mid-to-late 60’s.”13 Young people still volunteer, but many seem reluctant to join or

12 Kate Shatzin, “End of ‘Glory Days’ of Service Clubs,’’ Baltimore Sun (March 31, 1999), 2. 13 Linda May, “Service Club Membership Has Declined Since the 1940s,” Journal Register (December 26, 2012), accessed February 7, 2014 atwww.sourcenewspapers.com/articles/2012/12/26/news, 2. 5 commit to a formal association or organization, opting instead to simply participate in one project at a time. In 2011, 40% of young people who volunteered did so with clubs, family, friends, or on their own. They did not go through traditional organizations.14

Though this voluntary (and sometimes solitary) service is admirable, the independent approach does not promote participation in a community.

While disconnecting from these voluntary organizations, Americans also seem to be growing more and more distant from one another and unfamiliar with their own neighbors. In the past, Americans frequently used the term “neighbor” as a synonym for friend and viewed the neighborhood as a meaningful place of community.15 Recent studies reveal that neighborhoods are increasingly filled with familiar strangers. In a

2013 survey, only 53% of Americans knew their neighbors’ names.16 Interactions with neighbors are fewer, briefer, and far less personal than in the past. Neighborhoods are seen less and less as settings for community, more and more as simply places to reside and exist together.

Along with neighborhoods and voluntary organizations, churches have traditionally been centers for community. The church once served as the primary place in

American society for civic, social, and spiritual engagement, but now struggles to adjust to a secondary status in a world radically altered by multiculturalism, religious pluralism, and technological advances. In the past, churches were largely defined geographically in the context of a parish model, creating homogeneous congregations broadly united in

14 “Do Something.Org Index on Young People and Volunteering,” accessed on March 28, 2014 at https://www.dosomething.org/blog/teens-and-volunteering. 15 In pop culture, Fred Rogers of the popular Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood children’s program provides evidence of the practice of using the term “neighbor” as a synonym for friend. 16 Megan Willett, “Only Half of Americans Know Their Neighbors’ Names,” Business Insider, (October 24, 2013), accessed on February 7, 2014 at businessinsider.com/how-well-americans-know-their- neighbors-2013-10, 2. 6 social class, education, ethnicity, and theological perspective. Church members shared not only communion, but a strong sense of what it meant to be a part of the community.

In urban settings, churches provided a stable space to connect with kindred spirits in the midst of a rapidly changing world. In rural settings where Baptists were most prevalent, churches were often filled with family members, both biologically and spiritually connected. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins worked together, worshiped together, lived together, and learned together. Church was woven into the fabric of society and served as a setting for the formation of community.

Mirroring the trends of other voluntary organizations, churches across Christian denominations have been in decline for several years. With very few exceptions, denominations report decreases in membership that are sometimes severe and always steady.17 According to the National Council of Churches from 2010 to 2011, the United

Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Episcopal Church each reported a decline of over 2%. At first glance, 2% may not seem like a startling figure until we consider that these drops occurred in a single year. Other mainline denominations have fared slightly better, with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the American

Baptist Church (USA), and the United Methodist Church each experiencing membership drops in excess of 1%, but less than 2%.18 The single year losses may be startling standing alone, but become particularly problematic when seen as an extended trend for most of these denominations.

17 “Trends Continue in Church Membership Growth and Decline, reports 2011 Yearbook on American and Canadian Churches,” National Council of Churches Publication (February 14, 2011), accessed on February 7, 2014 at ncccusa.org/news/1110210yearbook2011.html, 1. 18 Ibid., 1. 7

For many years, Southern Baptists defied these trends and continued to show modest gains in membership. Yet from 2006-2011, Southern Baptists experienced five years of decline for the first time in the denomination’s history. Mirroring the mainline denominations, in 2011, Southern Baptist church membership dropped nearly 1%.19

While the number of baptisms increased slightly in this same period, the total number is still significantly less than the peak year for baptisms (445,725 in 1972 vs. 333,341 in

2011). Baptist leaders have reluctantly acknowledged the decreasing membership numbers and projected a continuation of these discouraging trends. Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research, writes, “Based on annual percent change in SBC (Southern Baptist

Convention) total membership, we are catching up with the Methodists, and will match their decline rate consistently by 2018. This trend points to a future of more and faster decline—and it is a 60-year trend.” Baptists alarmed by these developments have issued panicked statements, attempting to motivate a new commitment to missions and increased evangelical efforts. As Thom Rainer, former President and CEO of Lifeway

(SBC Publishing House), writes, “I pray that all of us will see the urgency of the moment.

We must make the Great Commission the heart of all we do and say. These latest numbers should be received with a broken spirit and a God-given determination to reach people for Christ.”20 These leaders rarely recognize or discuss the loss of community that has taken place because of these declining attendance figures. Focusing primarily upon the Great Commission, these leaders have also rarely mentioned the importance of the

19 Bob Allen, “SBC Membership Drops Below 16 Million,” Associated Baptist Press News, (June 12, 2012), accessed on February 7, 2014 at abpnews.com/ministry/organizations/item/7520, 1. 20 Russ Rankin, “Southern Baptists Decline in Baptisms, Membership, Attendance,” Lifeway Press (June 9, 2011), accessed on February 7, 2014 at www.lifeway.com/Article/Southern-baptists-decline, 1. 8

Great Commandment to love others which forms an essential foundation for the establishment of meaningful community.21

Along with these troubling trends in church membership, researchers have also discovered that active participation in church community is decreasing at an even faster pace than is reflected in the membership numbers. Gallup polls consistently find that about 40% percent of the American public attends church weekly. This number has been steady for nearly 70 years.22 However more recent studies indicate that these numbers are grossly exaggerated. Sociologists C. Kirk Hadaway and Penny Long Marler of Hartford

Seminary, known for their scholarly research on the church, published a study that reveals the actual numbers are much closer to 20%.23 Even with a broader definition of church attendance, classifying a regular attendee as someone who shows up not weekly, but at least three out of every eight Sundays, only 23-25% of Americans would fit this category.24 Hadaway and Marler, along with Mark Chaves, author of the “National

Congregations Study,” discovered what has been christened “the halo effect”—the difference between what people tell pollsters and what people actually do. In short, people tend to over-report socially desirable behavior and underreport behavior perceived to be undesirable.25 Along with this halo effect, Marler and Hadaway discovered that many people often identify their church roots, but may rarely participate in a present church community. Marler writes, “We estimate that 78 million Protestants are in place

(based on membership numbers). Ask most pastors what percentage of inactive members

21 Matthew 22:36-40, NRSV. 22 Rebecca Barnes and Lindy Lowry, “7 Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in America” Church Leaders, (January 2014), accessed on February 7, 2014 at www.churchleaders.com/ pastors/pastor-articles, 1. 23 Ibid., 2. 24 Ibid., 2. 25 Ibid., 2. 9 they have—they will say anything from 40%-60%.”26 Thus, while reported church membership is steadily dropping, active engagement in church community through regular attendance and participation demonstrates an even steeper decline.

Another troubling trend in church life that threatens sense of community is a new anonymity that is present and persistent in many congregations. Just as Americans are less and less likely to know the names of those in their neighborhood, church members are less and less familiar with those who are seated with them in the sanctuary. With attendance figures fluctuating and active members being defined by monthly, not weekly, attendance, people find themselves surrounded by familiar strangers or friendly acquaintances. In some situations, the integration of new members who may be of a different ethnicity, race, or socio-economic group has proven to be challenging.

Multiculturalism may enrich the congregation with diversity, but the church no longer has a clear shared history, story, or experience. Pastors attempt to bridge the traditional divides to create authentic community, but often discover the congregation resistant to change and unwilling to do the hard work necessary to foster community. The New York

Times reported the stories of three such congregations that wrestled with changing neighborhoods and disconnected congregations. The headline “Strangers in the New

Pew” points to the lack of community present in many American congregations.27 Even in less diverse church settings, people feel more and more disconnected from one another. Frequently, people sharing the same pew may exchange a courteous nod before

26 Ibid., 2. 27 Norimitsu Onishi, “Strangers in the New Pew; Churches Troubled, or Revitalized, by Immigrants,” The New York Times, (April 14, 1996), accessed on February 7, 2014 at www.nytimes.com/1996/04/14/nyregion, 1. 10 the start of the service, but rarely engage in a meaningful conversation or exchange. In many churches, people worship together but fail to connect with one another.

Although the traditional language of church "family" echoes in many sanctuaries from the preachers’ pulpits, those in the pews sometimes feel disconnected from one another. Many small churches face consolidation with other congregations without having a common story or the shared history that helps to foster community. Many larger churches struggle to discover the sense of community in a sanctuary filled with strangers.

Congregations struggle to create a sense of community and foster unity in the midst of diversity. Church members seem less like brothers and sisters, and more like cordial acquaintances who meet together for a weekly worship service.

In an informative conversation with her pastor, a long-time member of First

Baptist Church of Mobile offered the following observation: “I am glad to see many members joining the church, but simultaneously sad to attend many of my friends’ funerals. Last Sunday, I looked into the congregation and realized, for the first time, I didn’t know many of the people present in worship. It is exciting to see the church growing, but something has been lost along the way. I look around the sanctuary and see new faces, but know very few of their names or stories.”28 Her words reflect an experience shared by a growing number of people in churches today. She mourns the loss of a strong sense of community within the church and searches to understand her place in the church’s evolving story. Throughout her life, she has relied on her church to serve as a home, a place to find solace, acceptance, and community. Yet, as she nears the end of life, she confesses to feeling detached from other members of her church family.

28 At the time of this conversation, I was the Pastor of First Baptist Church of Mobile. However, in 2013 after the completion of my project but before the composition of this research paper, I accepted the role as Pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, Georgia. 11

Although long-time members may lament their sense of loss of community, newer members also grapple with feelings of disconnectedness. In an interview with the pastor, a couple that had recently joined the congregation stated, "We feel extremely welcome in this place, but simultaneously we don't really 'know' anyone or feel connected to members of the congregation. We are in this community, but still don't really feel a part of this community." As the conversation continued, the couple reiterated their appreciation for the church's programs, which include meaningful worship experiences and Christian education opportunities, but they longed for a deeper sense of connectedness.

This couple’s desire for connectedness and community is shared by many other

Americans who are loudly lamenting the loss of community and wondering where to find acceptance, understanding, and shared experience. In response to this need, the Sunday

Assembly was born as a “godless congregation where people meet to hear great talks, sing songs, and generally celebrate the wonder of life.”29 Yet, the catalyst for this group of committed non-believers is not entertainment, but rather a search for community. Phil

Zuckerman, professor at Pitzer College in Southern California, writes, “They

(participants) miss the community, they miss the music, they miss the multigenerational coming together with people that you might not otherwise be hanging out with.”30 While the church fails to focus on community and experiences decline, this Sunday Assembly, created solely for the purpose of creating community, has experienced great growth and

29 Marian Berelowitz, “America Still ‘Bowling Alone’ and Looking for Community,” JWT Intelligence, October 2, 2013, accessed on February 7, 2014 at jwtintelligence.com/2013/10/America- bowling-alone-community, 2. 30Madalit Del Barco, “Sunday Assembly: A Church for the Godless Picks Up Steam,” National Public Radio, January 7, 2014, accessed on April 3, 2014 at http://www.npr.org/2014/01/07/260184473/ sunday-assembly-a-church-for-the-godless-picks-up-steam. 12 plans to expand, planting additional campuses in Canada, Australia, and throughout the

United States.

Other organizations and businesses have also sought to capitalize on the need for connectedness, often in a profitable manner. In New York, a women-only gym claims it is “committed to the empowerment, support and camaraderie of and among our clients.”

The description is notable because the language is centered on the creation of community, not individual advancement or health through exercise. “Watch for more businesses to find ways to bring likeminded customers together in a bid to create real-life communities that mimic the organized groups of old.”31 The “groups of old” referenced by the writer in this concluding statement includes the church, which seems to have lost sight of its calling and commitment to foster the community that people are so desperately seeking.

America’s desire to connect is also revealed in our obsession with online communities. The most visible and widely-utilized of these community platforms is the social networking website called Facebook. Millions of Americans use Facebook to share information, stories, announcements, and pictures with family, friends, and strangers from around the world. Facebook facilitates connectedness by identifying both traditional and non-traditional commonalities like personal interests, geographic proximity, and shared experiences to encourage users to become a part of an online community. In October 2013, Facebook reported having more than 1.1 billion registered accounts. (Some users may have more than one account. Actual membership may be closer to 500 million.) According to Money, nearly half of all Facebook users log into their accounts each day. While churches struggle to have members attend weekly services, Facebook members seem committed to daily interactions and engagement. The

31 Berelowitz, 2. 13 average Facebook user spends 700 minutes a month on his or her account and has 130 friends in his or her Facebook community.32 For the sake of comparison, the median church size in the United States is 75 members while the average church size is 186 members.33

While voluntary community organization membership and church attendance has been declining, Facebook participation and membership has grown exponentially. In

2009, Facebook had 150 million accounts. In 2010, while church membership continued to decrease, Facebook more than doubled in size and boasted more than 350 million accounts. By 2011, the number had doubled again to more than 750 million accounts. As of June 18, 2013, Facebook had more than one million active advertisers and facilitated two billion connections between individuals, companies, and organizations a month.

Several different factors contribute to the Facebook phenomenon and the rapid expansion of this electronic community. Facebook invests extensively in marketing to consumers and businesses in order to garner a profit and to increase membership. Despite the efforts of founder Mark Zuckerberg to describe Facebook as a “mission-driven” enterprise determined to “make the world more open and connected,” the enterprise has been broadly criticized for being primarily focused on profit not people.34 However, for many users, Facebook provides a platform to share thoughts, stories, and experiences with other people. In short, Facebook electronically provides the place and space to communicate and connect in the modern world. The rapid expansion of this network

32 Lahle Wolfe, “2013 Facebook Global User Statistics: How Many People Use Facebook?,” Money: Women in Business Magazine, (October 3, 2013), accessed on February 7, 2014 at womeninbusiness.about.com.od, 2. 33 “Fast Facts About American Religion,” Hartford Seminary accessed on February 7, 2014 at http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html, 2. 34Sam Gustin, “Zuckerberg’s Remarks Give Facebook Shares a Boost—But Can He Deliver?,” Time (September 12, 2012), accessed on April 3, 2013 at http://business.time.com/2012/09/13/facebook- ceos-bullish-remarks-send-shares-soaring-but-do-they-reflect-reality. 14 demonstrates a deep longing for community and reveals a path toward fostering community through sharing stories. Facebook users flock to this online community to speak and to listen, to read stories and to write stories. In short, Facebook provides an online venue for storytelling and, in the process, community building.

Though Facebook may represent the most prominent setting for storytelling, many other online communities provide similar and often deeper opportunities.35

StoriesVille is “an online community where sharing stories is made simple and personal.

We offer a platform, aka, a Storyboard, to connect with your friends and lay out your stories.”36 Members of this community are encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences as well as read the stories of others. In the process, a sense of connectedness emerges through the creation of an electronic community. National Public Radio

(hereafter referred to as NPR) hosts “StoryCorps” which serves as “an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives.” 37

Through StoryCorps, people are given the opportunity to share their personal narratives and remember meaningful experiences, but equally important, to listen to other people.

Thus far, I have made a few essential assertions that form the foundation of this research project. First, in recent years, Americans have experienced a troubling and significant decline in sense of community. Secondly, within the church, members are also

35 In the context of this research paper, in the interest of space, I have highlighted two of these online storytelling communities. However, countless other communities exist that provide platforms for sharing stories and fostering communities. I share the following list of online communities (each with a minimum of 1 million users) as a representative sample: CaringBridge, Classmates, Fotolog, Goodreads, LifeJournal, MyHeritage, MyLife, MySpace, NetLog, Open Diary. 36 “Welcome to StoriesVille” (Created 2014), accessed on February 7, 2014 at storiesville.com/aboutus, 1. 37 “StoryCorps” National Public Radio, (updated daily), accessed on February 7, 2014 at npr.org/series/4516989/storycorps, 1. 15 experiencing a lack of connectedness with one another. Thirdly, despite these declines, people are still seeking to be a part of meaningful relationships as the loss of community leaves a void in people’s lives. Fourthly, online social networks have reminded us that people create community through storytelling, sharing their own stories and listening to the stories of others.

This research project addressed the loss of community in society and more specifically in the Christian church. The purpose of this project was to enhance community in the context of a local church congregation, First Baptist Church of Mobile.

The project embraced the idea that real community can best be formed and strengthened by the sharing of personal stories. In the Baptist tradition, the presentation of autobiographical narrative takes shape and form in the historical practice of “bearing witness” or “testifying” about God’s work in a person’s life.

In this Doctor of Ministry project, I sought to reclaim the testimony tradition to enhance a sense of community at First Baptist Church of Mobile. The research question that directed this project is this: Can sense of community be increased by recovering and practicing the Baptist testimony tradition? In response to this guiding research question, as a hypothesis and thesis statement, I expressed the clear conviction: The Baptist testimony tradition, when practiced in a local congregation, effectively increases and enhances the church community.

In examining this research question, the term community needs to be defined both broadly as a concept, then more specifically in relation to the church. The work of Peter

Block has been extremely helpful. He states that community is “the experience of

16 belonging. We are in community each time we find a place where we belong.”38 Block's definition identifies community as a subjective experience that can only be accurately evaluated by those within a community. The phrase "sense of belonging" links the experience of community to personal feelings and perceptions which may result from the interactions of an individual with a group or community. Block is careful not to attempt to quantify this experience, accepting as a premise the idea that community must first and foremost be defined qualitatively. Building upon the foundation provided by Block, M.

Scott Peck addresses the concept of community from a spiritual perspective. He concludes that true community can be defined as “people living together in both freedom and love.”39 Peck's pairing of freedom and love is particularly appropriate to this project.

His understanding of community supports an ideology that is explicitly Christian, emphasizing love as the greatest of virtues,40 and explicitly Baptist, a tradition defined by a passionate commitment to freedom.41 Both of these secondary concepts, freedom and love, are grounded in Peck’s understanding of Christian purpose. Coupling Peck’s ideas with Block’s ideas yields a definition of community useful for this study, namely that community is “the experience of belonging, living together in both freedom and love.”

Along with Block and Peck’s work on the concept of community, many contemporary scholars employ the term “communities of practice.” William Snyder of the Center for Faith and Leadership at Duke University defines communities of practice as “groups of people who have a shared interest who then come together to learn from

38Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging (San Francisco: Barrett and Koehler Publishers, 2008): xii. 39 M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987), 7. 40 1 Corinthians 13:13. 41 Walter Shurden, The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms. (Macon, Georgia: Smyth and Helwys, 1993), 1. 17 each other.”42 Snyder’s definition of community of practice points toward a shared interest, or in the case of the church, a shared belief that unites those who are participating. Snyder’s definition is helpful because it highlights learning from each other as a primary purpose for those gathered in a community of practice. In the context of this research proposal, learning through sharing our stories and listening to the stories of others provides the essential foundation for the formation of community. Etienne

Wenger further clarifies the community of practice definition stating, “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”43 In the case of the church, faith represents the shared passion for those participating in the community of practice.

Members of the church as a community of practice seek to better understand and practice faith through both sharing stories past and writing stories together in the present. Thus, the church is a “community of practice united by a shared faith, committed to learning how to do it better, and dedicated to meeting regularly to share our stories with one another.”

Armed with this understanding of community and the church as a community of practice, this research project must identify the concepts of testimony and story, clarifying the nuances of these two words and explaining the rationale for the inclusion of both terms throughout this thesis. The work of Thomas Jones at Candler School of Theology, proves to be extremely helpful in understanding the definition and difficulties associated with the word testimony.

42 William Snyder, “William Snyder: Cultivating Communities,” Faith and Leadership (A publication of Duke Divinity School), (July 29, 2009), accessed on February 7, 2014 at faithandleadership.com/multimedia/William-Snyder, 1. 43Etienne Wenger-Trayner, “Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction,” accessed on February 7, 2014 at wenger-trayner.com/theory, 2. 18

From the very beginning, putting the Christian faith into words out in the everyday arenas of life has been called testimony or witness. These are strong and good words, but they have fallen into corrupt uses, and we need to reclaim them. Often when witness and testimony are employed in Christian circles, they refer only to the autobiographical accounts of how somebody became a Christian.

In some settings when a Christian says, "At the meeting the other night I gave my testimony," when she really means is that she told the story of how she developed a deeper relationship with Christ. Taken alone, this use of testimony is far too narrow. To be sure, such stories of personal conversion and growth, when they are told truthfully and humbly, are a part of what is meant by testimony, but they are only a fraction the whole meaning.44

Testimony is an important practice that can be traced back to the earliest Christian communities. The Book of Acts, for example, is filled with stories of early Christians bearing witness to their faith by sharing their stories with political and religious leaders as well the common people in the local communities. The Christian Bible is divided into two sections traditionally called the Old and New Testaments. The word testament comes from the Latin testari which means "to bear witness" and was most closely associated with legal proceedings. The term testament reveals the assumed purpose of the Biblical texts to bear witness to God's work in our world. Testimony was clearly linked to bearing witness to "truth" through observation or experience. In Roman courts, witnesses would offer testimony in a case to help render a just judgment.45 In early

Christian churches, testimony was offered to share the true story of a person's encounter and experience with God as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. However, as Long describes, testimony has come to be associated with a narrower meaning in the modern church defined primarily as the sharing of an autobiographical personal conversion

44 Thomas G. Long, Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian. (San Francisco: Josey- Bass, 2004), 27-28. 45 I prefer the terms Hebrew Bible for Old Testament and Christian scriptures for New Testament. However, for the sake of this argument, the traditional designations of Old and New Testament have been utilized.

19 experience. Evangelical church revivals, which Long refers to as "meetings," serve as the primary setting for this form of "testimony" to be shared.

Before the implementation of this project, many First Baptist Church members expressed a similar, limited understanding of the word testimony. One elderly man stated, "I believed that the word testimony referred only to the public proclamation of a person's conversion experience." A woman engaging in the same conversation added,

"Testimony was only about 'coming to know the Lord' and the salvation experience."

These common conceptions are too narrow and not consistent with the ancient testimony tradition. Long defines testimony in a manner that is clear and inclusive as "talking faithfully, telling the truth as we have experienced it and witnessed it in the context of relationship with God."46 This broad definition of testimony will inform this research project.

The sharing of testimony inevitably includes the practice of storytelling.

Storytelling may often be associated with fictional accounts of fantastic experiences.

However, storytelling may also involve the recounting of real experiences and the processing of their meaning in a narrative context. As demonstrated by the popularity of online communities, people are still eager to share their stories and interested in hearing the stories of others. In the context of the church, Christians read the scriptures in order to connect and more fully understand the stories of their faithful (and sometimes less faithful) predecessors. The Bible is first and foremost a collection of stories for the faithful which bear witness to God's truth. In his analysis of testimony, Thomas Long frequently refers to the testimony as a form of faithful storytelling. "The world is full of stories, but all of these billions of stories are searching for the one, true story, the story of

46Long, 29, 30, 38. 20 a God who knows and loves us, the story of a God who brings justice into a broken world. Christians are on the witness stand to tell that story, not because it is a likely or an advantageous piece of testimony, but because it is true."47 Testimony may be considered a subset of storytelling, a unique form that has taken expression in religious contexts and that is especially prominent in the Baptist church tradition. However, testimony has become so closely associated with the salvation experience that the term is often misunderstood and too narrowly defined. Thus, for the sake of this project, the terms of testimony and Christian storytelling will be used interchangeably to describe the process of sharing truth in a narrative form based on personal observations and experiences.

The transformational change introduced, addressed, and evaluated in this research project centered on enhancing the community within a church context. An increase in sense of community, demonstrated using both quantitative and qualitative measures

(outlined later in Section 3), revealed a positive transformational change and validates the thesis of this research project. These results validated my hypothesis and this project effectively answered the research question, making a significant contribution to the study of the practice of ministry.

The methodological approach embraced in implementing this project and introducing this transformational change to the congregation included homilies presented in the worship service, teaching offered through Wednesday Bible study, and practice facilitated for church members in both settings. Linking the testimony tradition to Baptist heritage, the research project was designed to enhance the congregation’s understanding and appreciation of the historic foundations of this practice. By examining and explicating the scriptures, I developed a solid Biblical and theological foundation for the

47 Ibid., 29. 21 narrative practice. I sought to model storytelling in the context of sermons and teachings, providing an example of Christian storytelling for the congregation. The research project addressed the loss of place and space for meaningful community building, by setting aside time on the schedule and an appropriate place in the church for members to learn to tell stories, to practice sharing stories, and to listen to others’ stories.

This Doctor of Ministry research project was motivated by a pastoral concern about loss of community in a specific congregation. Inspired by conversations with members of the congregation, the project sought to address people’s need for a community characterized by freedom and love. In the process, the project discovered a larger issue present in American society, namely the loss of community and sense of connectedness which permeates our culture. The Christian church, following the Biblical mandate to seek reconciliation, advances God’s mission by fostering unity and strengthening community. Recognizing the value of storytelling in the creation and strengthening of community, this research project reclaimed the Baptist testimony tradition and encouraged Christian storytelling in the context of a local church, namely

First Baptist Church of Mobile. The project sought to empower a community of believers to discover and share stories with one another in an effort to foster friendship and mutual understanding. In the process, the project not only strengthened community in the context of this congregation, but provided a model for other congregations and church leaders who are committed to meeting a growing need for community in the Christian church specifically and American society generally.

22

II. Theological and Biblical Underpinnings

Baptists comprise the largest Protestant group present in the United States with their highest concentration of membership located in the southeastern states. The

Southern Baptist Convention, the largest of the Baptist denominations, has 16 million members, over 8 million more than the next largest Protestant body of believers in

America.48 Baptists are not a single and clearly defined denomination, but rather a collection of dozens of denominations divided by ethnicity, geography, doctrines, and practices but united by a clear theological commitment to personal faith and freedom.

Baptists are a remarkably diverse group of people as evidenced by a short list of the names of prominent Baptists, which includes Pat Robertson and Jesse Jackson, Billy

Graham and Bill Clinton, Tim Tebow and Ashley Judd, John Grisham and Jessica

Simpson. As Walter Shurden writes, “Diversity flows naturally from the Baptist preoccupation with the right of choice.”49 Yet, in the midst of these variations, Baptists find broad consensus around shared common convictions which cut across the ethnic, political, and sociological divides in this body of believers. “Baptists are noted for their emphasis on personal religious experience and the authority of Scripture.”50

Baptists have a rich theological heritage built on a shared tradition of Protestant reformers who proclaimed “sola scriptura, sola fide.”51 Embracing these words, Baptists

48 Fast Facts About American Religion, Hartford Institute for Religion Research (Hartford Seminary, Connecticut), accessed on April 15, 2014 at http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/ fastfacts/fast_facts.html#largest. 49 Walter Shurden, The Baptist Identity: The Four Fragile Freedoms, (Macon: Smyth and Helwys Publishers, 1993), 3. 50 “Baptist Churches,” Religion Stylebook: A Journal from Religious Newswriters (a publication of theReligious Newswriters Association), accessed on April 16, 2014 at religionstylebook.com/entries/ Baptist churches. 51 Latin phrases. Sola scriptura means “by scripture alone.” Sola fide means “by faith alone.” 23 have been known as “people of the book,” due to their strong devotion to the Biblical text. In most Baptist churches, the Bible occupies a central space on the altar table and a central place in the worship experience. While many other Christian denominations accentuate the centrality of the sacraments, Baptists emphasize the importance of the scriptural text and its application in the life of the believer. Ministers are rarely referred to as “sacramental,” and are frequently called “preacher, or proclaimer of the word.”

Baptist theology remains deeply informed by, and grounded in, the Biblical texts.

Though Baptists remain united in their commitment to the Bible, the emphasis on individual freedom and the priesthood of the believer yields a surprising variety of different scriptural interpretations. Baptist theology permits disagreement and allows for divergent opinions to co-exist within the community of faith.52

Coupled with this commitment to the scriptures, Baptist theology also emphasizes the importance of personal experience, embracing a Biblical faith through the free acceptance of God’s gracious and relational invitation. Theologian Claude L. Howe notes that historically Baptists “focused primarily on personal religious experience so that the function of worship, whether private or family or public, centered upon initiating and encouraging” a change of the heart.53 In Baptist theology, faith is more than merely an objective assertion or intellectual affirmation of a creedal statement, but rather a

“subjective Spirit-induced experience that confirms the message of the scripture in the

52 Shurden, 2-3. 53 Claude L. Howe, Family Worship in Baptist Life, Baptist History and Heritage, v. 14 n. 1, January 1982), 48. 24 heart of the believer.”54 Baptists are by definition a non-creedal faith tradition with a passion for freedom and a dependence on personal conversion experience frequently referred to as “getting saved.”55 Faith is defined by an encounter (often, but not always, an emotional one) with God which results in the formation of what is commonly described as a “personal relationship.”

In most Baptist churches, the new believer must offer a public profession of faith before being officially accepted as a member of the church.56 At the present time, most

Baptist congregations (including First Baptist Church of Mobile) consider this act to be a mere formality in the process of granting official membership. Candidates are asked to walk down the aisle at the close of the worship service to express their desire to join the church family. The candidate simply stands before the congregation and this act represents a silent, but public profession of personal faith. However, traditionally,

Baptists have embraced the practice of faithful storytelling as a profession of personal faith. Candidates who came forward to request membership were often required to bear witness to God’s work in their lives and share with the congregation their conversion experience. As evidence of this practice, Monia Najar, Professor at Lehigh University, relays this historical account:

Just a few years after the revolutionary war, a young Virginia girl named Polly, just fourteen years old, stood before a Baptist congregation to relate her conversion experience. These relations of conversion narratives were no small matters to the individuals or the church community. These were a rite of passage

54 William Carell, The Inner Testimony of the Spirit: Locating the Coherent Center of E.Y. Mullins’s Theology, Baptist History and Heritage (v. 33, no. 1 Winter 2008), 35-39. 55 Shurden, 2, 14. 56 Baptists’ commitment to a “public profession of faith” is based their interpretation on several scripture texts including Matthew 10:32-33—Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 25

that led to church membership and salvation…For Baptists, these narratives were the ritualized proof of God’s saving grace, a regular part of church meetings resembling other churches’ use of the Lord’s Supper. Polly’s transformation from despair to blessed assurance had begun when her community was in the throes of a revival so exciting that meetings took place day and night.

Polly and her close companion, Hannah, had yet to experience the saving grace of God. They suffered from “deep distress of the soul” and “would weep and converse together deep into the night.”…Polly found salvation and did receive that assurance, which she experienced as a “tide of joy.” When Polly stood before the church to give her testimony, the minister saw that the “crowded, attentive assembly” was “much affected” by her account…57

Faithful storytelling represented a significant and essential religious expression for those in Baptist congregations. Personal conversion was affirmed and completed by the narrative sharing of the story to the gathered community of believers. As Najar notes, these testimonies served a sacramental role, offering “ritualized proof” of God’s grace.

The testimony tradition empowered all people, but especially those who were oppressed, such as women and slaves, providing them a prominent place to give voice to their rarely heard stories and to impact those in positions of power in the church and society.58

Although barriers were still present in many of these congregations and oppression was still prevalent, storytelling leveled the field, for in this moment every person was radically equal and given a hearing by all gathered in the church.

Many Baptists embraced the practice of testimony, not only as a public profession required for membership, but also as a regular and meaningful element of the worship experience. During Sunday and mid-week services, members were encouraged to share their stories with others. The practice was grounded in the Baptist theological belief in

57 Monica Najar, “’More Striking…Than the Loudest Preaching’: Baptist Women’s Testimony in the Early Evangelical South.” Perspectives in Religious Studies (v. 36 no. 4 Winter 2009), 433-443. 58 Ibid., 433-443. 26 the value of personal experience and the radical commitment to the priesthood of all believers. Testimony took many different shapes and forms, but offered members an opportunity to connect by sharing stories and listening to the stories of others. The

American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress took time to record some of these

“religious experiences” in a research project called Children of the Heavenly King. This collection contains countless examples of the testimony tradition like this one from the

Clarks Creek Progressive Baptist Church. “I am standing praising the Lord today for what he is to me, for what he has been in my life…” The speaker, who is not named, goes on to share, “Satan has tried to tear me down, but God will help to lift me up. Pray for me.”59 This testimony, though short and lacking details, is a clear confession of personal struggles and includes a request for prayers from the church family. The speaker not only shares a story, but invites the listeners into this story and begins to craft a community narrative. Those hearing the narrative are encouraged to become participants by entering into the emerging plotline through the act of prayer. In the process, this individual’s testimony evolves and transforms into a communal story.

In the testimony tradition, church members articulated faith convictions and developed a deep sense of community built upon mutual understanding and respect.

Baptist churches are blessed to have a historical heritage that is replete with examples of faithful storytelling through the practice of testimony. This narrative process engaged the head and the heart, providing church members with an opportunity to connect emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually with each other. Since professing faith in this

59 Charles Wolfe, Children of the Heavenly King: Religious Expressions in the Central Blue Ridge, (American Folklife Center of Library of Congress, Washington, DC), 11. 27 manner was a requirement for membership, every church member would at some point share his or her story with the congregation. This storytelling practice fostered community within the church body.

Sadly, through disuse in some congregations and abuse in others, the testimony tradition has become a misunderstood and a rarely practiced method of community building in Baptist churches. As Nathan Finn, a Southern Baptist interim pastor notes,

“Churches are hesitant to require public testimonies…What if the baptismal candidate is scared of public speaking or isn’t a good speaker? What if the testimony isn’t clear or it’s heterodox and brings confusion? What if the testimonies add too much time to the worship service?”60 Though reflecting some legitimate concerns, the fear suggested in these questions has caused many congregations to simply abandon the practice of public testimony. Consequently, since bearing witness through storytelling has been so rarely experienced, church members are unfamiliar with the practice or even the purpose of testimony.

In interviews and conversation, members of First Baptist Church of Mobile expressed confusion about the practice of testimony in a church setting. One member admitted to “growing up hearing testimonies,” but described the delivery as “very emotional with excessive amounts of shouting.” The testimonies were always about

“getting saved,” but the most interesting part of the story involved listing the sinful acts that occurred while the person was “lost.” In the process, he observed that the testimony seemed to be less about developing relationships through sharing authentic personal

60 Nathan Finn, “On Public Baptismal Testimonies,” Personal Blog. Accessed on May 8, 2014 at http://www.nathanfinn.com/2012/05/31/on-public-baptismal-testimonies. 28 stories and more about gaining attention and providing entertainment through spectacle and improbable exaggerations. Another lifelong Baptist confessed, “Testimony was about drawing attention to the individual, not about building a community.” Due to this focus on individualism and emotionalism, many Baptists grew uncomfortable with the testimony tradition. Most members, whose personal stories were focused more on simple faith than elaborate manifestation, felt inferior and came to believe their stories did not really matter, and as a result, people stopped sharing their stories in corporate worship services and even in coffee conversations. Also, for the sake of time, convenience, and comfort, candidates for membership were no longer asked to bear witness to their faith experience, but allowed to stand silently before the church congregation for a fast-track tacit approval. In the process, local churches lost a wonderful way to foster and enhance community among the members.

However, the few churches that still embrace the practice of testimony have discovered that Christian storytelling remains a powerful tool in fostering authentic community in the congregation. At First Baptist Church of Durham, North Carolina, baptismal candidates are required to share their testimonies prior to being baptized.

Aware of the fears of public speaking, the church chooses to provide counseling for the candidates and help them to prepare their story before making this public presentation to the congregation. As a result, members of this church have a greater appreciation and understanding of one another and feel a stronger sense of connectedness because of their shared stories. As one member recounts, “We’ve baptized three women in the past month. One is a collegian who has been raised in one of the church’s families, but has only recently come to faith in Christ. Another is an Asian graduate student who was 29 recently introduced to the gospel through our church’s outreach ministry to internationals living in Durham. The third young lady is a collegian who was converted several years ago, but who had never been baptized. I know all three of these stories because each of these women shared their testimonies with our church. I’m thankful they shared their stories.”61 By telling their stories, these three women invited the church members into their lives and wrote a new page in the community narrative. The stories create an important bridge that integrates the individuals into the church family and strengthens the bond between new members and the congregation.

While most Baptist churches have largely ceased to speak about testimony as an element of worship, Baptist hymns continue to proclaim the centrality of Christian storytelling in the worship experience. Billy Graham, America’s famous revival preacher and a Baptist minister, sang at each of his crusades, “We’ve a story to tell to the nations…For darkness shall turn to dawning, and dawning to noonday bright.” Blessed

Assurance, a mainstay in the Baptist hymnal, declares, “This is my story, this is my song.”62 Each Sunday, church members rise together to sing I Love to Tell the Story.63

While the value of storytelling may be referenced in Baptist hymnody, it is rarely practiced in Baptist worship services. Songs about stories echo in the sanctuaries, but the actual stories have long since been forgotten or left untold.

61 Ibid, 2. 62 Chorus to Blessed Assurance: “This is my story, this is my song/ Praising my Savior all the day long/This is my story, this is my song/ Praising my Savior all the day long.” (Words by Fanny Crosby). 63 First Verse and Chorus of I Love to Tell the Story: “I love to tell the story Of unseen things above/ Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love/ I love to tell the story Because I known ‘tis true/ It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do/ I love to tell the story! ‘Twill be my theme in glory/ To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.” (Words by A. Catherine Hankey). 30

The Baptist testimony tradition is deeply connected to narrative theology. James

W. McClendon, one of the early narrative theologians, spent his childhood in Baptist churches in the South.64 In his ground-breaking work Biography as Theology,

McClendon described himself as “an alienated, left-wing Southern Baptist” whose theology was deeply influenced by his experiences growing up in this tradition.65

Informed by these experiences, McClendon developed a deep appreciation for the power of narrative and the importance of life stories as an essential theological lens.66

McClendon’s theology is founded on his assertion that “narrative or story is a means of expression uniquely suited to theology or at least to Christian theology…Biography, a form distinguished by being always a human story and always a true story is well-suited to the Christian faith.”67 Narrative theologians assert that faith is best interpreted and understood in the context of Christian community, encouraging storytelling to discover people’s places in God’s work in the world. The Bible is a collection of stories, but the goal of narrative theology is to connect the Biblical story to the human experience in the past and the present. God’s story is not separated from the human experience, but rather intrinsically interconnected. Thus, “the only honest way to talk about God was (and is) to talk about the story of the world and God’s relation to it…The only kind of religious

64 As a brief aside, James McClendon though often called the “Father of Narrative Theology,” personally expressed reservations about the use of the term “narrative theology.” In Biography as Theology, he wrote, “Narrative theology is a movement so amorphous that I take some pains to stay a cautious distance from the fad.” Later, McClendon would explain, “There should be not be such a thing as ‘narrative theology’; there should only be ordinary theology that ordinarily has narrative content.” 65 James Wm. McClendon, Jr., Biography as Theology: How Life Stories Can Remake Today’s Theology, (Philadelphia, Trinity Press International, 1990), 69. 66 Chad Myers, “Embodying the ‘Great Story’: An Interview with James W. McClendon.” The Witness (December 2000), 2-3. Accessed September 19, 2012 at www.thewitness.org/archive/dec2000/mcclendon.html. 67 McClendon, 158-159. 31 experience that was distinctive and worth talking about was narrative experience—that is, life stories.”68 People are best enabled and empowered to understand theology through a narrative presentation which includes Biblical stories and also makes space for people’s stories and encounters with the Divine. God is revealed to people, not in doctrine and dogma, but rather through personal experience and the shared stories that emerge.

Narrative theology emphasizes the importance of understanding life stories in the larger context of God’s unfolding story in human history.

Building upon the foundation established by McClendon, Catholic theologian

Johann Baptist Metz emphasizes the importance of storytelling as a means to understand and appreciate the scriptures and inform theology. “Theology is above all concerned with direct experiences expressed in narrative language. This is clear throughout the

Scripture, from the beginning in the story of creation, to the end, where a vision of the new heaven and the new earth is revealed. All this is disclosed in narrative.”69 The

Christian scriptures are not simply a theological textbook, but rather a collection of stories from which theology emerges.

Narrative theology blatantly rejects the notion that theology can be separated from story. As Alexander Lucie-Smith, Professor at Tangaza College in Kenya, writes, “In short, narrative theology relies on a different paradigm; the human story is the meeting place between men and women and divine revelation, and not something that can be

68 Myers, 1-2. 69 Stanley Hauerwas and L. Gregory Jones, Why Narrative: Readings in Narrative Theology, “A Short Apology of Narrative” by Johann Baptist Metz, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 252. 32 considered the opposite pole of revelation.”70 Narrative theologians argue that the separation of scripture from experience as well as theology from story leads to an artificial and incomplete understanding of God’s work in our world. As Michael Root states, “The Christian story and the life and world of the reader do not exist in isolation, but constitute one world and one story…the reader is included in the story and how the story then is or can be the story of the reader’s redemption.”71 People understand experiences as a part of a larger narrative or life story, thus faith must also be framed in a narrative form. As McClendon concludes, “Humans are story-engaged. I feel that narrative theology is not a popular fad, but something that is just as enduring as Scripture itself.”72 Narrative theology embraces the notion that God continues to speak through life experiences which can be shared through story or testimony.

Storytelling cannot take place in a vacuum or even a solitary setting, but rather must take shape and form in a community. As members of the community share stories, people are offered the opportunity to “ask ourselves about our mental image of God, what

God was to us, what God is to us, and what we expect of God.”73 These theological reflections made in community point toward a God that both embodies and reflects community in God’s very nature. Trinitarian theologians remind us that community is not created, but rather is an ever-present reality in earliest Creation stories.74 Narrative theology connects these ancient faith stories with people’s lives in the present,

70 Alexander Lucie-Smith, Narrative Theology and Moral Theology: The Infinite Horizon, (Burlington, VT, Ashgate Publishing Company, 2007), 3. 71 Stanley Hauerwas and L. Gregory Jones, Why Narrative: Readings in Narrative Theology, “The Narrative Structure of Soteriology” by Michael Root, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 267. 72 Myers, 2. 73 John Navone, Towards a Theology of Story, (Slough, England: St. Paul Publications, 1977), 14. 74 Genesis 1 and 2 Creation stories will be studied in greater detail later in this section. 33 emphasizing the continuity of God’s presence and the revelation of God’s nature through experiences. The Triune God exists in relationship with Godself, so theological reflections about the Triune God emerge in narratives and stories present in a faith community. In the context of a narrative community, what emerges is the “theological understanding of the life of the Triune God as a community of love in mutual relationality.”75 The church, as a collection not of merely members, but rather of storytellers, represents the setting where the Trinity can be most fully understood in the context of a community. In these stories through the lenses of narrative theology, God as

Trinity may appear as Author of all stories, Character interacting in all stories, and

Audience to these evolving stories. God’s nature is revealed through the Great Divine story which begins in the scriptures but continues to be written in our lives. “God’s identity is known in and through the story of God with God’s creatures. The God of

Scripture, however, is revealed in the plurality of characters—Father-Son-Spirit—in the story” and in our stories.76 Thus, storytelling helps people to better see, know, and understand the Triune God working in their midst and revealed in their stories.

Narrative theology takes shape and forms not only in the halls of academia, but also in the context of congregations. James McClendon was careful to note that this form of theology, while including the telling of deeply personal experiences, is to be

“undertaken in Christian community.” This storytelling process reshapes the traditional understanding of the definition and purpose of the church, requiring a significant shift in

75 Jannie Swart, et. al. “Toward a Missional Theology of Participation: Ecumenical Reflections on Contributions to Trinity, Mission, and Church.” Missiology: An International Review (v. 37 no. 75, 2009) , 77. 76 Swart, 79. 34 traditional Baptist ecclesiology. The church looks less like an institution defined by rigid membership requirements and more like a gathered assembly of storytellers who recognize God’s presence in the common threads of their experiences. Churches are no longer simply storehouses for ancient wisdom and protectors of eternally established theological doctrines, but as settings for theological engagement through narrative exchanges. Churches are more than meetinghouses for services or classrooms for catechism. Churches transform into life-giving and vibrant communities of Christian storytellers with interconnected personal narratives. Johann Metz describes the church saying, “Christians do not primarily form an argumentative and reasoning community, but a story-telling community, and…the exchange of experiences of faith, like that of a

‘new’ experience, takes a narrative form.”77

The church provides a place for theological discovery through fostering and facilitating storytelling among the members. Lutheran theologian George Lindbeck characterizes communities of believers as “story-shaped churches” with an emphasis on the “primacy of narrative.”78 Theology and a new ecclesiology emerges and evolves in these shared stories, which point toward and affirm God’s truth and reveal more clearly

God’s work among a gathered group of people. The church serves as a setting where lives are touched and transformed through the practice of sharing personal narratives and testimonies.

In the process, people develop a deeper sense of appreciation for others’ needs and the impact is felt across generations. As Larry Goleman, former Executive Director

77 Hauerwas, 255. 78 Scott Holland, How Do Stories Save Us?: An Essay on the Question of Theological Hermenuetics, (London: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006), 76. 35 of the Narrative Leadership Project of the Alban Institute, explains,

“Storytelling…experiences for children and families can instill empathy for others’ hardships, moral capacities and clarity, and a sense of specialness as one of God’s children and servants. Establishing venues for adults to share their own stories of tragedy and listen to others’—through small group, prayer partners, and lay visitation programs— allows members to reframe hardships as opportunities for change and growth.” 79

Similarly, as David Nelson Duke of William Jewell College writes, “Another person’s life story may affirm our understanding of our tradition, or it may revolutionize it. That life story may help us recover a lost tradition or challenge those we hold so sacred.” 80

Churches, informed by narrative theology, that choose to embrace a new ecclesiology and to practice testimony can be settings for transformational change in the lives of the storytellers and those listening to these stories. As Frederick Buechner writes, “My story is important not because it is mine, God knows, but because if I tell it anything like right, the chances are that you will recognize in many ways it is also yours.”81 Narrative theology teaches us that people’s stories and God’s story are not separated, but blessedly interwoven. “The life-experience of a religious person is understood better when it is treated as experience with God.”82 Each individual story will serve as a single page or chapter in the narrative that McClendon calls “The Great Story, the Bible story of which all the smaller stories are component parts.” We discover “the

79 Larry A. Goleman, Teaching Our Story: Narrative Leadership and Pastoral Formation, (Herndon,Virginia; Alban Institute, 2010), 10. 80 David Nelson Duke, “Theology and Biography: Simple Suggestions For a Promising Field, Perspectives in Religious Studies, vol. 6, iss. 2 (Summer 1986), 142. 81 Frederick Buechner, Telling Secrets, (New York: Harper and Collins, 1992), 1. 82 Navone, 12. 36 story of God and the story that God wants us to participate in.”83 Churches are called to be communities of writers and readers of this Divine story.

Testimonies have the ability to touch and transform the lives of the speakers and the listeners. The narrative not only informs our understanding of a person’s experiences, but serves as a bridge that fosters connectedness and community in a congregation. As

Catholic scholar John Navone notes, “Life stories interpenetrate,” creating transcendent links and bonds between people and with God.84 In sharing stories, people meet on common ground and become mutually vulnerable, which leads to the formation of trust, an essential element in community-building. Personal narratives connected with biblical stories serve as open-ended invitations into meaningful conversation and the development of relationships. Congregations can become more than mere collections of familiar strangers as friendships are fostered across generations through increased understanding and appreciation of each other’s experiences. Narrative theology helps the church understand that, through storytelling, “religion/theology” is closely connected to

“community development” and the starting point for reflection is “the life of people.”85

Communities are formed around common stories, shared with others, which foster connectedness and facilitate meaningful friendships.

The biblical narrative is filled with stories about the importance of developing and maintaining community. In the Hebrew Bible, the people of Israel are called into a covenant community with God distinguished by shared experiences and values. Using

83 Myers, 4. 84 Navone, 78. 85 Sam Amirtham, Stories Make People: Examples of Theological Work in Community, “Stories Make People” by Dan Carrington and Johnathan Hogarth, (Geneva, World Council of Churches, 1989), 9. 37 priests and prophets, God seeks to foster, refine, protect, and sustain the Hebrew people as a unique community of belief. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul addresses most of his letters not to individual believers, but to early Christian communities. He consistently offers support to these gathered groups, and instructs them to foster community by acting with kindness and love while sharing burdens and blessings. Paul engages these early churches as communities of practice, providing for them guidance and encouragement to embrace conduct that will strengthen and enhance their relationships with one another. In both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian scripture, community represents not a secondary storyline, but one of the primary plotlines that reveal God’s work throughout human history. In these texts, community provides an essential context for people of faith to discern, understand, and follow God’s plan.

The concept of community emerges from the first pages of the Bible and the ancient Creation stories. In Genesis 1, the world is spoken into being by the Divine

Creator as a voice thunders from the heavens. Genesis 1:26 reads, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” Before human beings were created in the narrative, community already existed in God. As German theologian Fritz Buri reminds us, in the Trinity “three persons have no essences of their own but they have them in community.”86 The first creation story lays the theological framework for a God who exists and works communally within God’s self. Dr. Zac Niringiye notes,

“Humankind is a result of God-community action…We see in the creation of humankind

86 Fritz Buri, “Trinity and Personality,” Iliff School of Theology Review, vol. 40 no. 1 (Winter 1983), 16. 38 the divine community summons ‘Let us’ followed by a personal address of blessing.”87

God serves as the model for humanity, so this story of creation reminds us that our aspirations must be not radically individualistic, but rather intentionally communal in nature. If God chooses to live, to work, and to be in community, humans made in the

Imago Dei88 must also seek community in order to fulfill our calling and created purpose.

As a collection of people committed to seeking God’s calling and following God’s purpose, the church should certainly be a place where community is created, fostered, and experienced.

Furthering this same narrative, Genesis 2 (also known as “The Second Creation” story) even more explicitly clarifies that humankind was created for community.

“The Lord God took the man and him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it….Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ So out of the ground the Lord formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…”89

Throughout Genesis 1, God looks upon creation and makes blanket positive assessments. Looking at the newly created skies, waters, lands, and creatures, over and over God “saw that it was good.”90 So, God’s statement in this text, “It is not good…”

87 David Zac Niringiye, “In the Garden of Eden. I, Creation and Community,” Journal of Latin American Theology, v. 5 no. 1 (Winter 2010); 25-26. 88 Latin term, “Image of God.” 89 Genesis 2:15, 18-23a. 90 Genesis 1:12, 18, 21, 25, 31. 39 comes as a jarring and unexpected interruption. This declaration is the first sign of Divine dissonance in the entire Bible and represents a significant shift in the narrative. The human does not recognize the need for companionship. The human does not say to God,

“I need another person.” No, God recognizes the omission and says, “You need another person.” God the Creator realizes the need for human connection and the value of human community. As Claus Westermann notes, “the Creator pauses in his work and asks himself whether this is now the creature that he intended to create: whether man is all right just as he is. He comes to the conclusion: No, something is still lacking. Here the narrator is emphasizing something of peculiar importance to the human creature: namely, community.”91

In this creation narrative, God looks beyond creatures and recognizes that something else is essential for successful and meaningful existence beyond a menagerie of animals. People need to live in community. In the past, some Baptist preachers have had a tendency to utilize these Genesis texts as explanations about the fall of humanity, explaining the existence of sin and evil in our world. At times in a particularly harmful way, these sermons engaged in dangerous and patriarchal interpretations that places blame on women as the source of all sin and in a position of subjugation. However,

Professor Athalya Brenner of Tel Aviv University exposes the error in this method of exegesis. “The second creation story is not decisive, does not assume the fall, and does not explain the emergence of evil in the world…ergo, the text does not pertain to or

91 Claus Westermann, Genesis: A Practical Commentary, (Grand Rapids: William and Eerdmans Publishing, 1987), 20. 40 sustain theological matters of sin, death, evil, and fall.”92 This misreading of the texts transforms Eden into a symbol of guilt, isolation, and subjugation, neglecting entirely the call to community present in the creation narrative. As Walter Brueggeman notes, “The garden is for covenanted human community of solidarity, trust, and well-being. The garden exists as a context for human community.”93 In this reading of the story, the

Garden of Eden represents the archetypal model for the world as God created it to be, a place filled with harmony which fosters and sustains meaningful community. Far too often, in Baptist life, the Garden of Eden has been a symbol of what must be avoided, the setting for sin and the fall of humanity.

Reclaiming the image of the garden as a wellspring for community provides a healthy and helpful model for the church to serve as a setting which fosters connectedness. The God-ordained covenant community present in the garden becomes the ideal for the people in general and the church in particular to achieve. In the Genesis

2 account, the story climaxes with the creation of community in the ancient garden. God reveals the primary purpose of the entire creative enterprise is the formation of relationships. Human beings may be the last created beings, but our creation is not the final act in this narrative drama. God’s final act is the creation, blessing, and consecration of community. As Niringiye writes, “This is the point of the Garden of Eden: a picture of life as God intended it, total harmony of creation in God, community in God…It is a picture of the earth, where life and community thrive as God ordered.”94 As Catholic

92 Athalya Brenner, Archie Chi Chung Lee, Gale A. Yee, Genesis, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010), 32. 93 Walter Brueggeman, Genesis: Intepretation, (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), 47. 94 Niringiye, 25. 41 theologian John Scullion states, “The story—and it is a story—of the human race is brought to a conclusion…Human being is meant for community.”95 The edenic narratives reveal the presence of community before creation within the persons of the Triune God.

This Communal God then speaks creation into existence and highlights the importance of human community.

Informed by an understanding of this clear Biblical model, the church must recognize that the creation of community is not a secondary consideration, but rather central to our calling as children of God. The loss of community in society in general and the church in particular, as documented in Section 1 of this thesis, should be cause for great concern for church leaders and for those in the church congregations. Church members must recognize the importance of the formation of community as an essential part of God’s plan and purpose for our world and invest our time and efforts in bringing this edenic dream to fruition. God’s story of creating community did not end with the

Genesis accounts, but rather as narrative theology reminds us, continues to emerge through the stories of the faithful who are still committed to nurturing connections and facilitating the formation of authentic relationships.

The Christian church has a God-given mandate, recounted in the ancient Creation stories, to build community in our world. With the creation of community as a clear goal that will require a transformational change in congregations, this research project sought to determine a Biblically modeled approach toward the completion of this task. The

Baptist testimony tradition coupled with narrative theology pointed toward the power of

95 John J. Scullion, Genesis: A Commentary for Students, Teachers, and Preachers, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1992), 37. 42

Christian storytelling. Supporting this narrative approach, Peter’s storytelling in Acts 11 serves as a helpful model of the successful use of this narrative approach to community building in the early Christian church.

Prior to this passage, in Acts 10, Peter has been the recipient of a dream and an encounter with the Roman, Cornelius. The passages are extremely significant, providing a theological justification for the inclusion of Gentiles in the early Jewish-Christian communities. Peter, as a powerful leader in the early church, experienced a transformative moment that altered understanding of inclusion and makes way for the

Gospel to be proclaimed beyond the Jewish audience. However, following this experience, Peter faces the task of sharing his new understanding with the apostles and early church leaders in Judea who, based on their interpretation of Jewish law, are hostile toward Gentiles. Storytelling serves as Peter’s medium for the defense of his actions as a means of convincing his audience of the legitimacy of his conclusion.

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I 43

remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”96

Peter faces a potential breach in the community based on the inclusion of Gentile members. At the opening of this story, the early church community is clearly a closed one with little tolerance, patience, or understanding of those deemed to be “outsiders.”

The accusatory tone of the initial questioning (“Why did you go to the uncircumcised men and eat with them?”) indicates the strongly negative feelings of the apostles and believers at the opening of this passage. Immediately placed on the defensive, Peter chooses to address their question not with a direct response, but rather with a personal testimony.97 Peter chooses to share his story with the gathered community of believers in hopes that this testimony will help to alleviate tensions and foster the creation of a new and more inclusive Christian community. Most of Peter’s speech is narration, apart from a single rhetorical question that summarizes the purpose of retelling his story and the point of his entire argument for inclusion.98 Peter places his trust in the power of testimony to serve as a medium for personal and communal transformation.

Many scholars and commentators overlook this passage or dismiss it as a simple retelling of the previous chapter which adds little and merits only limited examination.

As representative of this approach, C. K. Barrett begins his treatment of the text with the

96 Acts 11:1-18, NRSV. 97 Van Thanh Nguyen, Peter and Cornelius: A Story of Conversation and Mission, (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2012), 154. 98 Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 1824. 44 statement, “The greater part of this passage is devoted to an abbreviated repetition of this story. It was noted above that this is an indication of the importance Luke (presumed author) attached to this story.”99 In this reading, the passage’s only significant role is to reinforce the message proclaimed in the previous chapter. Sadly, these scholars minimize the significance of Peter’s storytelling and ignore the transformation which takes place within the gathered community of believers who hear his testimony.

Van Thanh Nguyen at Chicago Theological Union argues that this passage provides a window into the “early church communal discernment” and advocates for

“one approach to achieve harmony about the issue of Gentile membership in the church.”

Peter humbly and cleverly led the community into a process of communal discernment by means of personal testimony or “storytelling”… Luke shows the reader that conflict and opposition must not be avoided but rather confronted in community. Through personal testimony and genuine dialogue, a crisis can be resolved in peaceful ways. Furthermore, decision-making in the church through communal discernment is essential for a community which must continually confront new issues and challenges.100

Nguyen recognizes that the passage is more than mere replication, but instead proposes a method for the creation and protection of community in church congregations. Peter’s personal testimony bridges traditional divides and fosters friendship and understanding among those who had previously been in conflict.

The storytelling serves as a catalyst for an authentic transformative change within this early Christian community. At the close of the story, the accusatory questions have been replaced with respectful silence, then celebration of the newly expanded community. Modern readers may be unaware of the great depth of the division and the

99 C.K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles, (New York: T & T Clark International, 2004), 533. 100 Nguyen, 155. 45 revolutionary nature of this revision in communal standards. As Craig S. Keener emphasizes, “We miss how shocking this narrative would have been in a first-century

Jewish context and perhaps even to God-fearing Gentile believers in Luke’s day: a

Galilean fisherman claims, on the basis of “a dream and his interpretation of it,” that God has reversed one thousand years of teaching from Scripture.”101

Equally revolutionary, the transformational change is announced and initiated through the process of personal narrative and storytelling. Peter seeks through narrative to explain his actions instead of engaging in a lengthy theological discourse or legal argument.102 In Roman society, issues of conflict were often addressed through judicial means. This story is framed in a judicial form with the initial question serving as the accusation and Peter’s response offering his defense. However, as Presbyterian theologian Marion L. Soards notes, “Peter’s speech…offers a defense through narration that transfers the responsibility for Peter’s action to God.”103 Instead of seeking to offer an explanation or justification for his action, Peter “tells the audience the whole story in order in the belief that when they heard it properly…they would be bound to see that God had led him to this action.”104 Peter links his story and actions to God’s story, inviting others into this grand narrative of community formation.

The Acts 11 passage culminates not with individual storytelling but rather with the communal reaction of joy and celebration. Peter’s story has become the catalyst for

101 Keener, 1824. 102 In contrast, Paul in his letters typically engages in theological discourses in an effort to address conflict and enhance community within early Christian communities. 103 Marion L. Sands, The Speeches in Acts: Their Content, Context, and Concerns, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 77. 104 I. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction and Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), 196. 46 the creation of a newer, broader, and more inclusive Christian community. The apostles and other believers learned through listening to Peter’s narrative about God’s work in the world, then discovered their place in the narrative by acknowledging their Gentile brothers and sisters as equal members in the early church community. This passage that begins with dissension and dissonance closes with a scene of harmony, unity, and connectedness. Community was not only restored, but renewed, regenerated, and resurrected through the Peter’s bold embrace of personal testimony and storytelling.

Peter’s model of storytelling provides a powerful example for those in the modern church seeking to find harmony in the midst of division and unity in the midst of diversity. Questions that emerge in church communities, which often result in defensive answers and endless arguments, threaten harmony in the congregation and foster feelings of separation among church members. Peter refuses to engage in this type of argument, instead embracing testimony as a common language and helpful tool to rebuild broken communities and to create more intentionally inclusive communities.

Convinced by the creation narratives, this research proposal began with a simple, but essential premise that God’s purpose in our world in general and the church in particular is to create healthy and harmonious communities. People were created to be in relationship with one another through the formation of friendships that foster a sense of connectedness. The edenic dream is more than a mere myth, but rather a goal to be sought after and advanced by the Christian church with an invitation extended to all children of God. With the development of community as an essential goal, the research project sought to find a means of achieving this goal and enhancing the community present in the church. The Baptist faith tradition offered the practice of personal 47 testimony as a means of encouraging connectedness within the congregation. Informed by this tradition, the church has the opportunity to be a setting for the creation of community when people exchange stories, speaking and listening to one another.

Inspired by the example of the Apostle Peter, the church can address issues, overcome conflicts, and embrace a more inclusive understanding of community through the process of authentic storytelling. Narrative theology reminds us of the value of this storytelling, helping us to connect the stories of church members and those outside of the church to the larger narrative of God’s work in our world. Building upon the theological foundation provided by this narrative theology and supported by the biblical underpinnings of the creation stories and the Acts 11 narrative, this research project advocates the renewal of commitment to the Baptist testimony tradition in an effort to form and foster meaningful community in local congregations.

48

III. Contextual Analysis and Statement of Theological Construct

In 2008, after being called as the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Mobile,

I attended my first deacons’ meeting at the church. Gathered in the fellowship hall, 25 men and women met together to conduct the business of the church. After approving the minutes and reading the treasurer’s report, we came to the main item on our agenda, entitled simply “Church History.” As the new pastor, I was eager to hear stories about the church’s heritage and learn about the many people who shaped the institutional narrative at FBC Mobile. Much to my surprise and disappointment, our conversation included no personal stories or testimonies, but instead entailed an extended examination of the church’s founding date. For nearly two hours, our Deacon Board listened to lectures and engaged in lengthy debates about the church’s age. The confusion revolved around origins: Was our church the child of a congregation that began in 1835? Or was the parent church a congregation that began in 1845? Sadly, neither of these congregations had a particularly attractive or inspirational narrative and both eventually filed bankruptcy, dissolved their charters, then reconstituted. The deacons present were less interested in hearing or learning from these stories and far more concerned with determining a date which could be placed on the signage around the church. At the end of the debate, opinions were still split on the founding date. Our meeting, scheduled for an hour, had dragged on for nearly three hours. Finally, one deacon made a motion that received unanimous support, a move to adjourn.

The deacons may not have determined a starting date, but they did reveal a church in transition, seeking to rediscover a congregational identity. The conversation about the establishment date was not only an effort to clarify a detail about the past, but also an 49 attempt to understand the community in the present. Uneasy with their current situation as an urban congregation experiencing gradual decline, church leaders were more focused on reclaiming the past than embracing the present. At some point in the past, the church had a clear sense of identity, purpose, place, and mission. Members could proudly tell the story of their congregation, pointing to prominent business and community leaders.

People in the congregation felt a greater degree of connection with one another as participants in a faith community characterized by care, concern, and deep interpersonal relationships. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the congregation was large and prosperous, ethnically and theologically homogenous, with a clear sense of shared purpose to evangelize the world through mission and ministry. In these years, FBC Mobile’s membership consisted exclusively of middle to upper class white citizens living in an important American port. Southern states like Alabama and southern cities like Mobile experienced significant changes and shifts following World War II. Industrial enterprises necessary to support wartime efforts had represented a significant part of Mobile’s economy. The postwar closure of defense plants, military bases, and businesses that had supported these bases led to a wave of unemployment that devastated a city heavily dependent on these industries. Later in the 1960’s and 1970’s, like many cities, Mobile experienced a mass exodus, especially of the white population, from downtown toward the suburbs. Meanwhile, throughout the state of Alabama, the wheels of justice were beginning to turn as a black Baptist pastor from Montgomery began to speak out about racial inequality and an African-American Baptist layperson refused to give up her seat on the city bus. These economic and societal changes were not merely slight adjustments, but rather seismic shifts that radically altered and transformed the region. 50

Racial integration in Mobile was not without incident, but proved to be far more peaceful than the experience of the city’s northern neighbor, Birmingham. On the surface the city experienced a less tumultuous integration than many other Southern cities, but below the surface, tensions remained extremely high.

First Baptist Mobile members reacted with a myriad of different emotions and responses to these changes. Some members felt threatened by integration, while others felt inspired. Some church lay leaders felt led to strongly support the movements for equality while others actively opposed the desegregation of public schools. In the process, the church experienced a season of serious division as members began to look at one another with suspicion. The church’s narrative, which had been unified, began to splinter as members disagreed about the right response to these cultural, social, and political changes.

In the unified narrative, the church’s primary purpose was evangelization of the lost, but suddenly issues of inequality and social justice began to emerge as significant storylines. Church leaders disagreed not only about the appropriate stance for the church in the midst of a changing society (e.g. Pro-integration vs. pro-segregation), but also about the best manner in which to express the church’s position (e.g. silent and behind the scenes vs. active involvement and vocal support). Many church members were not pleased with the multiple strands of the church’s new narrative. The unified history had evolved into a collected anthology. In the past, the Pastor served as the primary storyteller who captured not only the narrative, but also articulated the community’s identity. But, as the Pastor embraced a more progressive and controversial position on

51 integration, members of the congregation began to reject the story presented from the pulpit.

The congregation’s sense of community seemed threatened by the emerging ideological diversity within the church. In response, people become uncomfortable sharing their stories, worried that the telling of these stories could be a source of tension and division within the congregation. Somewhere along the way, the church lost its former sense of a shared collective identity and, fearing further conflict, stopped seeking to construct a community narrative. This community narrative was never a formal document, but rather an implicit agreed-upon congregational sense of self, informed by the history and the theology of the church members. The story had been told and retold by ministers, but also by church leaders. However, this shared narrative and strong sense of a unified congregational identity was lost during this period of cultural change that led to a church in conflict. Individual members of the congregation, informed by their faith, continued to champion evangelistic efforts and missions or racial equality and social justice. While continuing to support missionary endeavors and quietly affirming the importance of justice, the church seemed reluctant to engage in public testimony or bear witness. While this process was never formally declared or officially voted on by the congregation, the shocking cultural realities of the 1950’s and 1960’s led to a significant shift in the congregation’s narrative and implicit self-understanding. In the church archives, A Short History of First Baptist Church Mobile recounts the story of a courageous congregation inspired by God’s calling.105 In some ways, it is entirely appropriate that this book stops abruptly in 1950 for this seems to be near the time when

105 Margaret Sears, A Short History of First Baptist Church Mobile (Mobile: 1986), 1-2. 52 the congregation stopped writing a shared narrative and became uncomfortable sharing its own story. The fact that this Short History was published in 1986 proves telling. The author, convinced the church had reached its denouement thirty-six years earlier, felt uninspired or unable to complete the history and simply ignored the years between 1950 and 1986.

First Baptist Church of Mobile is a church steeped in history and proud of its early heritage. Church members recount incidents and episodes that shaped the formation of the congregation. The church’s theology was not created in a vacuum, but rather it developed through our experiences and emerges in the retelling of these stories. As

Catholic theologian Robert Schreiter asserts, “Doing theology is about thinking, but it must be understood that it is fueled principally by imagination and memory.”106 At First

Baptist Church of Mobile, members allow their theology to be shaped and formed largely by institutional memory, embracing the idea that “we are what we were.” The congregation has traditionally affirmed a classically liberal theology coupled with Baptist evangelicalism. God’s work is understood broadly in all of creation, but God is experienced through a personal relationship. The church has always valued education, seeking intellectual leaders who could bridge the divides between science and faith, religion and reason. Church members are more comfortable speaking about remembrances and recounting stories from the past then creating a new narrative informed by their imagination and dreams about the future. God is understood more clearly by examination of the past than by exploration in the present. Consistent with

106Nancy T. Ammerman, Jackson W. Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, and William McKinney. eds. Studying Congregations: A New Handbook (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), 27. 53 this commitment to remember the past, the church houses an extensive archives room above the library and a heritage room near the church sanctuary. The archives include historical documents as well as significant objects like the favorite chair of a former pastor or a newspaper article about the choir’s trip to Carnegie Hall. Walking through these archives, history may be researched, or in some small way, even relived through these relics. Looking carefully at what is included in the documents of this archive room, one can discover the developing theology and narrative of a progressive Southern Baptist church.

The nearly two-hundred year history of First Baptist Church of Mobile reflects the story of a courageous congregation. On the first pages of the history, church historian

Margaret Sears recounts the story of the first baptism in the church. The candidate was a black female, a rarity in a Southern Baptist church in the 1830’s.107 Since my arrival, several members recounted this story, taking great pride in this progressive act. These members fail to mention that though the church was initially integrated; black members were required to sit in the balcony. Members tend to conveniently forget that only a few years after functioning as an integrated congregation, the church divided along racial lines. In the dominant narrative, people typically refer to the event as a “church split,” but in reality the African-Americans were simply cast out of FBC Mobile and forced to start a new congregation. In small and subtle ways, the members have sought to edit their own history and retell the story by minimizing or removing any shameful episodes.

Early church history includes a surprising number of other splits, motivated not by theological differences, but instead by financial bankruptcies. According to church

107Sears, 1-2. 54 records, during the first 15 years, First Baptist Church was dissolved and reconstituted

(under different names) at least four times. Historical accounts of these early years are somewhat cryptic, but reveal a congregation first struggling to survive, then gradually growing.

By 1900, the church was entering into its “Golden Age.” Community leaders flocked to First Baptist Church, filling the pews on Sunday morning. Our present sanctuary, a magnificent cathedral-like structure, was built in 1909. By the 1920’s, our church members included all three members of the city council, the mayor, and many other prominent business leaders and politicians. A 1921 photograph of the 500-member

Men’s Sunday School Class hangs in our archives and in at least three other places in the church. The men photographed are strikingly similar in appearance with every person being from one single race, one political perspective, and one theology. Church pastors became denominational leaders, serving as presidents of the Southern Baptist

Convention. These men helped to draft denominational statements and exerted a significant amount of influence in Baptist life. Dr. Phillips, the church pastor in the

1920’s and 1930’s, took an extended leave of absence because he was a world-renowned

Egyptologist who was needed to excavate King Tut’s tomb. Archives and individuals proudly proclaim these stories of the congregational “heroes.” Our oldest members recount with pride their memories of a sanctuary overflowing with people. At the end of this period, the church planted several other congregations in nearby communities, sending out members into the “mission fields.” In the process, many important leaders were lost to these church plants, initiating a period of decline which continues to the present. 55

More recent church history, gathered less from archival documents and more from personal interviews, begins with the departure of the last “Golden Age” pastors, Dr.

Howard Reaves, in 1971. Dr. Reaves served as pastor at FBC Mobile for more than 25 years and oversaw the congregation’s last periods of sustained numerical growth. His successor, Dr. Pat Harrison, served 10 years and embarked upon a controversial plan to move the church from downtown to a Mobile suburb. During his tenure, the church remained stable, but experienced a steady decline in membership. My immediate predecessor at First Baptist Church, Dr. James Walters, served for 23 years. In his early years, the church held steady, but by his later years the decline in membership increased dramatically, leaving a congregation seeking stability and asking uncomfortable questions about viability.

Near the end of his tenure, Dr. Walters crafted the most extensive and intentional identity statement in our church’s history. Distancing ourselves from the Southern Baptist

Convention, the statement clarified the church’s positions on separation of church and state, on female leadership in the church, on social justice and evangelism in missions, and on the autonomy of the local church. This document, simply entitled, “Ten Things

That Distinguish FBC Mobile from Most Other Southern Baptist Churches in the

Mobile/Baldwin County Area,” represents an important step from the past into the present, providing a cornerstone for the congregation’s evolving identity and the first clear theological statement from the congregation in several decades.108 Prior to this statement, the church had passively affirmed the tenants outlined in “The (Southern)

108 See Appendix 1. 56

Baptist Faith and Message of 1963,” but had not clearly defined the theological convictions of the congregation since the early 20th Century.

Eight years ago, in response to growing anxiety about declining membership, the church called me, a young (30 year-old), Harvard-educated minister without previous experience as a Senior Pastor to lead the congregation. In the past, FBC Mobile had only pursued candidates that were significantly older and brought a long and established record of success in ministry. Following this call, the church entered in to a season of transition with celebrations as new members joined the church and sorrow as long-time members passed away. From January 2008 to January 2011, 70 people joined the church and eight babies were born into the church family. However, in this same period, 57 funerals were held for church members. These demographic shifts represented significant changes for a relatively small congregation whose membership was 300 and whose worship attendance averaged 130 on Sundays. Among these new members, the church welcomed several (5-6) African-Americans into a congregation which prior to

2007 had been not only predominately, but exclusively, white. Economically, new members were spread across the spectrum from homeless individuals to prominent local lawyers and doctors. While a large majority of the long-time members were 65 or older, a majority of the new members were 50 or under. The congregation faced a challenge to foster unity in the midst of increasing diversity and to function effectively as a community. Long-time members felt overwhelmed trying to remember new names and faces while new members did not have an appreciation for the rich history and heritage of the congregation. Church pews, once filled with close friends, seem crowded with mere acquaintances and friendly strangers. 57

In a sense, the deacons’ meeting was my introduction to a church body in transition, one seeking to find and foster a congregational identity. The conversation about the establishment date was not only an effort to clarify the past, but also to help form an identity in the present. In the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s, the church had a clearer sense of self and a more uniform understanding of the church’s narrative.

However, due to changes inside and outside of the church, this identity had been transformed, and therefore people experienced these changes as a kind of existential threat. This constant state of flux and changing identity is a cause for discomfort among some members, especially in a church largely defined by static images and memories from the past.

Along with this examination of history and church documents, an examination of population trends in the larger community and the church congregation provides a better understanding of the context for this ministry project at First Baptist Church Mobile.

Changing demographics, specifically related to age and race in the church and the larger community, highlighted the challenges that face a congregation seeking to foster connectedness in an increasingly diverse setting.

First Baptist Church is located in downtown Mobile, while a majority of the population has moved to the suburbs. The City of Mobile has a total population of

191,000,109 while Mobile County has 404,406.110 The church draws about 33% of our members from the neighboring Baldwin County, which has a total population of 171,769.

109Deidre A. Gaquin and Katherine A. DeBrandt, Places, Towns, and Townships, 4th Edition. (Lanham, MD: Bernan Press), 6. 110 Diedre A. Gaquin. 2009 County and City Extra: Annual Metro, City, and County Data Book, 17th Edition. (Lanham, MD: Bernan Press), 72. 58

As these figures reveal, the Mobile metropolitan area has more than 500,000 people. The city of Mobile has experienced very little fluctuation in population since 1960.111

However, geographically Mobile has grown significantly as the city has annexed additional county land. While the city has expanded in size, the population has remained steady. In contrast to this trend, an examination of First Baptist Church membership

(population) reveals a steady decline starting in 1960. In 1960, FBC Mobile had about

1500 members, with approximately 700 attending Sunday School. In 1980, these numbers had decreased to 900 members with 325 in Sunday School. By 2000, the church counted 560 members and only 160 in Sunday School.112 By 2012, the church consisted of 400 members with less than 100 in Sunday School. These figures demonstrate that while the city of Mobile population remained stable, the church membership at First

Baptist Church of Mobile has experienced a significant proportional decline in the last 50 years.

In conjunction with this gradual decline, fewer FBC members now live in close proximity to the church while an increasing number of members drive greater distances to participate in worship and church activities. Less than 5% of the congregation’s members live in the same zip code as our church. Meanwhile, nearly 33% of members live in an entirely different county from the church. The geographic reach of First Baptist

Church of Mobile is extensive, covering nearly 80 miles across southern Alabama and extending to Florida and Mississippi. In conducting a “space tour”113 of the area around

111 United States Census Bureau, “Alabama Census Figures”, available at www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/ twps0076/ALtab.xls. 112 Statistics drawn from FBC Mobile church records. 113 Ammerman, 47. 59 the church, I discovered the great distance that must be travelled by a large majority of our congregation. Most members of our congregation pass not only many churches, but many Baptist churches to worship at FBC Mobile. The area closest to the church is not a residential neighborhood, but a business zone. So, while many members may work very near the church, very few reside in the vicinity.

Population trends in the church and community also reveal that our congregation is aging far more quickly than our community. In Mobile County, the percentage of senior citizens (those who are 65 years and over) is 12.3%. In Baldwin County, the percentage of senior citizens is 16.5%.114 At First Baptist Church Mobile, in 2012, based on estimates using our church roll, the percentage of senior citizens is close to 65%. In

2008, at the beginning of my tenure as pastor, the number was closer to 80%. Church growth has been concentrated among young families which has created a more diverse range of ages within the congregation. However, the church is still accurately characterized as a predominantly elderly congregation.

Racial diversity in the church also does not reflect the diversity present in the larger community. According to the 2000 census, the population of the City of Mobile includes 48.2% who self-identify as White, 47.9% who self-identify as African-

American, and 1.2% who self-identify as Hispanic.115 In contrast, fewer than 5% of the members and regular attenders at First Baptist Church of Mobile are African-American and none self-identify as Hispanics. According to one long-time member, the church had been open to accepting African-Americans as members for many years. However, this

114 United States Census Bureau, accessed December 21, 2009 at factfinder.census.gov. 115 Ibid. 60 same member confessed that, to her knowledge, the first African-American to be received into membership joined First Baptist Church of Mobile in 2009. Of the 70 new members who joined from 2008-2011, only four have been African-Americans. Perhaps, equally important, members of the church have expressed a desire to better reflect our community and become a more racially diverse congregation. In a city still divided by race, our church congregation continues to be too homogenous racially, but has taken some small steps toward greater diversity.

These new young adult members and African-Americans members have contributed their different theological perspectives to the church community. These new members are likely to focus on God’s work in the present rather than God’s work in the past. Long-term members emphasize the importance of believing in Christ as Savior, while the new members focus on the practice of faith following Jesus as their role model.

The theologies are not mutually exclusive or in absolute conflict, but rather in tension.

Theological discourse, especially in Christian Education programs, has been enriched by these new voices. Long-time church members began to wrestle and re-examine their own understanding of God and perspective on God’s work in the world. These divergent theologies are yielding fruitful conversations, but some members feel that the multiple perspectives threaten to unravel our church’s unity. “Generational differences” represent the clearest and most predominant divide within our church and, according to sociologist

Nancy Ammerman, many other church congregations.116 Older members and younger members increasingly express conflicting opinions about practices within our church congregation, approaches to worship, and the centrality of our denominational identity.

116 Ammerman, 32. 61

On the surface, these divisions may appear to be conservative versus liberal, traditional versus modern, but at the core the issue is really about competing theologies and the troubling lack of a shared narrative for the congregation. On Sundays, members sit beside familiar strangers, but rarely feel a close sense of connectedness.

First Baptist Church of Mobile has grown more ethnically diverse and members are aware that this diversity is essential for the future success of the church. FBC Mobile has welcomed new members which widens the generational divides present within the congregation and sometimes awakens new theological tensions. Yet these changes have not been integrated into a collective sense of church identity. Equally problematic, these new members have not been offered an opportunity to share their stories and find a way to connect their stories to the church’s narrative. People within the congregation are separated by age and ethnicity and may often be united by nothing more than denominational affiliation and shared pews in our sanctuary for worship.

The absence of a strong sense of community at First Baptist Church of Mobile represented a significant challenge to the church congregation. As shown in the Genesis

Creation narratives, people were created for community and the loss of community at

FBC Mobile left a void within the congregation. Many church members were keenly aware of the loss of identity and the need for a shared narrative that would unite the diverse congregation, but they were unsure about how to achieve this important goal. In response, some church members expressed a desire to simply reclaim the past and return to the “Glory Days.” Other church members lamented the perceived loss of community in society in general and the church in particular, but seemed resigned to simply dismiss sense of community as a lost cause. 62

With a clear understanding of the ministry context at First Baptist Church, I, as their Pastor, sought to create a theoretical framework to address the growing discontent and disconnectedness in this particular congregation. However, addressing questions about the creation and enhancement of community in a specific setting proves to be a difficult task, complicated by confusion about terminology. Although most people know the sense of community by experience, an accurate description of this experience proves elusive. In congregational interviews at First Baptist Mobile, many church members expressed a desire to build a stronger community in the congregation, but few could describe exactly what they were seeking. Scholars like Peter Block offered a helpful starting place for the study by connecting the concept of community with “a sense of belonging.”117 In a healthy community, participants feel connected to one another and find a place to fit in through the creation of relationships. In these relationships, people serve as both givers and recipients within the larger group, gaining and giving as active members of a healthy community. Members of a church community do not lose a sense of selfhood or sacrifice personal freedom, but instead discover in the context of community a place to experience both freedom and love.118 Since freedom lies at the center of Baptist theological identity, and love represents the highest of Christian virtues, the community present in a Baptist congregation should both embody and reflect these essential values.

In this research project, First Baptist Church Mobile functioned as an active

“community of practice,” gathered around a shared interest and an eagerness to come and

117 Peter Block, xii. 118 Peck, 7. 63 learn from one another.119 Christian faith in general and Baptist faith in particular served as the common ground for this group to meet together and interact with one another.

Participants committed to meet together to listen and to learn from each other in respectful conversations which would effectively reveal commonalities and celebrate differences. In the process, people in the FBC community would grow closer to one another, learning more about each other and coming to more fully understand a God who is revealed in the context of community.

This research project draws on both the understanding of community as connected to belonging and an appreciation for the church as a “community of practice.” I sought to develop a process that would enhance the sense of community in a local congregation. A major challenge was to identify a method that would allow me to effectively measure and evaluate this rather elusive and often nebulous concept. My research led me to an organization in Gaithersburg, Maryland called Community Science which is headed by

Dr. David Chavis (PhD in Community Psychology, Vanderbilt University). Dr. Chavis has developed an effective tool entitled simply the Sense of Community Index 2 (SCI-2).

This instrument has been tested in different settings across cultures and has achieved a high rate of reliability.120 The Sense of Community Index (SCI-2) represents the “most frequently used quantitative measure of sense of community in the social sciences based on a theory of sense of community that stated that a sense of community was a perception with four elements: membership, influence, meeting needs, and a shared emotional

119 Snyder, 1. 120 Chavis, 2. 64 connection.”121 The SCI-2 includes a series of 24 questions which help the researcher to quantitatively evaluate the sense of community being experienced in a given context at a given time by a given individual. After locating this resource, I emailed Dr. Chavis to seek permission to use the tool in my research for this Dmin project. He granted permission, but stipulated that no changes could be made to the SCI-2 form.122 Honoring his request, I employed the SCI-2 study for this initial survey without alteration. The

SCI-2 was a valuable instrument offering a quantitative method to determine sense of community present at First Baptist Church before and after the implementation of this project. By comparing the results, the research project could effectively determine if sense of community had been quantitatively enhanced by the implementation of this change within the church.123

Coupled with this quantitative instrument which offers a more traditionally objective set of responses to interpret the success and failure, this research project also employed a qualitative method to provide greater depth of understanding. The quantitative tool offered a helpful method to evaluate whether or not sense of community was enhanced, while the qualitative provided information about the ways this enhancement was experienced and achieved. Participants engaged in group interview sessions, responding to questions about their experiences in this project and offering personal insights about how this project strengthened or weakened the sense of community experienced at FBC Mobile.

121 D.M. Chavis, K.S. Lee, and J.D Acosta, “The Sense of Community (SCI) Revised: The Reliability and Validity of the SCI-2.” Paper presented at the 2nd International Community Psychology Conference, Lisboa, Portugal. 122 See Appendix 12 for his email correspondence and approval. 123 See SCI-2 Instrument in Appendix 3. 65

With a clear goal of increasing sense of community in the congregation and a method to measure the success and failure of this goal, the theoretical framework for this research project drew upon the historical practice of testimony and Christian storytelling.

In an effort to address this growing sense of disconnectedness, I utilized this research project to make a way for FBC church members to foster community through the use of personal testimony and Christian storytelling. I believed that divisions caused by age and ethnicity could be bridged by the sharing of personal narratives that could then be incorporated into the larger narrative of FBC Mobile and the largest narrative of the story of God’s work in our world. However, before these stories could be interwoven into a beautiful communal tapestry, church members needed to reflect on their own stories and then learn how to share these stories with other members of their faith community.

Congregation members who express frustration at being disconnected from one another rarely indicate familiarity with the stories of other members of the church community. Without a formal time or space in worship or fellowship, congregation members had grown uncomfortable sharing their stories and unfamiliar with listening to the stories of others. Reclaiming testimony and the Christian storytelling tradition at

FBC Mobile required a commitment to revisiting the past practice in an effort to foster community in a present church. Since, as indicated in Section 2 of this research paper, the sharing of testimonies has largely fallen into disuse and disfavor, few church members were familiar with this important traditional practice. Some church members needed to be re-educated on the meaning of personal testimony, while others needed to be taught about it for the first time. People reflected on their own Christian stories and learned how to hear others’ stories. Though this communication process may seem 66 simple, the idea of storytelling in a Baptist congregation is largely foreign, unfamiliar, and, for many, frightening. Church members have been trained to listen to church leaders to learn about God’s work, but have rarely been encouraged to share their own narratives.

Testimony required the sharing of personal stories and experiences, and openly embraces narrative theology’s assertion that God is found in our stories and biographies. In speaking and listening, church members discovered not only the details of their own story, but gained an understanding of the interconnectedness of all stories within the congregation and a greater awareness of God’s presence in each of these stories.

Revisiting and reconnecting with the Biblical stories like Genesis 1 and Acts 11, church members learned how to discover their own stories within the Biblical narratives and connect their stories to the story of God’s work in the world. Though separated by centuries from these ancient accounts, church members learned how to find commonalities in their experiences and the experiences of others. In Genesis 1, members found that the desire to exist in communities transcends time and links us to all humanity created by a Triune God who exists in community. In Acts 11, Peter’s storytelling revealed the power of personal narrative to bring about transformation in the church.

These Biblical stories provide the common holy ground where church members met to share, reflect, and connect their stories.

Seeking to bring about a transformative change by increasing the sense of community at FBC Mobile, I proposed this theoretical model which provided education and training about the testimony tradition, and assistance in reflection and writing to better enable and equip members to participate in Christian storytelling together. By using Sunday mornings to model Christian storytelling and Wednesday evenings to 67 engage in the practice of sharing personal testimonies, the project not only offered members an opportunity to speak, to listen, and to connect stories in the context of a congregation, and by so doing to increase the sense of community within First Baptist

Church of Mobile. By teaching these skills, the project enabled church members not only to participate in this experience, but also empowered them to continue the historic practice of Christian storytelling. While this modelling and practice took place during traditional times set aside for worship and Bible study, church members were encouraged to continue this practice in informal settings like church hallways, lunches, and coffee conversations with other church members. Testimony served as the lens through which members of the congregation viewed life and made storytelling a common form of communication within the congregation. By reclaiming testimony and allowing this practice to become infused into the congregation’s identity, the project not only provided a temporary increase in connectedness, but also a measureable and sustainable change with a lasting impact on the sense of community at First Baptist Church of Mobile.

68

IV. Research Design and Procedures

Aware of a growing sense of disconnectedness in American society and more specifically at First Baptist Church of Mobile, I sought to enhance sense of community by cultivating a greater degree of interconnectedness in the congregation. The Biblical creation narratives demonstrate God’s divine purpose for people to exist in the context of community and make a compelling scriptural argument for the importance of developing that community. Seeking to address this contemporary problem and answer the Biblical mandate, I took inspiration from a historic Baptist faith practice, namely: the tradition of offering personal testimony before the congregation. This narrative enterprise of sharing faith stories and experiences encouraged the storyteller and the listener to engage with one another and in the process strengthened relationships among the participants.

Narrative theology highlights the importance of storytelling and places our individual stories in the context of God’s great story. Thus, inspired by the Biblical calling and informed by the work of narrative and Trinitarian theologians, I created a ministry project meant to reclaim the Baptist testimony tradition and create space for storytelling within the congregation in an effort to enhance sense of community in the church.

Reclaiming testimony at First Baptist Church of Mobile required equipping church members to share their stories and teaching them how to listen to others’ stories.

I examined the historical Baptist precedents and the Biblical models; in the process, reassuring church members that the practice of testimony is clearly grounded in our scriptures and in our faith tradition. I structured the project with intentionality, seeking to set aside time and space for members of the congregation to share their stories, using a design that educated participants about the testimony tradition while encouraging them to 69 be actively engaged in the practice of storytelling. I employed this research design to verify my stated hypothesis that the practice of personal testimony would provide a catalyst for the creation and enhancement of community which would represent a transformational change in the congregation.

While designing the ministry project, I gave careful consideration to an appropriate timeline for the implementation of a project of this nature. After assessing a number of different potential formats and schedules in consultation with church staff members, I chose a research design lasting four weeks which would commence in

October 2012. Though some deliberation was given to a longer study, this timeline was deemed superior and selected based on data gathered about the most effective methods of inspiring people. In the modern world, many people struggle to make long-term commitments and often express reluctance about participation in extended experimental projects. As Nancy Lublin who runs the non-profit Do Something observes, “Millenials, who in less than a decade will make up 75% of the global workforce, are uninterested in paying their dues” and prefer to think in terms of specific tasks and short-projects.124 In response to this trend, Chris Witt founder of Witt Communications writes, “The key to motivating people is telling them exactly what you want them to do and limiting the amount of time…you are asking for.”125 The research design, though short in duration, was extremely expansive in application, impacting almost every area of church life

124 Reid Hoffman and Nancy Lublin, “A Solution to Millenials High Turnover Rate,” Leadership Online Magazine, accessed on January 23, 2015 at http://www.fastcompany.com/3039130/the-case-for- encouraging-short-term-job-commitment. 125 Chris Witt, “How to motivate and inspire your people in difficult times,” online business journal ReliablePlant, accessed on January 23, 2015, Available at reliableplant.com/Read/18525/how-to- motivate-inspire-your-people-in-difficult-times.

70 including worship, discipleship, Christian education, and fellowship for these four weeks.

All Sunday morning worship services and Wednesday Bible studies would be altered and connected to the implementation of this ministry project. As the primary focus of the congregation for these four weeks, the ministry project could have the biggest impact on church members and the greatest potential to inspire a lasting change within the congregation.

With this important timeline in place, the next step involved making decisions about how to best utilize the time. I recognized the importance of educating the congregation about testimony and facilitating experiences of storytelling for church members. The research design that I developed assumed that the congregation would learn best about the testimony tradition through a multi-faceted educational approach that included teaching, role modelling, and engaging in the personal practice of Christian storytelling.

The teaching occurred in the context of Sunday morning sermons and Wednesday

Bible studies. Sunday morning worship presented an opportunity to educate about the testimony tradition and inspired members to understand storytelling as a spiritual practice. As Pastor, I delivered a three-part sermon series with the following themes: the formation of community, the practice of storytelling and narrative theology, and the importance of learning to listen. These sermons outlined the Biblical and theological foundations for this study and exhorted the congregation to recognize the power and importance of Christian storytelling to foster community.

On Wednesday nights, I offered more in-depth studies to members of the congregation, providing them a safe place to ask questions and to seek greater 71 understanding. The setting in the Fellowship Hall was less formal and the structure more flexible than Sunday morning worship, creating the ideal environment for facilitating intentional dialogue, discussion, and storytelling among church members. On

Wednesday evenings, I created and implemented a four-part teaching series: Storytelling in the Early Christian Community (Christian History), Testimony in Baptist Tradition

(Baptist History), Stories from the Psalms of Lament (Hebrew Bible), and Shared Stories in The Body of Christ (New Testament). Each of these presentations invited the congregation to learn from the stories of our predecessors and the texts of the scriptures, highlighting common metaphors and shared experiences. In both of the Sunday morning worship and Wednesday evening studies, I served as the primary teacher, using examples of testimony in Baptist history and the Bible as my source material.

Along with this more traditional and lecture-based teaching method, the research project incorporated role modelling into the design. One Sunday, deacon candidates were asked to share their stories with the church congregation and to provide an example of

Christian storytelling for other church members. By placing these candidates in the pulpit, I sent a clear signal that testimony is an important part of the worship experience and offered a subtle, but significant, reminder that God speaks through our stories. In addition to this special service, worship leaders also created space in every worship service for a selected layperson to share his or her story with the congregation. Through this testimony time, some church members had an opportunity to practice storytelling while those in the church pews learned to listen to others’ stories. I selected church members, seeking to provide opportunities to those people who seemed disconnected from the larger congregation with careful consideration given to ensure a diverse mix of 72 age, race, and gender. In preparation for their testimony time, these church members were provided background information about the practice of Christian storytelling and pointed toward the models of personal stories that had been written and shared the previous year in our Advent Devotional Guide. By sharing their stories, these laypeople invited members of the congregation into the stories and encouraged other church members to recognize the power of personal testimony. Along with these layperson testimonies, personal stories were included in my sermons, further modelling the practice for the congregation.

This teaching and role modelling helped to equip members of the congregation to engage in the practice of sharing personal testimony in small groups. The research design included not only providing educational information about testimony, but also facilitating experiences in sharing personal testimony. Church members could not simply be passive learners, but were required to enter into the storytelling process as listeners on Sunday mornings and by sharing their own stories on Wednesday evenings. After a teaching time each Wednesday, church members were invited to explore Christian storytelling by sharing their testimonies in a small group around their table. I distributed questions as a catalyst to initiate these conversations and provide a helpful starting point for the sharing of personal narratives with one another.126 Church members were encouraged to sit at different tables each week, circulating around the room and storytelling with different people. The purpose was to create a setting where church members would become more comfortable sharing their own story and also more familiar with the stories of others in

126 These questions will be referenced with specificity later and are included in a series of Appendices. 73 order to strengthen the sense of community present in the congregation. This study provided a unique setting for the practice of narrative theology, enabling church members to understand their stories and empowering church members to practice sharing these stories.

In order to initiate transformative change and enhance community at First Baptist

Church of Mobile, I created a research project design that incorporated theory and praxis.

Through the study of the scriptural texts and through the examination of history and heritage, church members developed a stronger appreciation for the rich testimony tradition and the importance of storytelling as a spiritual practice. Armed with this understanding, church members were challenged to revisit and recount their own autobiographical narratives. Following each session, participants were encouraged to reflect upon the impact of storytelling experience.

In the weeks before the implementation of the project, the church was made aware of this project through a series of newsletter articles and the placement of a simple logo throughout the church. This logo integrated the familiar image of the First Baptist Church front columns with a small text box announcing, “Sharing Our Stories.”127 This same image was included on the letterhead of all materials distributed to the congregation to highlight the theme.

On October 4, 2012, the research project moved from the design stage to the implementation phase as the congregation embarked on the first week (Wednesday night and Sunday morning) dedicated to the sharing of stories. On the first Wednesday of the study, the congregation gathered for a fellowship meal, prayer time, and Bible study.

127 Image of the Logo available in Appendix 2. 74

Traditionally, members of the congregation gravitated toward the same tables each week to be surrounded by their friends. However, on this night and each Wednesday of the study, an announcement was made encouraging church members to sit at different tables, asking them to step away from their comfort zones and seek out unfamiliar faces. After sharing a meal and prayer time, I introduced the research project to the congregation.

Before embarking upon the ministry project and beginning the teaching time, individual consent forms were distributed along with the SCI-2 instrument.128 Church members learned about the purpose of the SCI-2 as a tool used to quantitatively determine sense of community which would be used to evaluate the impact of this ministry project on the congregation.129 I also shared with those gathered that, at the conclusion of the ministry project, interviews would be conducted that would provide qualitative data to evaluate the impact on the congregation. Participation in the survey was optional, but those who chose to participate would need to complete two surveys, one at the beginning and one the end of the project (four-weeks later) to ensure valid and reliable results. In total, thirty-three church members elected to submit surveys which represented a majority of the fifty-five people who actively participated in the ministry project.130

Response to the ministry project, when measured by regards to attendance, was somewhat mixed. Sunday Morning Worship figures reflected no significant change during the ministry project, mirroring the previous year’s averages with one exception:

128 Prior to the distribution of the SCI-2 Instrument (full description in Section 3), I received permission from the creators of the instrument and the Community Life Institute to utilize this tool for my study. After receiving permission from the authors, I requested a review and received approval from the Human Subject Committee of Methodist Theological School of Ohio for both the instrument and the individual consent form. 129 See SCI-2 Instrument in Appendix 3. 130 Active participation means attended most of the Sunday morning services and Wednesday evenings sessions during the implementation of the ministry project. 75 the 1st Sunday. On this Sunday attendance was markedly higher, but the spike was probably not connected to the project, but rather a result of many non-member family and friends who came to support those being ordained as deacons. On the other hand,

Wednesday evening attendance was markedly higher than average during the implementation of the project. Wednesday attendance that had hovered around 40, jumped to an average of 55. Several church members who traditionally attended exclusively on Sundays made the commitment to be a part of this special series. A few of these members continued to attend on Wednesday even after the completion of the study.

Though the project had a significant impact on the participants, shifting their perspectives, it did not lead to any long-term increase in attendance in Sunday services and a modest increase for Wednesday Bible study.

After providing sufficient time for the completion of the surveys, I initiated the study by offering a brief overview of the concepts of Testimony and Christian

Storytelling, addressing some common misconceptions. Following this short introduction, a power point presentation offered insight into the use of story in the early

Christian communities. Drawing upon the work of Rowan A. Greer and Graydon F.

Snyder, this teaching time demonstrated that many early Christians connected their faith stories to the Jonah Narratives.131 Using the Biblical texts and archeological images, the study culminated with an invitation for those present to connect their own stories to a familiar Biblical story.132 In a short handout with questions meant to spur conversation, church members were asked two questions, “What Bible story most resonates with your

131 Rowan A. Greer, Broken Lights and Mended Lives: Theology and Common Life in the Early Church. (University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 1986). 132 Appendix 4. 76 faith experience?” and “What other images, metaphors, or stories express your faith?”133

In an effort to provide assistance, each of these questions included six potential answers meant to help spark conversation. This approach enabled people to begin to think about their stories and connect their stories to the Biblical text. The teaching time helped ground the concept of testimony historically and Biblically, while the experiential learning time allowed people to participate in conversation and begin to connect their stories with God’s story recorded in the scriptures. During this first session, though people expressed great interest in learning more, the practice of sharing testimonies proved to be challenging for many of the participants. Since the Christian storytelling was not exclusively connected to the salvation experience, the idea seemed foreign and even confusing for many church members. Lack of familiarity with some of the Biblical texts proved an impediment for other church members.

Following this Wednesday inauguration of “Sharing Our Stories,” First Baptist

Church offered a special Sunday worship service which included the installation and ordination of new deacons. Traditionally, the service takes the familiar Baptist form centering on a sermon delivered by the Pastor. However, on this Sunday, church members discovered a glaring omission from the worship bulletin, namely the homily, and found an unexpected addition entitled, “Sharing Our Stories.” Baptists often express a conviction that God speaks in worship primarily through the Pastor in the words of the sermon. In the past, church members have told me, “A service is not really a church service without a sermon.” Thus, the replacement of the sermon with testimonies was a radical departure from the norm meant to teach the congregation that God speaks through

133 Appendix 5. 77 all our stories. The three stories shared by the deacons were very different in content, but united by a common thread about God’s faithfulness. An elderly woman spoke of her lifelong commitment to the church and her confusion about being called as a deacon in a denomination that traditionally does not allow women in leadership. A successful middle- aged business man and relatively newcomer to the congregation spoke about his running from God, then confessed his desire to follow God’s calling as a servant and leader in this congregation. A younger woman shared her story with a special emphasis on her grandmother’s role as a significant character in this story and influence on her life. Her testimony provided an example of our how our stories are always interconnected with others. As these three deacon candidates shared, they were role modelling the practice of testimony for the congregation. Following this storytelling, the entire congregation participated in the laying on of hands which served as beautiful symbolic act of blessing, ritually solidifying a new bond and emerging connections between these storytellers and the listeners.

On the 2nd Wednesday evening, the study session was entitled, “Discovering

Testimony in the Baptist Tradition and Learning to Tell Our Stories.” I provided a broad and relatively brief history of the Baptists, then focused more attention on the tradition of sharing testimony about our conversion experiences. The power of testimony as a catalyst for transformation change was illustrated in the retelling of the story of John

Bunyan and the Woman of Bedford. In this historical account, Bunyan discovered faith through listening to testimonies of three or four poor women sitting in the streets of the

78 ancient city.134 Moving from an ancient example to more contemporary examples, I shared experiences of revivals in his youth when people shared their faith journey with those gathered at the service. Other congregation members shared similar experiences and recounted times when testimonies were commonplace in Baptist congregations.

With a clearer appreciation and understanding of this traditional Baptist practice, church members were encouraged to share a personal testimony about their conversion with those gathered with them at the tables. Once again, worksheets were placed on the table with two questions: “What do you remember about ‘getting saved,’ your conversion experience, or when your faith became real to you for the first time?” and “What do you remember about your baptism?”135 In this second week, people were not given suggested answers as in week 1, but instead asked to reflect and share their stories in small groups.

Participants, most familiar with the concept of testimony in connection to conversion, felt comfortable participating and the room was filled with narrative exchanges. The steady exchange of stories created a room filled with energy and revealed a new level of engagement. People seemed eager to share a part of their testimony centering upon their experience of salvation and the ritual of baptism.

In the 2nd Sunday worship service, the “Sharing Our Story” segment in the worship service was repeated, but this time a young man shared his faith journey with the congregation. As he recounted a period of doubt and many lingering questions, members of the congregation discovered that faith stories are not always filled with answers but

134 Alexander Wythe. “John Bunyan and the Poor Woman of Bedford.” The Wicketgate Magazine, ed. 96, (May 2012), 1. Accessed at http://www.wicketgate.co.uk/issue96/e96_4.html on September 25, 2014. 135 See Appendix 6. 79 may involve living with the questions. He confessed that due to these questions he had never before considered his story a testimony nor felt able of sharing his story in a church. Following this meaningful reflection on the importance of authenticity and honesty in the Body of Christ, I offered a sermon entitled “Created for Community” and drawn from Genesis 1 and 2. The sermon boldly declared, “The lesson of this Creation

Story is that we are created for community… The Christian Church should provide strength to the weak and offer support to those who are struggling. We need each other.

We were created not to be islands, but rather to be interconnected. God did not create us for isolationism, but for community.”136 The sermon closed with a new vision of First

Baptist Church of Mobile as a church characterized by a strong sense of community strengthened by our shared stories even in the midst of different opinions and perspectives:

I heard the story of another church. It was a little closer to home, in fact, for the people who attended it felt a lot like home. Membership was not defined by official church rolls, but everyone seemed connected, almost like a family. People who were ashamed of their voices, couldn’t carry a tune, would sing along with those who sounded like angels. Some people didn’t know what to say or how to pray, but they prayed all the same. God heard all those prayers.

People would share stories, some would make you laugh and others made you cry. Somewhere along the way, these people came to know one another and love one another. All the people didn’t look the same. All the people didn’t feel the same. The people didn’t agree on everything, some could hardly agree on anything, but they did promise one thing—they would make every effort to follow in the footsteps of Jesus wherever he led. They believed that they were created to be in Community.

They were called the First Baptist Church Mobile.

136Entire sermon is included in Appendix 7. 80

While the 2nd Wednesday teaching focused narrowly on testimony as the sharing of the story of conversion or baptism, week 3 invited the participants to broaden their understanding of Christian storytelling and find the courage to share difficult stories. The testimony of the young man in the Sunday service served as a helpful harbinger, introducing the idea that testimony and Christian storytelling may involve more than our moment of salvation and include asking difficult questions and expressing doubts. The

Psalms of Lament and the Questions of Job revealed the honest struggles of people of faith in the past. The presence of these stories in the Biblical texts revealed that discouragement, despair, distress, and doubt are common and shared human experiences even for people of faith. In the Biblical texts, the writers demonstrated the courage to ask questions, to wrestle with the answers, and to express frustration with God. These stories of struggle and sorrow forced the storyteller and the listener onto difficult terrain, but these dark valleys proved to be holy ground. People who were willing to be vulnerable with one another experienced a deep connection with each other building community. In this most challenging of all the sessions, I shared the story of a period of darkness and doubt in my own life as I struggled to understand the death of my grandfather. In the process, I modelled what it meant to share openly and to have the courage to question

God in faith. After looking closely at the difficult Biblical texts and sharing from experience, I asked for church members around their table to share some of their unspoken stories. Church members wrestled with the question: “Can you remember a difficult period or experience in your life’s journey?”137 Since this question was so personal, the worksheet made clear that participants did not need to feel forced or

137 See Appendix 8. 81 compelled to share with the group. This experience of sharing these testimonies proved powerful, but also painful for many church members. Some found the courage to talk openly about troubling times, telling their stories and sharing tears. One elderly church member shared with her table the agonizing experience of having a stillborn baby nearly seventy years ago. Though the event occurred in the distant past, her story was clearly still a present reality which continued to shape her life and had deeply impacted her faith.

She confessed her continued anger and confusion about the loss as well as her shame about never conceiving again. The silence around the table was a hard silence, but it was a holy silence. Most at her table, even long-time friends, had never heard about this experience. I watched as some listened with tears in their eyes, while the woman beside her softly placed her hand on the hand of the storyteller in a quiet show of support.

Building upon the message of Wednesday evening, the Sunday morning worship service encouraged members to learn to share testimony candidly without feeling pressure to embellish the story or smooth away the rough edges in our stories. Teaching through telling his story, a long-time church member offered a moving account of his struggle to reconcile the recent, and entirely unexpected, passing of his father. He spoke from the midst of his sorrow and confusion, expressing gratefulness for a community that accepted him despite his doubts. In the process, this church member transformed from being a familiar stranger into a friend whose story resonated with their experiences. The sermon entitled “Telling Our Stories with Honesty” warned against the practice of romanticizing faith or recounting sanitized stories when engaging in the testimony tradition. The first section of the sermon addressed the common practices in Baptist revivals of sharing testimonies filled with wild exaggerations and excessive hyperboles. 82

This trend leaves many of the faithful feeling their “common” stories are less meaningful and not worth sharing with others. I stated clearly, “Extraordinary stories are not the only stories that matter. God’s work in our world does not always involve blinding lights or burning bushes. God moves in more subtle ways to change our lives and to change our world… Simple stories are still sacred. Sometimes, the mundane is miraculous. You have a story to share. Our world needs to hear your story.” Resisting the temptation to embellish and embracing the simple, church members were also encouraged to share stories without always attempting to smooth away every rough edge. “All stories don’t have to have happy endings. Since our stories are still being written, we don’t have to come to resolution or pretend to have all the answers. Sometimes, we are still struggling.

Sometimes, we are still scared. Our stories do not have to hide these feelings in shame.

We do not have to minimize our fears. We do not have to deny our doubts. We do not have to spiritualize or sterilize our stories so that everything is absolutely clean and clear.

People do not need to hear artificial stories about perfect people. The best stories are those that are told honestly, because those resonate with everyone.”138

In Week 4, church members were challenged to re-vision testimony as a present experience instead of simply a retelling of a past one. On Wednesday, I taught about the importance of recognizing God’s work in our lives not only in the distant past, but also in the recent past and events in the present. Acts 11, the foundational text for this ministry project, served as the primary Biblical text to inform this conversation. Peter’s account in

Acts 11 is not of his conversion experience or struggles in the distant past, but rather about recent events and experiences of God’s work in the world. Using narrative

138 Entire sermon available in Appendix 9. 83 theology, I encouraged the congregation to recognize that God’s work in our world continues and God’s story in our world is still being written through our lives and experiences. Testimony is not a practice that is defined exclusively by events in the past, but rather as a lived experience always connected to the present. Following this Biblical teaching time about testimony as “now,” church members were encouraged to look at their lives and reflect on recent experiences that reveal God’s presence by asking three questions: “Where do you see God’s work in your life during the last five days, five months, and/or five years?” “If this time period were a chapter in a book, what would be the title? How has your faith changed during this time?”139 Church members shared contemporary stories with one another about ongoing experiences and attempted to process these experiences as part of God’s work in the world, not only what God had done but what God is doing. Testimony as ongoing story was a new concept for most church members, but provided an exciting and dynamic lens for processing experiences.

By the end of this session, church members were not only telling stories of the past and what God had done, but also stories of the present and what God is doing. The practice of “present tense” testimony transformed the participants understanding of God’s work and encouraged the ongoing creation of community through the telling of stories that are still being written.

On the final Sunday of this ministry project, “Sharing our Stories” included the powerful and emotional testimony of a recent woman immigrating to Mobile from

Germany. Though a long-time attender, she had never officially become a member of the congregation and her story was not known to many in the congregation. As she recounted

139 See Attachment 10. 84 a broken marriage and moments of unbearable loneliness in a strange new setting, church members first listened attentively, and then, emotionally entered into the story with her.

This engagement was obvious by the silence in the sanctuary and the many tear-filled eyes. At one point, the speaker, overcome by her feelings, stopped sharing her story and began to cry. At this moment, one lady in the back of the sanctuary moved by the story, stood up and slowly walked down the aisle toward the tearful storyteller. The church member wrapped her arms around the storyteller and embraced her, holding her as she sobbed for a few moments. Then, after the speaker gained her composure, the lady simply stood beside her as a show of solidarity and support while she finished the story.

These two sojourners stood in the pulpit as a symbol of the new community emerging in the congregation. This testimony had so deeply touched this listener that she was moved to action. The vulnerable storytelling invited church members into the situation as the speaker concluded her narrative by mentioning her discovery of a loving and caring faith community at First Baptist Church Mobile. Following this testimony time, I offered the final sermon of this series, based on Job 38 and entitled “Learning to Listen and to

Understand.” Though learning to tell stories is important, learning to listen to the stories is equally important in the formation of community in the congregation. Seeking to highlight the importance of listening attentively, the sermon stated, “When we learn to slow down and listen, we begin to understand not only the story, but also the

Storyteller.”140 In Baptist churches, the close of the sermon is often framed as an

Invitation. As this ministry project came to a close on this fourth Sunday, I offered a simple, but powerful reminder and invitation to the congregation. “We often hear, but we

140 Entire sermon available in Appendix 11. 85 rarely listen. Shh, listen, God is still speaking.” Emphasizing the narrative theological conviction that God speaks through our stories, this final statement offered a fitting close to a study about fostering community through testimony and storytelling.

In these four weeks, church members were educated about the testimony tradition, exposed to examples of Christian storytelling and storytellers, and invited to engage in sharing their experiences and stories with one another. The ministry project offered church members an immersion experience in the testimony tradition for church members and fostered community through this intensive narrative practice. Grounded in the scriptural texts and the Baptist tradition, I used the research project to transform a forgotten faith practice, testimony, into a dynamic exercise and vibrant catalyst for community development in First Baptist Church of Mobile.

After the completion of the project, church members were asked to provide feedback based on their experiences which would provide the data set of results for evaluation. The research design included the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data to ensure that the results would provide both depth and breadth in the evaluation process.

On the Wednesday following the last session, church members who had completed the SCI-2 instrument on the first night of the study were asked to retake the instrument for the purpose of comparison. Thirty of the 33 who completed the first survey were present and completed the second survey on this evening. The three others who were not present completed the instrument soon after this time. This data was carefully collected and provided the primary quantitative results to evaluate the success of the research project in accomplishing the goal of enhancing sense of community 86 within the congregation. Using this SCI-2 instrument, I determined quantitatively that the sense of community at First Baptist Church of Mobile had been increased by the implementation of this ministry project.

Along with the use of this instrument, church members participated in small group interviews in an effort to gain qualitative data to evaluate the success of the ministry project. On the Wednesday following the last session, church members came early or stayed late to participate in small, focus group interviews. The same four questions were asked to everyone participating in the interviews and sufficient time was allowed for responses.141 The Pastor facilitated this conversation and invited participants to reflect upon their experiences and offer their reactions to the ministry project.

Throughout the interviews, the Pastor took careful notes of all responses, verbal and non- verbal, in an effort to collect qualitative data to be used to better understand the impact of this ministry project on individuals in the congregation.

Building upon the theoretical framework provided by narrative theology and employing the Baptist testimony tradition, this ministry project fostered and strengthened community at First Baptist Church of Mobile through the practice of Christian storytelling. Teaching and role modelling prepared the congregation to fully engage in this study, enabling participants to understand testimony in a historical context with

Biblical underpinnings. Church members were invited into more meaningful relationships which led to the formation and strengthening of their sense of community. The congregation learned about the transformative power of shared testimony through

141 The questions utilized in these small group interviews were created with input from Dr. Diane Lobody and approved for use by the Human Subjects Committee of Methodist Theological School in Ohio. 87 examples from the past and experience in the present. In the implementation phase, church members were challenged to reflect, write and share their own stories as well as learn to listen attentively to the stories of others. In the process, people discovered many common strands, interests, emotions and experiences which were always present but had previously been unrealized. Because of the bridge created by these testimonies, church members felt a greater appreciation for their own stories, and a stronger sense of connection to the many other storytellers. Following the study, quantitative and qualitative data was collected through the use of a survey instrument and small group interviews which promise to reveal the results of this study and help to evaluate the success of this research project in accomplishing the ministry goal of enhancing community at First Baptist Church of Mobile.

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V. Results and Evaluation of the Research

Seeking to address the problem of disconnectedness in the congregation, I embarked on a four-week ministry project which involved education, role modelling, and storytelling in an effort to reclaim the Baptist testimony tradition and enhance sense of community within the church. Throughout the implementation, I took careful notes of the “real-time” reactions and responses of the congregation. At the commencement and conclusion of the project, participants were asked to complete an instrument that was designed to effectively evaluate senses of community in organizations and institutions.

The quantitative data provided by this instrument offered insights into the impact of the project on the church and prove to be an invaluable tool in evaluating the success of this ministry project. Along with contributing this quantitative data via survey, participants were asked to provide qualitative data through small group interviews. The information collected in these interviews provided depth to the study by revealing the personal experiences of the participants and also served as an essential resource for determining the impact of this ministry project on the individual.

This section of the thesis involves the sharing of these quantitative and qualitative results as well as a careful evaluation of these research findings. By looking closely at the gathered data, I sought to better understand the impact of the ministry project on the congregation broadly, but also to illuminate the project’s influence on individuals within the congregation. In the process, the examination of these results revealed that the practice of Christian storytelling and testimony at First Baptist Church of Mobile did significantly enhance sense of community in the church body.

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A. Quantitative Data: Results and Evaluation

The SCI-2 was administered at two different times to participants in this ministry project. On the first day of the implementation phase, church members who planned to participate in all phases of the ministry project (Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings) were asked to complete the instrument. Similarly, on the Wednesday after the conclusion of the project, church members who had completed the first survey were asked to retake the survey in light of their experience. The two sets of results were then analyzed and evaluated for reliability to access the significance of the change in sense of community in the congregation.

Candidates for this survey were essentially self-selected based on their commitment to participate in the project. No person was forced to participate and all participants signed consent forms, acknowledging the information would be used for the purposes of this ministry project. The names of those participating were not written on their surveys in an effort to protect anonymity and encourage honesty. Participants were given a numbered survey so that their first and second tests could be accurately compared. While participants were self-selected for this study, three other criteria were observed and should be duly noted. First, only active church members/participants

(defined as those who would be present on Sunday mornings and Wednesdays evenings) were encouraged to participate in these surveys. Second, the sampling naturally mirrored the demographics of active participants in the church and included men and women, young and old, African American and white.142 Thus, diversity was present in this study, but limited to the diversity present in the congregation. The sample group accurately

142 Participants in this study were at least 18 years of age. 90 reflected the congregation, meaning the group demographics were statistically similar to those in the congregation as a whole. Third, since the same survey was to be conducted at both the beginning and end of the study, those unlikely to be present in the church for the duration of the study were not included. A total of 33 people participated in all phases of the ministry project and submitted quantitative data via this instrument. This number represented an overwhelming majority (85%) of the average Wednesday evening

Bible Study attendance and a significant minority (33%) of the average Sunday morning attendance.

The Sense of Community Index-2 Instrument consists of 24 statements and asks the participant to consider “how well each statement represents how you feel about this community.” As an example, one of the statements reads, “Community members and I value the same things.” In response to this statement, participants select one of four answers: completely, mostly, somewhat, or not at all. Each of the responses is correlated with a numerical value (completely=3, mostly=2, somewhat=1, and not at all=0) and these values are used to generate “response numbers” which are used to quantitatively process the collected data. The individual SCI-2 is scored with a simple primary scale which involves summing all of these response numbers (1 for each statement, 24 in total) which provides the Total Sense of Community Index. Along with this primary scale, the creators of the SCI-2 have identified four subscales within the instrument that reveal more specific aspects of community that can be evaluated. These subscales include:

Reinforcement of Needs, Membership, Influence, and Shared Emotional Connection.

The subscales are calculated by summing the responses to a specific set of questions which effectively evaluate the participant’s feelings about a particular facet of sense of 91 community. The Total Sense of Community Index provides a very broad picture of sense of community experienced by participants, while the subscales provide another framework to evaluate the responses and better understand this quantitative data.

In evaluating this data set, the research project employed the matched pair testing, meaning the pretest score of the instrument was compared with the posttest score for the same person and the differences were analyzed statistically. The pretest score provided a start point, revealing, quantitatively, the sense of community present before the implementation of the ministry project. The posttest score revealed the sense of community present at the time of the project’s completion. Comparing these two numbers effectively demonstrated the change that had taken place as a result of the implementation of this research exercise. With the help of a statistician, the data was analyzed using several methods and a series of tests which revealed that the results were both reliable and valid with a 95% degree of confidence that the change in scores from the pretest to the posttest was not due to chance.143

The results of the SCI-2 instrument demonstrated that sense of community was significantly enhanced at First Baptist Church of Mobile by the implementation of this research project. The data collected verifies my hypothesis and confirms that reclaiming the Baptist testimony tradition and Christian storytelling did indeed increase sense of community in a local church congregation. In an effort to understand and evaluate the instrument scores and results, I examined the quantitative change documented by the

Total Sense of Community Index and the subscales as well as looked more deeply at responses to specific questions which provided greater clarity about the nature of

143 Appendix 13 documents the series of tests and results that support the statement above. 92 transformative changes experienced in this congregation through the implementation of this ministry project.

The Total Sense of Community Index provides the broadest framework for the evaluation of sense of community in the congregation, taking into account responses to all of the questions in the survey instrument. Since the instrument has 24 statements, if a participant answered “completely” to each of these statements, he or she would be experiencing the highest possible “sense of community” index scored at 72. Obviously, participants who responded “not at all” to all of the questions would be computed with a score of 0. Thus, the Sense of Community Index score for both individuals and the community would lie somewhere between 0-72, with 72 serving as the perfect score. In order to evaluate sense of community within the congregation, the scores of all 33 participants were calculated, then averaged to provide the congregational Total Sense of

Community Index pretest and posttest scores. At First Baptist Church of Mobile, participants who took the initial test scored an average of 51.47 (out of a possible 72).

This figure displays some strength in sense of community in the congregation before the implementation of the ministry project. Following the completion of the ministry project, participants who took the concluding test scored an average of 57.69 (out of 72). This shift represents a statistically significant change and indicates a noteworthy positive increase in the total sense of community in the congregation.144

Supporting the trend revealed in the Total Sense of Community Index, the four subscales also revealed the ministry project positively influenced the shift toward community in each of these different areas. Each subscale is built from responses to six

144 Data included in Appendix 13. 93 statements, meaning the subscale range has a minimum score of 0 and a maximum score of 18. Similar to the Total Sense of Community Index, the subscale scores were computed individually, then combined and averaged in order to provide the congregational pretest and posttest scores. In all four of these subscales, church members experienced an enhanced sense of community due to their participation in the practice of testimony and storytelling. The Reinforcement of Needs subscale, revealing that the congregation members feel their needs are being met in this community, shifted from a pretest score of 12.22 (out of 18) to a posttest score of 14.13 (out of 18). This significant shift in this subscale reveals that by sharing stories, people experienced a sense of connectedness that met a personal need. The Membership subscale, evaluating a participant’s sense of belonging to a larger community or organization, shifted from a pretest score of 11.60 (out of 18) to a posttest score of 13.25 (out of 18). This shift reveals that storytelling brought a greater sense of belonging as a member of the church congregation. It is important to note that though the number increased significantly, the final result of 13.25 remains the lowest of the four subscales. So, Sense of Membership still represents the weakest element of the sense of community experienced in the congregation. The Influence subscale gauges the people’s feelings about their ability to impact or influence the community, in the case of this ministry project, a church congregation. At First Baptist Church, the participants feelings shifted with a pretest score of 12.91 (out of 18) and a posttest score of 14.69 (out of 18). In sharing their stories while others listened attentively, church members came to believe that their voices mattered in the congregation. Though the ministry project was focused on the importance of personal testimony, the shift in this subscale may be more directly linked 94 to learning to listen and to value one another by storytelling.145 The Shared Emotional

Connection subscale, including empathy, care, and compassion, measures the sense of emotional engagement of a participant in a particular community. Though this subscale also experienced a positive shift, it was the smallest shift of any of the subscales. In the pretest, participants scored an average of 14.75 (out of 18) while in the posttest this increased to 15.73 (out of 18). At first glance, the increase may seem relatively small in comparison to the other subscales. However, special attention must be paid to the fact that the pretest score for this subscale was already extremely high. In fact, this pretest score of the Shared Emotional Connection was higher than the posttest score of any of the other subscale. Clearly, the data demonstrates that at the beginning of this initiative, church members had a relatively strong shared emotional connection which was further strengthened by storytelling and the practice of Christian testimony. While noting the relatively small increase, the extremely high posttest score is also worthy of consideration and indicates that the Shared Emotional Connection appears to remain the strongest expression of community within the congregation.

Before examining responses to some of the specific questions in order to garner greater depth of analysis, I feel it important to share other overall observations and interesting trends which were revealed by the data collected in this survey. When each statement is evaluated independently, the responses of the congregation revealed a shift in the positive direction toward a stronger sense of community in every case. For example, we can look at Statement 1, “I get important needs of mine met because I am a

145 The importance of listening will be more fully examined in the qualitative data later in this section of the thesis. 95 part of this community.” In the pretest, participants responded to this question with a total score of 72 while in the posttest the same question garnered a total score of 78.146 In the examination of all 24 statements, each one indicates a positive shift as a trend in the congregation as a whole. Some statements experienced a greater increase than others, but every statement demonstrated some overall increase. This finding reveals the increase in sense of community apparently had a broad impact in the congregation. While the qualitative data will reveal the depth of the impact, the observation about the quantitative data reveals the breadth of the impact of this ministry project on the congregation.

While the Total Sense of Community Index increased and all four of the subscales increased and while all of the statements showed a shift in the positive direction, the research data revealed that of the 33 participants, five actually experienced a decreased sense of community by participating in the ministry project. For these five participants, the Total Sense of Community Score posttest was actually lower than the score pretest.

A more careful examination of these numbers reveals that for two of the five, the decrease was extremely small, statistically insignificant. However, for three participants, the decrease was significant and substantial. Along with these five participants who experienced a decrease in Sense of Community, three other participants experienced no change in sense of community by their participation in this ministry project. While acknowledging the overall success of this project and validation of the thesis statement, the research data also disclosed that a significant minority of nearly 25% of participants did not experience an increased sense of community by engaging in the practice of personal testimony and Christian storytelling. Within this minority subgroup, a little more

146 Total score calculated by summing the response numbers of all participants. 96 than 15% experienced essentially no change in their sense of community while a smaller percentage, a little less than 10%, experienced an actual decline in sense of community by their participation. Thus, while validating the claim that sense of community can be enhanced by storytelling and the practice of testimony in Christian community, the research project also proves that some people will not necessarily experience an increased or enhanced sense of community by engaging in this practice.

Armed with an understanding of the broad results, I engaged in a careful examination of the participants’ responses to specific questions to discover in greater detail how the increased sense of community was increased as revealed by the quantitative data. The Total Sense of Community Index had offered a broad measure of assessment while the subsets provided more clarity about the experience. Yet, the analysis of the specific questions empowered and enabled me to see more clearly the details and develop a deeper understanding of the ways in which the congregation experienced an enhanced sense of community.

In my examination of the 24 questions, I focused my attention on those questions that had experienced the greatest increases from the pretest to the posttest as well as those who had experienced the smallest increases. As noted previously, the participants’ responses to each statement of the instrument revealed a positive shift toward an enhanced sense of community. However, some statements displayed more statistically significant shifts than other statements. If all 33 participants had responded “completely” to a statement, this would yield a perfect score of 99. In an effort to analyze the questions, I looked closely at the tabulated pretest response numbers and compared these

97 numbers to the tabulated posttest response number. The change in these two numbers revealed the size of the shift experienced by participants in the ministry project.

According to the gathered data, the greatest increase in sense of community was evidenced in two statements included in the Reinforcement of Needs subscale. This subscale measures the ability of the community to foster connection with the participant and to effectively meet the personal needs of the participant. In the context of this ministry project, First Baptist Church of Mobile represents the community of practice that met the needs of participants through the practice of personal testimony and

Christian storytelling. Through the implementation of this ministry project, participants clearly affirmed the statement that “This community has been successful in getting the needs of its members met.” Apparently, the practice of testimony and Christian storytelling led to an extremely significant increase in this feeling among the congregation as the pretest score of 62 jumped to a posttest score of 81, an increase of 19 points which represents a 30.6% increase. This overwhelming response signifies the single greatest increase reflected in this data. By answering in this manner, the participants vindicated the assertions made earlier in this thesis that people are seeking to both share their stories and listen to the stories of others. By encouraging and facilitating the narrative process, this ministry project effectively met this perceived need and increased sense of community in the congregation. Participants were almost equally positive about a second statement in the same subscale. “People in this community have similar needs, priorities, and goals.” Once again, the pretest score of 58 and posttest score of 76 on this statement reveal a very significant shift in the congregation’s feelings with an 18 point increase and a percentage increase of 31%. This statement points 98 toward the recognition of shared values and priorities in the community. The increase indicates the sharing of stories led to a greater sense of interconnectedness, appreciation, and clearer understanding of the common experiences, ideals, and principles present in the congregation. While both of these statements are framed in the language of need and included in the “Reinforcement of Need” subset, the responses to the statements reflect a greater sense of understanding that emerged in the congregation through the implementation of the ministry project. Clearly, a four-week ministry project could not possibly meet every need, but the open storytelling met an essential desire for enhanced communication in the congregation and provided a new perspective that enabled participants to better understand others. The ministry project enabled participants to connect their needs with the needs of others, enhancing sense of community in the congregation.

While these two statements about reinforcement of need represented the two great increases demonstrated by the data, two additional statements in the “Influence” subscale also merit consideration for their noteworthy increases. The “Influence” subscale measures the individual’s sense of connection through personal empowerment and the ability of the community and the individual to make a meaningful impact on the world.

Participants in the survey found a renewed sense of pride in the church as an agent of change and strongly affirming the statement “This community can influence other communities.” The pretest score of 70 jumped to a posttest score of 85 following the implementation of the ministry project, an increase of 15 points and 21%. By sharing stories and listening to the stories of others, members of the church felt more empowered and experienced a renewed confidence about the role of the congregation to affect others. 99

The statement revealed an increased understanding of congregational identity and an increased confidence in this church’s ability to influence and impact others. Connected to these positive feelings about the power of the church community, participants also expressed a great confidence in the statement “I have influence over what this community is like.” In responding to this statement, participants initially indicated very little confidence with a pretest score of 47, but a far greater optimism in the posttest score of

60, an increase of 13 points and 27%. The practice of personal testimony enabled church members to feel that their stories counted and their opinions mattered to others in the church. The extremely low pretest score demonstrates that people in the congregation clearly felt fairly limited in their influence on the community prior to the implementation of the ministry project. While the final score is significantly higher, it remains less than ideal and may still represent an area for further consideration in the future if sense of community is to be strengthened at First Baptist Church of Mobile.

Analyzing data requires not only reflection on the clear trends and celebrating the successes revealed, but also taking time to highlight the surprising and even puzzling responses in an effort to better understand the results. The fifth greatest increase, as evidenced by this instrument, represents one of these troubling or candidly confusing responses. The statement reads: “This community has symbols and expressions of membership such as clothes, signs, art, architecture, logos, landmarks, and flags that people can recognize.” First Baptist Church of Mobile does not have a uniform set of symbols or even a frequently used image that has traditionally united the congregation.

Since this ministry project did not propose to change or alter symbols or expressions of membership, the statement itself seemed to be superfluous to study. The statement was 100 included in this instrument due to the fact that permission was granted to administer the

SCI-2 instrument without changes. I had planned to use the response to this statement as a sort of fixed standard, anticipating no significant shifts based on the implementation of the ministry project. Participants responded to the statement as expected in the pretest, providing an extremely low score of 45. (This score represents the lowest of any question pretest or posttest in the instrument.) I was startled and somewhat disappointed to discover that the same participants responded to the statement in the posttest with a score of 57, reflecting a rise of 12 points and a 26.6% increase. My first response was to question the validity of the statement, then to question the validity of the entire instrument. Since the practice of testimony and storytelling should have no impact on the response to this statement, I feared that this significant shift demonstrated a problem with the process. Although I cannot fully account for this change, further reflection has yielded some explanations that may illuminate the matter. While the ministry project was focused on the practice of Christian storytelling and testimony, the research design did include the development of a new logo which was used on the letterhead of handouts, printed in the newsletter, and displayed on promotional materials. Since the church has little history of consistently using a symbol or logo, this placement, even for a four-week period, had the potential to create a surprisingly significant response within the congregation. While focusing on the low pretest score, I had failed to acknowledge that the posttest score, though significantly higher than the pretest score, was still the lowest of all posttest scores. So, while displaying a significant increase, the statement still represented the lowest source of experienced community in the congregation. The increase in feelings about this statement did reveal a shift in this area from weakness to 101 strength, but rather one which moved an extreme weakness to a less severe weakness for the congregation. Finally, as members of the congregation seemed to experience an enhanced sense of community as evidenced by the posttest scores, participants may have simply responded in a more positive or optimistic manner to the statement during the second implementation of the instrument.

After analyzing these areas of the most significant shifts as revealed in the quantitative data, I looked closely at the statement that revealed the least significant shifts and sought to learn from this information. Of the five statements that shifted least, four of them fell into the “Shared Emotional Connection” subscale. This subscale reveals connectedness in a community through shared experience, commitment, and a sense of caring and being cared for. The other statement with the least shift, though placed in the

“Reinforcement of Needs” subscale, seems to be closely related to this emotional connectedness as well. The least shift occurred around the statement, “Being a member of this community makes me feel good.” With a pretest score of 89 and a posttest score of 91, the 2 point increase represents only a 2.2% change. At first glance, this tepid response seemed inconsistent with previous results and with the qualitative data to be shared later in this thesis. The key to unravelling the mystery is remembering that a perfect score (when all 33 participants agree “completely” with a statement) is 99. So, the pretest score of 89 and posttest score of 91 reveal that this was already an area of strength at First Baptist Church of Mobile. The statement reveals that sense of community, even in this very strong area, was increased slightly by the implementation of this ministry project. Church members were clearly experiencing “good feelings” before participating in this project and these feelings were simply slightly enhanced by 102 the practice of personal testimony. Two other statements follow a similar pattern with slight increases to areas that were extremely strong before the implementation of the ministry project. Church members affirmed “It is very important to me to be a part of this community” in the pretest with a score of 88 and increased the score to 91 in the posttest. Correspondingly, church members expressed confidence that “Members of this community care about each other.” The pretest score of 89 equaled the highest pretest score of any statement on the instrument while the posttest score of 93 represented the single highest overall score. In the case of these three questions, the relatively small shift experienced by members of the congregation was less a reflection of a lack of impact by the ministry project and more a reflection of the strength of these areas before we began this project. In each case, the ministry project still effectively enhanced sense of community, moving a relative strength in the congregation to an extreme strength. Since none of these statements achieved a perfect score, the church still has room for growth even in places where strength of community seems to be the strongest.

Two other statements, which experienced small shifts in the pretest and posttest scores, merited examination and point toward areas for further consideration and conversation within the congregation in the future. According to the research findings, participants felt only slightly more positive about the statement, “Members of this community have shared important events together, such as holidays, celebrations, or disasters.” According to the data, the pretest response score for this statement was 79 while the posttest score was 83, an increase of 4 points and only 5%. Clearly, during the implementation of the ministry project, church members did not experience a significant shift in their sense of community through special events, celebrations, or tragedies. Since 103 the four-week implementation did not occur during a holiday season, but rather during

“Ordinary Time” on the church calendar, the participants did not have an opportunity to participate in special services or church celebrations. The church experienced a blessedly peaceful season during the project’s implementation sans crisis, tragedy, or disaster.

While understanding the timing may have significantly influenced the response to this statement, I also recognized that in this ministry project, participants were encouraged to share stories, but were not explicitly asked to discuss shared events like holiday seasons or celebrations. A greater shift may have been demonstrated if the ministry project had encouraged members to recount meaningful shared special events in the life of the community.

Along with this statement about shared experiences, a second statement which experienced a small shift may be cause for some concern in the congregation and point toward a potential challenge for the future. The second smallest shift of the entire instrument occurred in response to the statement, “I expect to be a part of this community for a long time.” In response to this statement, participants offered a pretest score of 85 and a posttest score of 87, an increase of only 2 points and 2.4%. In analyzing this response, I first noted that though the shift was small, the pretest and posttest scores were both relatively high. The posttest score did not indicate a significant portion of the congregation plans to depart in the immediate future and an overwhelming majority was apparently planning to remain a part of this community. The ministry project simply did not significantly increase the participants’ long-term commitment to this community.

The wording of the question, “I expect to be part of this community for a long time,” may also have played a part with its emphasis on expectation. Two very different situations 104 exist in the congregation which may impact people’s expectations. Among the younger adults and newer members, professional opportunities lead some to believe that their presence in the city of Mobile may be temporary, so their participation as a member of the church community will not be long-term. In contrast, the church’s older adults face increasing health risks and a growing awareness of their own limitations. In the midst of an aging congregation, some church members may simply be realistically facing their future and aware that their time as a participating member of this community is limited.

In the practice of testimony, some participants recounted stories of those who had already passed away which may have caused them to once again consider their own mortality.

While the response to this statement should not be overstated, the lack of increase may be a cause for some concern in the future as the congregation continues to grapple with change and seeks to foster a strong sense of commitment to the church community.

Analyzing the shifts among participants in response to the ministry project helped to reveal the overall impact of the narrative practice of testimony and showed the particular areas where sense of community was enhanced at FBC Mobile. The quantitative data also proved helpful in revealing the areas where church members were still struggling to experience meaningful connection and community. My analysis, thus far, of the quantitative data examined the shifts which occurred as a result of the implementation of the ministry project, focusing specifically on the statements that showed the biggest and smallest shifts. These shifts were worthy of examination and provided the clearest qualitative picture of what took place as a result of the ministry project. With an appreciation of these shifts, I wanted to conclude my study of the quantitative data with a brief look at the lowest posttest scores to identify areas where 105 sense of community remained weakest in the wake of the experience of embracing the practice of testimony and Christian storytelling.

While sense of community was enhanced by the implementation of the ministry project, participants still expressed only a limited familiarity with one another as evidenced by their responses. Two of the lowest posttest score statements were related to knowing others and being known in the community: 1. “I can recognize most of the members of this community” and, 2. “Most community members know me.” While both of these statements experienced significant increases (7 and 9 points), neither achieved an extremely high posttest score (67 and 70, respectively) which indicates both remain areas of concern in a congregation seeking to enhance sense of community. Once again, the wording of the statements may have significantly impacted the response. In both statements, the word “most” presented a rather high bar to clear in order to completely affirm the declaration. At FBC Mobile, 33 participated in the ministry project, but this number represented a smaller group of the larger whole congregation. While participating members came to know one another better, as evidenced by the overall upward shift in scores, these same members may not have felt as connected to those who did not participate. Participants may have known “some” or even “many” members of the community, but still been reluctant to claim knowing “most.” In the wake of this discovery, the congregation may want to find additional ways to foster simple familiarity and encourage church members to get to know one another. Storytelling apparently fostered deeper connections between the participants, but did not necessarily ensure that

“most” in the congregation would become acquainted with one another.

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Another growth area in the FBC congregation is disclosed in response to the statement, “I put a lot of time and effort into being part of this community.” Though the pretest score of 64 increased to a posttest score of 70, the statement still represents one of the weakest expressions of community as revealed by the instrument. Participation in the ministry project required members to dedicate more time and energy, but apparently this did not indicate a permanent change in patterns. Though storytelling fostered a growing sense of connectedness, the narrative process did not necessarily lead to a renewed commitment to devote more time and energy to the community.

The quantitative data, revealed by a comparison of the pretest and posttest scores of the administered SCI-2 instruments, clearly demonstrated the success of this ministry project. Sense of Community was significantly enhanced by the practice of testimony and

Christian storytelling at First Baptist Church of Mobile. Furthermore, research findings revealed that by sharing their stories members experienced an increased appreciation for the church as a setting for the “Reinforcement of Needs,” a sense of belonging through

“Membership,” a sense of value through “Influence” and a sense of empathy through

“Shared Emotional Connection.” Although an overwhelming majority of participants displayed this increase, a small minority within the congregation actually experienced a slight decrease in their sense of community by participating in the study. A more careful examination of specific statements in the instrument reveal that participants experienced a new sense of empowerment and influence in the congregation as well as a greater appreciation for shared needs and values. Participants experienced a less significant shift in their sense of emotional connectedness, primarily because this represented a strong expression of community present in the congregation before the implementation of the 107 ministry project. Through the practice of testimony and storytelling, the congregation experienced a greater sense of connectedness, but has not achieved a seamless community. These quantitative results demonstrated numerically that the process of storytelling successfully increased sense of community in a local congregation.

Complementing these research findings, the qualitative data offers a helpful narrative to better understand the experiences of those participating in this ministry project.

B. Qualitative Data: A Narrative Exploration of Results and Evaluation

The quantitative data gathered from the SCI-2 provided a helpful portrait of the congregational experience and a statistical way to quantify this experience, demonstrating an enhanced sense of community in the congregation. In an effort to gather more data which would provide a greater appreciation of the personal experiences of the participants, I elected to conduct small discussion groups on the Wednesday night following the completion of the ministry project. While all participants were encouraged to participate in these listening sessions, no person was compelled. Twenty-one of the 33 people who completed the SCI-2 instrument also contributed qualitative data by participating in these small group interviews. In preparing for these discussions, I intentionally capped the size of each group at 8, hoping smaller groups would encourage a higher level of participation from those present. Participants were asked to sign up in advance in an effort to increase accountability and attendance as well as to ensure that no group would be too large. Three discussion groups emerged which met for 30 minutes each and had 6, 7, and 8 participants respectively. The sessions were short in an effort to accommodate some scheduling conflicts, encourage members to participate, and so all sessions could take place soon after the completion of the ministry project. Since these 108 participants had already completed an Individual Consent form for the SCI-2, no further consent was required or requested.

Before conducting the small group interviews, I carefully crafted questions with the intent of facilitating meaningful conversation and focusing attention on their experience in the ministry project. Questions were intentionally composed to be open, encouraging exploration and discussion, instead of closed which would yield short and impersonal responses. With the help of my advisor, Dr. Diane Lobody, I settled upon four questions which could guide our 30 minute discussion time:

1. What did you experience while participating?

2. How did the project impact your understanding of Testimony and Christian

Storytelling?

3. What did you learn by participating in this experience?

4. Did this project change your experience of community at First Baptist Church

of Mobile?

While all of the four questions were asked with each small discussion group, some groups seemed to resonate with certain questions. In one of the groups, the very first question served as a catalyst for a lengthy conversation that addressed and answered many of the other questions along the way. These questions were used to guide conversations, but as facilitator, I sought to provide freedom for participants to share without enforcing an artificial structure and rigidly requiring comprehensive responses to specific questions. The data that emerged from these small group interviews provided a fuller picture of the experience of participants and a greater understanding of the impact of the ministry project upon the congregation. 109

The data gathered in these small group interviews appeared less systematic and more subjective than the responses gathered in the qualitative data. Participants did not simply provide objective answers to specific questions, but rather shared their experiences in the form of personal narratives. Honoring their responses and embracing the narrative theological perspective that undergirds this ministry project, the qualitative data will be shared by identifying the common themes and threads that were woven throughout these narratives. In the small group interviews, participants recognized the links between their stories and even celebrated their shared experiences. One speaker would make reference to the answer provided by another, echoing their sentiments before adding a personal reflection. While the quantitative data could easily be analyzed separately looking at individual surveys, the qualitative data was best examined collectively with an appreciation for the congregational narrative that emerged from these conversations.

Qualitatively, as quantitatively, the participants made clear and explicit that the ministry project significantly enhanced the sense of community at First Baptist Church of

Mobile. While quantitatively, some participants expressed a tepid response or even a slight decrease in sense of community, in the small group interviews, every participant expressed a renewed and increased sense of community and connectedness with other members of the congregation. One participant summarized the feelings of many saying,

“Sharing our stories brought us closer.” Another when asked if their sense of community changed during the ministry project responded enthusiastically, “Most definitely! I feel like I know people in this community in a new way and am known by people in this community. The church feels more like a family.” While these answers were being 110 shared, many others in the room nodded with affirmation. Though not in a numerical format, the small groups interviews provided an even more overwhelming and convincing proof that the ministry project had enhanced the sense of community in the congregation at First Baptist Church of Mobile. The narrative that emerged from the small group interviews provided not only an affirmation of my hypothesis, but also a better understanding how this was accomplished and experienced in the congregation.

One of the ways sense of community was experienced was in a renewed appreciation for fellowship among members of the congregation. While almost every

Baptist church in America includes a large gathering space called a “Fellowship Hall,” many churches struggle to foster fellowship within the church. People sit at the same tables, surrounded by a few friends but rarely interacting with others in the room. In

Sunday worship, church members seem to be quite protective of their pews and rarely venture forth to engage in conversations with others in the congregation. Encouraging members to step away from their comfort zone, this project effectively facilitated and fostered fellowship within the congregation. The structured testimony and Christian storytelling that took place during worship and Bible Study on Sundays and Wednesdays served as a catalyst for informal interactions which took place following these services.

One church member noted, “I can still remember the second week of the project. Bible

Study time had ended and traditionally people quickly make their way toward the door.

But, I watched and saw so many people ‘hanging around,’ lingering in longer conversations. Instead of an empty room, I saw people connecting with one another.”

This informal fellowship was not prescribed by the project, but rather emerged as a by- product of the Christian storytelling and provided evidence of the increased sense of 111 community in the congregation. After offering his testimony in Sunday worship, one church member said, “I was surrounded by people who were doing more than just patting me on the back. They had heard my story and felt connected to my experience. Some waited for 15 minutes to talk with me because they wanted to speak to me. And, while they were waiting, they were in conversations with each other.” Embracing the practice of testimony, members of First Baptist Church experienced an enhanced sense of community in the congregation by fostering Christian fellowship.

By sharing their stories and listening to others stories, church members experienced an increased sense of self-worth and value within the congregation. Before the implementation of the ministry project, church members admitted to struggling to

“trust” others and open up to share their stories. Some people expressed a perception that “my story doesn’t really matter,” or “no one really wants to know my story.” These statements displayed the sentiments of many church members who feel their stories are unimportant and may struggle to even find the confidence to enter into meaningful conversations about their faith. One church member confessed, “At the beginning of this project, I was really, really nervous. People don’t really know me and I am not sure how they will react. So, I had to be very careful.” This same participant concluded his remarks by saying, “Christian storytelling requires trust, but it also builds trust.” By the end of the ministry project, he had learned that his story mattered to others in his church congregation. Other participants spoke about being deeply touched when they realized that other church members were eager to hear to their stories. One new church member said, “I cannot tell you the amount of comfort I felt when I saw that other people were really, really listening. It was through their listening that I learned, people in this 112 community really care for me.” The value and importance of listening was affirmed and repeated in these small groups. People felt valued and appreciated for the first time in the congregation simply because others around the table took the time to listen attentively to their stories. One longtime church member expressed her apprehension at the beginning of the project, but at the conclusion offered a bold witness to the most powerful part of the experience for her. She stated, “I knew people loved me because people listened to me.” Church members discovered an increased sense of self-worth and an enhanced sense of community by discovering their value to others in the church.

The practice of personal testimony and Christian storytelling encouraged vulnerability among members of the congregation and enhanced people’s empathy and sympathy for one another. Although the third week of the project, dealing with our unspoken stories and disappointment with God, proved to be the hardest for some participants, it was also the most meaningful for many others. During this session, church members were encouraged to remember the examples in the Psalms of Lament and the Book of Job, then to share stories of personal sorrow and struggle. Over and over again, in the listening sessions, people would make reference to this experience, describing these moments as emotional, engaging, and “holy.” One church member said,

“I found the experience of sharing my struggles to be so hard, but also comforting. As I listened to others, I came to realize that another person has a similar story, a similar heartache and grief, a similar struggle. No one said the words, but I heard them clearly, ‘I have been there too.’” The sharing of these difficult experiences helped people to empathetically connect to one another and transformed the nature of their relationships.

One woman, who described her pain and disappointment after a miscarriage, sat beside 113 another woman who shared the story of the death of her only child. The two women, though both longtime members, had never shared these stories with one another nor connected their stories to one another. In the wake of their sharing, the two lingered at the table sharing some tears and more stories. Many people also made reference to the tragic story shared by a new church member about her struggles as an immigrant. As one participant stated, “She put it all out there...and invited us into her life and story. It was one of the holiest moments in worship I have ever experienced.” Others echoed that they were entirely unaware of her situation and her struggles, but after her testimony felt a sense of sympathy, compassion, and connection to her. In the storytelling process, she transformed from a stranger to many in the congregation into a family member. At FBC

Mobile, Christian storytelling and personal testimony engaged more than the mind by touching the heart and inspiring new empathetic connections which increased the sense of community within the congregation.

Participants in the ministry project also experienced a new understanding of the concept of testimony, transforming the idea from the past to present and from the extraordinary to ordinary. Before the implementation of the ministry project, people accepted the common perception that testimony is “only about the salvation experience,” or “coming to know the Lord.” Based upon this perception, people felt a testimony would always need to be wrapped in religious language and filled with “faith fireworks.”

Members of the congregation confessed to being cynical about the entire concept of testimony, believing most of them to be false and artificial. Sharing testimony was perceived as self-centered, an opportunity for the speaker to be the center of attention by recounting an elaborate salvation story. One man shared about the transformation of his 114 understanding of testimony saying, “I grew up hearing testimonies. It was always very emotional and filled with shouting. I had never; never before this project, connected the concept of personal testimony with community. But, I see things differently now. When we share our testimonies, we find connections with each other.” Christian storytelling, instead of being a self-centered exercise, offered a wonderful opportunity to engage others and foster community. Another church member said, “I thought testimony was only about salvation, but it is more than that. Many experiences can be a testimony. The way we live is a testimony.” Echoing this sentiment, someone else in the room added,

“Testimony is our ongoing journey.” These reflections revealed a significant shift in the understanding of the practice of personal testimony away from a single event recounted toward an ongoing narrative about God’s work in the world. In this new narrative,

Christian storytelling plants the seeds of community and fosters personal connectedness.

Participants in these discussion groups also pointed toward another significant shift within the congregation that served to strengthen sense of community, namely the breaking down of traditional barriers. With an understanding of testimony as an

“ongoing journey,” church members were equipped to see God’s work in every area of their lives. Traditional boundaries like spiritual and secular, personal and professional, as well as church and world, gradually faded into the background. Testimony was no longer wrapped in solely religious language and restricted to experiences at revival meetings or in church sanctuaries. Participants began to see their lives as testimonies and found interconnectedness between their experiences inside and outside of the church. One participant said, “I discovered how I related to other people. How my story was connected to their story, not only at church but beyond the walls of this church.” In short, 115 the participants recognized that God’s story is bigger than any single event or episode, any setting or sanctuary. People talked about seeing God in a professional decision as well as in a personal tragedy. In the process, church members recognized that the church community provided more than merely a worship experience, but instead an important network of support and shared stories.

Along with these personal boundaries being blurred, traditional divides within the congregation were bridged through the storytelling process. New members met longtime members and engaged in conversations with one another. Older adults and younger adults, who were traditionally segregated into age-defined Sunday school classes and habit-formed placement in the sanctuary and fellowship hall, shared stories with one another and fostered new connections. As one elderly, longtime church member said, “It was wonderful to get to know these young newcomers. I have seen them around, but never gotten to know them.” Similarly, young adult members of the congregation treasured the opportunity to hear the stories and learn from the experiences of older members. People who traditionally sat far from one another in the sanctuary found themselves sitting side by side, sharing stories and fostering connections with one another. Christian storytelling provided an opportunity for people to foster community across generational divides and discover a stronger sense of solidarity within the congregation.

In these small group interviews, participants continued to emphasize the importance of a new sense of “connectedness” with feelings of familiarity and closeness to others in the congregation. One man described the entire process as a “bonding experience when people willingly shared personal accounts and brought the church 116 family closer together.” Responding to this remark and seeking further clarity, I asked about how this bonding had occurred. Another participant said, “We were offered the opportunity to share and listen. It caused and invited us to open up with each other.

Church feels more like home now.” Through storytelling and listening, people found a safe space for self-revealing conversations and, as a result, discovered a deeper sense of belonging.

Along with this deeper sense of connectedness, people also spoke about sharing not only presence with one another, but also the present. The storytelling process required people to live fully in the moment, listening attentively to other’s stories and sharing their own stories. As one participant observed, “I lost track of time, because I was so fully engaged in the conversation. I don’t ever remember looking at my watch, because I was too busy listening.” Others echoed this same sentiment and spoke about the unique feeling of being together in shared time, which was not hurried, and space which felt safe. In a world filled with extremely busy schedules and few spaces for meaningful conversations, this ministry project filled an important gap and helped people to step away from rigid schedules and foster authentic relationships. These comments provided an important reminder that while the creation of community requires an intentional investment of time and attention, it offers a wonderful return on this investment through a new sense of connectedness and a new ability to live fully in the present.

While the qualitative data gathered was overwhelmingly positive, a few responses to the interviews provide a helpful critique of the research design of this ministry project.

Participants were overwhelmingly touched and moved by hearing the stories of other 117 church members, but some confessed a degree of fear and anxiety about sharing their own stories. In particular, the session focused on “Sharing the Difficult Stories,” proved to be a great challenge to some of the participants. One of the participants, in a rather revealing comment, said, “I knew that I wanted to share something, but wasn’t sure that I could share everything.” The self-revealing nature of the third session yielded some of the most poignant and memorable moments of the entire research project, but also led to the greatest level of discomfort. In some cases, uneasy people disengaged from the narrative process by refusing to address the stated question, changing the subject, or simply by declining to speak. These mixed responses to the third session revealed that this research design meant to encourage vulnerability may have led some participants to an untenable state of discomfort and caused temporary disengagement.

Along with these comments about this particular session, many participants expressed, in a positive manner, a desire for a continuation of the storytelling process. In small group interviews, church members said, “I wish it was not coming to a close” and

“the biggest disappointment is that it is already over.” While offering encouragement and affirming the value of this ministry project, these responses also reveal a potential flaw in the four-week research design. At least some of the participants seemed to genuinely desire a longer timeframe for the project, allowing for great depth in conversation and more opportunities to engage in storytelling. While the four-week format proved effective, as demonstrated qualitatively and quantitatively, church members expressed a willingness to extend the implementation of the project which could increase the impact on the congregation and create an even stronger sense of community. Along with the desire for more time, some participants indicated a desire to engage in the narrative 118 process in their Sunday School classes. While integrating the narrative process into the

Sunday morning worship and Wednesday evening Bible study, the research design failed to weave the storytelling process into the Christian Education and Sunday School curriculum during the implementation of the project. By learning and practicing personal testimony in their SS classes, church members could strengthen community and more fully immerse themselves in the storytelling experience.

The qualitative data clearly demonstrated that by practicing personal testimony and embracing the storytelling process, sense of community at FBC Mobile was significantly increased within the congregation. Church members discovered an increased sense of connections which strengthened fellowship within the congregation.

Conversations started as part of the ministry project in the fellowship hall and sanctuary continued in more informal settings like the lobby, parking lot, and parlor. People discovered that their stories were interconnected, fostering new bonds of friendship and new networks for support. Participants listened attentively to others, in the process increasing the self-worth of the speaker and helping each member recognize that his or her own story mattered. People’s understanding of testimony was broadened and clarified by the practice of telling stories and seeing God’s work in each of these stories.

Traditional boundaries were breached, then broken, by encouraging people to speak across divides and recognize the commonalities in their stories and experiences. Bridges were built across generational and gender gaps as young adults exchanged narratives with elderly members. Longtime church members became acquainted and better connected to the new church members, building a firmer foundation for the congregation in the future.

People learned to live in the present and embrace each moment as an opportunity to 119 speak and listen, but also to build community and foster friendship. The qualitative data may best be summarized using the words of three of the participants. Through the implementation of this ministry project, sense of community at FBC Mobile was

“expanded, strengthened, and deepened.” The church’s understanding and experience of community is wider than ever before because boundaries have been broken and strangers have become friends. Church members have a stronger sense of community because of new bonds formed and fostered through the narrative process. The congregation has a deeper sense of community that is defined less by membership and more by meaningful relationships with one another.

The quantitative and qualitative data offered both a broad overview of this enhancement as well as some interesting details about the experience of participants which helped to evaluate the success of the research design and the project. With this data, an awareness of the effectiveness of this project as well as a desire to learn from this experience, Section 6 will take into consideration critiques about the research design to create the best possible design for future application. I will include ways to share this information with others in an effort to provide knowledge that may be applicable and beneficial in other congregations. I will examine the implications of this study on the future of community within the church and imagine new ways to use testimony and

Christian storytelling to enhance connectedness within congregations.

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VI. Summary and Significance

In the United States, as evidenced by statistics and stories, people have experienced a significant loss in their connectedness to one another. Membership in institutions and fraternal organizations that have traditionally served to foster and facilitate community has dropped substantially. Meanwhile, remaining members demonstrate less commitment to the organization by participating more sporadically.

Mirroring these larger cultural trends, the Christian church in the United States continues to wane with loss of members and a declining sense of influence and impact on the larger society. Members of churches, echoing their secular counterparts, express frustration about congregations that feel disconnected, filled with familiar strangers but lacking any strong sense of community. In the midst of these troubling trends, people demonstrate a continued, and even increased, desire to connect with others through sharing their stories.

Social media platforms, like Facebook and Storyville, provide settings for friends, acquaintances, and even strangers to engage in conversations, sharing personal stories and listening to others share stories. Commercial businesses, radio broadcasts, and television programs tap into this hunger for connection by creating advertising slogans, radio talk shows, and tv reality series that foster community around the exchange of narratives. The Christian church in general, and the Baptist church in particular, possesses a rich tradition of storytelling in the practice of personal testimony. Christian storytelling, though a common and essential element of the historical Baptist faith, has been largely misunderstood and neglected by church members in the modern world. By reclaiming this tradition and practicing personal testimony, the church can address the

121 loss connectedness and provide a setting where sense of community can be created, fostered, and enhanced.

An examination of the Biblical texts reveals that the community was the cornerstone and culmination of God’s creative process in the Genesis narratives. People were not created to live in isolation, but rather in interconnected relationships with one another. Trinitarian theologians emphasize that God exists in community, three distinct beings bonded in love which exists eternally in relationship with one another. The

Christian Church, following this Trinitarian God, must exhibit a strong re-commitment to the creation and enhancement of community. In the New Testament in Acts 11, Peter demonstrates the power of Christian storytelling as a method of addressing conflict and protecting community in the context of the early Christian church. Modelling the practice of personal testimony, Peter serves as a role model for those in the modern church who are willing to share their stories in an effort to foster and facilitate community.

Informed by the narrative theological perspective, this ministry project enabled church members to discover that life’s experiences are a part of a larger story and empowered them to share their stories with each other. The research model involved intentional time set aside for educating the congregation on narrative theology and the practice of personal testimony through teaching, preaching and role modelling. Moving from theory to practice, participants in the project were encouraged to engage in Christian storytelling by gathering in small narrative communities. Embracing this research model, participants at First Baptist Church of Mobile were fully immersed in the narrative experience in Sunday morning worship as well as Wednesday evening meetings. 122

Following this extensive implementation, church members shared their experience statistically by completing a quantitative data survey and narratively by sharing their stories in small group interview sessions.

As evidenced by the quantitative and qualitative data, the members at First Baptist

Church of Mobile who engaged in Christian storytelling experienced a significant increase in sense of community. The SCI-2 instrument and small group listening sessions served to provide a snapshot of the congregational response immediately after the completion of the ministry project. In addition to these documented short-term changes, the church members displayed some noteworthy shifts in perspective and practice that demonstrate the long-term impact of the project on the congregation. The strengthened sense of community led to the development of deeper interpersonal relationships, bridging traditional generational divides. Christian testimonies changed strangers into friends and fostered a stronger sense of the church unity, transforming a collection of familiar faces into a true church family. Prior to the implementation of the project, the final “amen” of the worship service served as a dismissal and people frequently scurried away from the sanctuary to quickly exit to their vehicles. In the weeks and months following the project’s implementation, people continued to linger long after worship services and Bible studies to engage in meaningful conversations with other church members. The practice of testimony had provided a foundation for the formation of new relationships and for the deepening of existing friendships.

In the process, church members experienced an intangible, but clearly increased, sense of peace about the present and hope about the future. Anxieties about financial instability, which seemed to dominate conversations prior to the implementation of the 123 project, were overshadowed by a new spirit of solidarity. The future remained filled with uncertainty, but the congregation felt better prepared to face this ambiguity as a community united together instead of individuals operating independently. Learning the stories of others, church members came to recognize the strength present in the congregation and the wisdom gained from a myriad of different experiences.

People’s hidden gifts, talents, and knowledge had been revealed in the context of their testimonies, helping our church to better utilize the human resources which were always present within the congregation. Soon after the implementation of the ministry project, the Committee on Committees met with the assigned tasks of populating the many church councils and committees that provide leadership in the congregation. In the past, the Committee on Committees had a tendency to nominate the same people over and over again to serve in the same positions. This process of “recycling” resulted in committees which were lacking creativity and rarely included the newer and younger members of the congregation. Committee on Committees members were not intentionally excluding people from participating, but naturally nominated people who were familiar to them and avoided those who were seen as outsiders or unknowns.

Through the practice of Christian testimony, these same committee members were exposed to many stories within the congregation and felt better equipped and empowered to appoint new members to serve on the councils and committees of the church. In the nominating process following the completion of this project, 10-12 church members who had never previously served were offered positions on committees. Nearly all of these who were asked to serve eagerly accepted the invitation. A few weeks later, the church congregation unanimously accepted the proposed slate of candidates and church 124 committees were filled with new faces. As a result, younger members became more deeply invested in the church and better connected to the congregation.

Deacons’ meetings which had previously been focused on the decision-making and financial consideration took a far more personal tone with greater attention paid to prayer requests and the stories of those suffering hardship in the congregation. At my request, the Deacon Chair invited leaders of different ministries in the congregation, who were not serving as deacons and traditionally would not attend deacons’ meetings, to come and share their stories and their ministries with the church’s governing body. This testimony time was repeated, not at every meeting, but on a regular basis throughout the year. On the agenda, along with approval of minutes and evaluation of financial statements, two new lines emerged, “Sharing Our Stories” and “Caring for Our

Community.”

In the wake of this ministry project, a new congregational narrative began to emerge about God’s work at First Baptist Church of Mobile. The story was not simply a historical account of past achievements, but rather an ongoing narrative about God’s work in the present. People not only looked back with longing, but began to look forward with anticipation. Congregation members began to tell stories which pointed toward hope instead of those focused on fears. When people spoke of the past, they would talk about overcoming obstacles and express confidence that the congregation could once again experience renewal. Words like challenge were replaced by opportunity. Instead of pointing toward a decline in membership numbers from the past, they found a way to see and celebrate the arrival of new guests and members as God’s work in the present.

This shift in the congregational narrative had already taken hold when I announced my 125 resignation about six months after the completion of the ministry project. The response of church members bore witness to the new perspective that permeated the congregation.

While certainly disappointed and saddened by this announcement, people began to have conversations about the future of First Baptist and their desire to move forward together as a congregation. With the help of an intentional interim, the church engaged in a process of discernment which involved candid conversations about the church identity that was emerging through the new narrative. With a new appreciation for the many stories present in the congregation, the church moved toward the adoption of a motto that celebrates this diversity, embraces an evolving identity, and points toward partnering in

God’s work in the present and future: First Baptist Church is a diverse, dynamic group of believers extending God’s grace and love for all people.

Connected to this new congregational narrative, a new theology emerged at First

Baptist Church of Mobile. In the past, God’s identity had been understood largely through looking into the past. The Biblical texts were discussed in the past tense with an underlying assumption that God’s active intervention in the world had ended with the completion of the New Testament. God’s work at First Baptist Church of Mobile was also trapped in the distant past when the congregation boasted of significantly larger numbers of members in the pews. The new theology in the congregation recognized

God’s presence not only in the Biblical stories, but in the personal stories of our people.

God is not revealed exclusively through deep study of ancient text, but also through experiences in daily living. Baptists have traditionally embraced the importance of personal experience, especially in the context of the conversion and salvation. God was known through these experiences as well as the study of scripture. However, over time, 126 many in the congregation had ceased to tell their stories and ceased to see God’s presence in these stories. Through this ministry project, people began to see God’s work in their own lives and understand God’s work in the lives of others. Christian storytelling did more than merely foster connection through conversations; it actually offered a new way to think about God. In the stories, people found a new setting to explore theologically and to understand their experiences in the context of God’s Divine Story. Faith was no longer defined by or trapped in the past, but rather emerged from and experienced in the present.

Though some in the congregation were unaware, the new theology was deeply grounded in their Baptist roots and closely connected to the work of narrative theologies that point toward the importance of finding God in story.

Members of First Baptist Church of Mobile also developed a fuller appreciation for the importance of fellowship. In the Baptist tradition, fellowship has often been synonymous with social events which involve eating lots of food and engaging in countless conversations. The Fellowship Hall in most Baptist Churches is set apart for serving Wednesday meals and hosting wedding and funeral receptions. In this

Fellowship Hall, people were permitted to tell personal stories, but rarely encouraged to connect these stories to God’s work in the world. In the past, few people have reflected on storytelling or fellowship as an expression of Christian community which actually strengthens the church and can even enhance the worship experience. Storytelling in the sanctuary forced the lines to blur between fellowship and worship. Church members began to see fellowship not as separated from worship, but rather intrinsically connected to the worship of God in the context of a Christian community. Worship experiences were more meaningful because those in the sanctuary had been connected with one 127 another through fellowship. Fellowship experiences were more significant because they were no longer exclusively social gatherings, but settings where stories might reveal

God’s work in our world.

Church members also discovered the importance of practicing faith in the context of community. American Protestants in general, but Baptists in particular, have emphasized the importance of personal faith, implicitly promoting independence and lifting the individual above the concept of community. The Baptists’ focus on soul freedom sometimes leads people to give the Christian community a place of secondary importance in the life of faith. Studying the scripture or engaging in contemplative prayer may take place in solitude, but storytelling must take place in the context of

Christian community. At First Baptist Church, members began to recognize the value of worshipping, learning, and serving in a Christian community. An individual’s faith is actually enhanced and strengthened by the active participating in a Christian community.

While still recognizing personal faith experiences, church members began to see the importance of a community of faith to help in the processing of experiences. The church serves as a setting for people to share these experiences through storytelling and to come to a better understanding through speaking and listening to these sacred narratives.

Through Christian storytelling, the church body experienced a stronger sense of community and rediscovered unity in the midst of their generational and ideological diversity. Church members learned about the many gifts and talents within the congregation which enabled them to better utilize these skills and strengthen the church’s councils and committees. Instead of focusing exclusively on the financial situation, church leaders began to appreciate the importance of making time and creating space for 128 storytelling, even in deacons’ meetings. The congregational narrative shifted away from fear toward hope and anticipation of God’s work. Members of the church began to speak using narrative theology as a new lens to understand a God revealed through experiences and stories, instead of a God defined by, and trapped in, the past. Church members recognized the importance of fellowship as a setting for storytelling and the Christian community as a place to process our narratives and celebrate God’s work in our world.

After analyzing the lasting effect of the ministry project on First Baptist Church of Mobile, I reflected upon the impact of this project on my ministry and my theology.

Along with the congregation, I learned about the importance of Christian community. As a lifelong Baptist, I had viewed faith through a rather independent and individualistic lens. I would frequently describe “my faith,” using the possessive singular pronoun and rarely even considered a conversation about “our shared faith.” The church provided a setting for me to grow in my faith, but certainly not a storytelling community where a shared narrative might emerge. I had been trained to believe that my relationship with

God was far more important than my relationships with people, but failed to realize that these relationships are intrinsically interconnected. Today, my relationship with God is informed and shaped by my relationship with people. By studying the Biblical creation narratives, I have developed a new appreciation for the central place of community in

God’s plan and purpose for humanity. As God declared the world without community

“not good,” I came to realize that my own faith was lacking something absolutely essential. Though I had been a part of church communities throughout my life, I had, in arrogance, believed that I was the sole author of my life’s story and sole shaper of my faith. I see now that I failed to recognize the importance of community in shaping my 129 understanding of God and my relationship with God. Even as a pastor, I had carried some of this perspective into the pulpit with an intense focus on personal responsibility, but rarely with recognition of the accountability, compassion, and support offered by a church family. Though I had frequently spoken of the Body of Christ, I had never connected my Christology to this concept that Christ is most fully experienced in the context of community. I previously believed that God was to be studied in the church, but not necessarily experienced by the church. Now, understanding faith is deeply personal but also the work of a community, I have discovered a new appreciation for the importance of church and a new perspective on my ministry in the church.

Equipped with a new understanding of church as a storytelling community, I have a new perspective on each church member as a person capable of sharing not only his or her story, but also God’s story with the congregation. While I have always espoused the Baptist affirmation of the priesthood of the believer, I had rarely really looked at the congregation as a collection of people who proclaim, embody, and experience God through sharing testimonies. At First Baptist Church, the phrase “every member is a minister” was printed on the church bulletin, but this ministry project helped to imprint the idea into my theological perspective. Church members were not only ministers, but actually preachers each time they had the courage to share their stories.

Theological reflection was not reserved for the academy, but rather experienced in the service and after the service when church members formally and informally shared their testimonies with one another. As a Baptist, I had always believed that God spoke through the Bible. However, I had not recognized that God speaks not only through these scriptural stories, but through all stories. This conclusion leads not only to the 130 appreciation of the power of testimony, but also to a new elevation of every church member as one who testifies and reveals God to the gathered community. Pastors have a role in the storytelling process, but no longer need to feel the pressure to serve as the sole narrator in the congregation or the sole mediator between God and the congregation.

Sermons offered by the Pastor can and should be supplemented by stories which emerge from the congregation, so that the scripture texts and the stories are intermingled and the lines become blurred. I no longer feel the pressure to be the person who speaks exclusively for God, but rather I am enabled to interpret God’s story and help the congregation to process their experiences as a part of this emerging narrative.

This ministry project has also helped me to recognize and reclaim heritage and historical practice instead of being tempted to idolize the new. In my faith journey from fundamentalism toward a mainline theological perspective, I have been forced to frequently re-evaluate my beliefs and practices. This process caused me to rightly dismiss as outdated and archaic some of the traditional practices, patriarchal systems of belief, and literalistic interpretations of the text. In time, I gravitated toward the belief that new ideas are the key and that the only way to transform the church and combat decline in

Christendom was to discover a new truth or new progressive approach to faith. This project did not involve the implementation of a new practice, but rather the recovery of a historical Baptist practice that had nearly been forgotten. As outlined in this paper, the concept of community is born in the Biblical Creation narrative, meaning it is not a new idea that needs to be discovered, but an old idea that desperately needs to be resurrected.

I have uncovered the value of revisiting historical and traditional practice in an effort to reclaim what matters most and to bring renewal to the church. Robert Fong, Dean of Arts 131 and Humanities at Hope College, writes, “Truth is not only that which awaits discovery but also that which was once known but is now threatened by forgetfulness.”147 Serving and ministering in a church that faces challenges requires more than seeking to find the latest fad or follow the newest church-growth strategy. It may mean reclaiming what has been lost, like community, and re-embracing traditional practices, like testimony. By revisiting past priorities and practices, the church may be better equipped to face the future.

My new appreciation for traditional practices, my new discovery of God speaking through all stories, and my new understanding of the importance of community have impacted not only my perspective, but also my practice of ministry. As a Pastor, I am frequently called upon to address and deal with administrative matters, attending committee meetings and seeking to offer leadership to the congregation. In the past, this business aspect of ministry had been life-draining, leading to frequent frustrations and near burn-out. While these tasks remain somewhat tedious, storytelling has given me a new way to approach these meetings that invites others into conversation and leadership through narrative. As referenced earlier, in Deacons’ meetings at First Baptist Church, I proposed an adjustment to the agenda which would make room for storytelling by laypeople to be a regular segment. This simple shift transformed the tone and tenor of the meeting from cold, and often impersonal, to something far more warm, welcoming, and relational. In other committees, I found a way to share my ideas through stories which often involved members of the congregation. These stories invited the committee

147 Robert Fong. “Called to Teach” essay in Finding God at Harvard, (Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, 1996), 303. 132 members to approach matters with a greater creativity, spurring their imaginations and permitting them to move beyond decisions to dreaming. Though these same meetings still fall back into the traditional patterns of tasks to be accomplished or lists to be marked-off, FBC Deacons have taken the first steps toward changing the course of the conversations by incorporating testimony into the process. Storytelling has also offered a voice to committee members who may have been intimidated by personalities or unable to speak the business language, but now feel free to share opinions, perspectives, and wisdom in a narrative form. While this new narrative approach to administrative leadership is still in the earliest stages, I am encouraged by responses from the congregation and committee members and eager to learn what creativity eventually emerges.

Christian storytelling has impacted my approach to preaching and worship. With this new appreciation for God speaking through each individual’s story, I have felt compelled to find more opportunities for people to share their stories from the pulpit in the context of the worship service. Though creating space is sometimes difficult, I work diligently to find some opportunities for church members to share testimonies, especially on emphasis Sundays such as Missions Sunday, Children’s Sunday, and Deacon

Ordination. Along with this opportunity to speak from the pulpit, I have made intentional adjustments in our publications to encourage and promote storytelling in our weekly newsletter. In the coming months at my new church in Georgia, we will be sharing the stories of some of our homebound members in order to better connect our congregation to those who cannot participate in weekly worship services or fellowship activities. Along with sharing these stories, I have changed my preaching style to include more stories 133 from my experience and the experience of others. While still grounded in the Bible, the sermons are far more narrative in nature, inviting the congregation to connect common stories and their current circumstances with the scriptural text. The narrative approach to preaching does not seek to direct the congregation toward three points, but rather invites them to imaginatively explore and reconsider familiar texts in order to discover the truth that emerges from God’s story. I feel less compelled to provide absolute answers and feel freer to point toward images and experiences as illustrations that help us better understand God’s work in our world. In response to this new approach toward preaching, people frequently comment that the sermon not only taught truth, but also connected our stories. I have also discovered the people tend to remember these narrative sermons for far longer than my exegetical homilies.

The single biggest practical transformation in my ministry involves my approach to pastoral care. While I have always enjoyed visiting with those in the hospital or those who are homebound, my new understanding of God speaking through stories makes what used to be a hard task a far more holy one. In the past, during visits, I would frequently fret about finding the right words to say to the person who was lonely, sad, or suffering.

In fact, I could hardly focus any attention on their stories because I was so consumed with preparing my own verbal response. So, while they were speaking, I was struggling to come up with God’s word of healing for their specific situation. Christian storytelling taught me about the importance of listening. If God is speaking in each story, I am not the primary microphone or megaphone which God must use to bring healing into a hurting world. My pastoral care ministry involves entering into the person’s story and standing beside them in the story. In short, I have learned to be fully present in pastoral care by 134 actively participating in the storytelling process. Instead of feeling pressured to offer answers, I most often find myself standing beside the person and asking questions. When

I speak, I no longer feel compelled to offer the authoritative word, but rather I seek to invite the person into a narrative conversation. In the process, I am no longer the only minister in the room. The person is ministering to me just as I am seeking to minister to him or her. The stories we share, even when those stories are sad, prove to be life-giving for God is present in those stories and God is present in those spaces. Though I still typically close my visits with a prayer for comfort, I consider the entire shared experience to be an act of prayer and an answer to prayer. Before leaving, I almost always remind the person that they are part of a larger community. Even when a person is not present, church members are called to extend community by remembering, praying, loving, supporting, and connecting with others. For many who have been unable to attend services for several years, the reminder brings tears to their eyes, but always words of gratitude as well. In pastoral care, I have discovered what people want most, sometimes even more than physical healing, is someone to sit beside them and listen to their testimony. In these bedside conversations, God is present speaking to and through the patient and the caregiver.

Christian storytelling has transformed my theological perspectives and impacted my practice of ministry. With a new appreciation for the importance of community, I have come to better understand the church as the Body of Christ in our world which has reshaped my Christology. By reclaiming the Baptist testimony tradition, I have discovered that the past still speaks to the present and may help to better prepare us for the future. By recognizing God speaks in all stories, I have come to a new understanding 135 of my congregation as fellow preachers, teachers, and storytellers. Informed by these discoveries, I have started to approach my administrative leadership tasks on councils and committees by incorporating narrative stories into the business conversations. My preaching has shifted away from prescriptive to narrative, inviting the congregation to connect their stories with the Biblical texts. Pastoral care has changed from Pastor- centered to patient-centered, from speaking to listening, with storytelling serving as a healing ointment for the hurting.

Along with impacting the congregation at FBC Mobile and reshaping my own understanding of ministry, this project has already proven meaningful and beneficial to other church leaders. Since the completion of the project, I have addressed Georgia

Pastors at the Mercer Preaching Consultation and taught a course at the Alabama

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Institute for Theological and Ministerial Studies.

Teaching in these venues proved personally and professionally satisfying. Based on the responses of those participating, I discovered a great interest in the subject of community building in congregations and a willingness to consider the practice of testimony as a means toward this end. Ministering to church ministers and inspiring church leaders may represent a significant and lasting change in my own ministry, opening new doors for service to Christ, community, and the church.

In September 2014, at the invitation of Dean Alan Culpepper of the McAfee

School of Divinity, I participated in the Mercer Preaching Consultation as one of several scheduled speakers. The keynote address was delivered by Diane Butler Bass, who offered a roadmap forward for the church in the midst of a changing world. Following her remarks, I shared a presentation in sermonic form about the impact of Christian 136 storytelling on my preaching and encouraged them to reclaim the testimony tradition to enhance sense of community in their congregations. Ironically, even in this setting with

40 Georgia Baptist pastors and church leaders, the historical Baptist practice of testimony was essentially a foreign concept which needed both definition and clarity in the context of my homily. “Testimony is the presentation of narrative about God’s work in a person’s life. In the past, testimonies were an important and essential part of the Baptist worship experience. The practice of testifying was not limited to the preachers.”148

Drawing from our shared Baptist heritage, including the past use and misuse of testimony in the church, my lecture, “The Power of Testimony and Christian Storytelling,” challenged church leaders to reclaim Christian storytelling and to learn from Peter’s experience in Acts 11. The homily was written in a narrative form, chronicling my own journey of faith and connecting this story to God’s work in the world. I concluded my remarks with an appeal to those gathered:

Preach the scriptures, but also have the courage to Preach your story and encourage members of your congregation to Proclaim their stories.

Church is best when it is more than a collection of familiar strangers. Church is best when we are a collection of interconnected stories.

Contrary to what the Revival Preachers told us, God cares about more than “getting saved.” God cares enough to walk with us and to write with us every day of our lives. God cares not only about the spectacular, but also the simple.

God is in the story. Your Story. My Story.

Life is a Testimony.

This lecture offered me an opportunity to share my discoveries with church leaders and to encourage others to learn from my experience. In the process of preparing and presenting

148 This entire lecture/sermon is included in Appendix 15. 137 my remarks, I came to more fully understand and appreciate how this research project had reshaped my perspective on the church as community and on the power of testimony.

I also see sharing in conferences and consultations as a new avenue of ministry where I have the potential to shape not only a single congregation, but impact the larger Body of

Christ.

In October 2014, at the invitation of the Alabama Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,

I taught a course to church leaders, lay leaders, and laypeople through the Institute for

Theological and Ministry Studies.149 I titled the course Can I Get a Witness: Reclaiming

Testimony and Christian Storytelling in the Church and presented my findings from this ministry project. Instead of engaging in a lengthy lecture, I taught in a dialogical fashion, inviting people into the conversation and encouraging them to share stories from their experiences and congregations. Using the Edenic narrative, I established that the church had a Biblical calling and commission to be a setting for the formation and strengthening of community. Students were invited to consider effective ways to enhance connectedness in congregations. Although those present universally acknowledged the importance of community, few could offer any suggestions on methods of building or increasing connectedness in the church. As I introduced and explained the practice of testimony, participants showed an eagerness to learn more and an excitement about the potential of this practice to enhance church community. At the conclusion of the course, I asked students to share some of their reflections with me.

149 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is a Baptist Fellowship with mainline/moderate theological leanings that functions similar to a denomination. 138

One student who pastors a large Birmingham suburban congregation, wrote,

“Thank you for talking to us about the restoration of Christian testimony and story in the churches. I have believed in the years of my ministry that this is the way forward into a depth capable of countering the superficial and fickle loyalty of so much church life today. We talk about community more than practicing it. Until we really engage one another in context of those places where The Story and our story and the church's story intersect, we are not likely to find the richness of koinonia.” Another student who pastors a rural Alabama congregation shared, “I think you are right-on that we are losing community faster and faster all the time, and that the one thing we have to offer in the church is the story of how we can help each other. Rediscovering or rekindling the use of testimony in our worship settings could be extremely helpful, especially to those who are on the fringes of the community.” He continued, “Everyone has a story to share, and if we can encourage the sharing of stories of faith and work in action, that will no doubt help to bolster the involvement and community of the people who are in our pews.

Sharing our story also can help us remember how God has helped us in the past, and give us hope that he will help now and in the future as well.”

Teaching this course about church as community and testimony as a means of strengthening connectedness offered a wonderful opportunity to share the implications of my thesis with pastors and lay people in an effort to impact and enhance their ministries.

Personally, I enjoy the process of preparing for the class as well as the experience of engaging in conversation and learning from the experiences of the students. Based upon the responses of those who participated, the course offered important and meaningful

139 lessons for the students which may lead to a more focused effort to embrace Christian storytelling and foster community in these church congregations.

Along with these new avenues of ministry such as teaching in academic settings and speaking at gatherings of church leaders, I remain firmly committed to ministry in the local church. Soon after the completion of my ministry project, I accepted the calling to serve as the Senior Pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church, a suburban Atlanta congregation located in Stone Mountain, Georgia. In this thesis, I have recounted the changes which took place at First Baptist Church of Mobile and displayed how sense of community was enhanced in this setting. In this concluding section, I want to reflect on how this experience is shaping my ministry at Smoke Rise Baptist.

Though theologically similar to First Baptist Church of Mobile, Smoke Rise

Baptist exhibits many significant demographic differences. Smoke Rise is a suburban congregation which has experienced some decline, but remains a large congregation with nearly 600 worshipping each Sunday. While FBC Mobile had a long and rich heritage,

Smoke Rise has a relatively short history with a founding date of 1969 followed by a period of steady and significant growth until nearly 2000. The staff at Smoke Rise includes seven full-time ministers, six other full-time staff members, and nearly 20 part- time employees.

Enhancing community in a church the size of Smoke Rise presents a different set of challenges. People struggle to remember the names and know the stories of those who are in their specific Sunday School class and simply cannot be expected to know the names of every member of this large congregation. Church members are divided into two worship services, 27 different Sunday School classes, and several smaller group 140

Bible studies and missions groups. At FBC Mobile, we experienced the phenomenon of familiar strangers, while at Smoke Rise church members may be absolute strangers whose paths rarely cross in the course of worship, Christian education, or fellowship.

Since my arrival at Smoke Rise, I have spoken frequently about the importance of fostering a sense of connectedness and community within the congregation. I believe that the practice of testimony provides a helpful and essential method for facilitating this process. In the worship service, I have created some storytelling opportunities, especially in connection to our Deacon Ordination. Smoke Rise Baptist has 40 deacons who serve as leaders in the congregation and are committed to family ministry. However, soon after my arrival, I learned that many of our members were not able to identify more than one or two of our deacons. I made the decision that these leaders must be more than a list of names to be annually approved. Deacon Ordination Service, which had previously taken place at a sparsely attended Sunday evening service, was shifted to Sunday morning. On this special Sunday, one worship service was offered, meaning the entire congregation would be present. During this service, instead of a sermon, I asked the deacons being ordained to share their stories with the congregation. It was a small step forward, but the overwhelmingly positive response of the congregation serves as an affirmation that listening to these stories was significant. Deacons who had previously been entirely anonymous were suddenly connected by a shared personal story. A few deacon representatives verbally shared their story from the pulpit, while others wrote their stories which were printed in the church bulletin. Though it is not possible for every church member to share their story in this manner, these church leaders demonstrated the importance of sharing by engaging in Christian storytelling. 141

Smoke Rise Baptist Church is too large to function as a single congregation.

Since my arrival, I have come to conclude that we are actually a collection of churches that choose to worship together. Each of the Sunday School classes and small groups functions effectively as a church community, a gathered Body of Christ that loves, cares, and supports one another. Aware of this reality, I will be not only encouraging testimony to be modeled in worship by some lay leaders and deacons, but also to be practiced by all in the context of these small groups. Like the small groups that gathered around tables at

FBC Mobile, Sunday School classes can provide an appropriate setting for people to share their stories and to listen to others stories. Teachers can be taught about the historical practice of testimony and the importance of Christian storytelling, then work to establish “storytelling communities” in each of the classes. Because Smoke Rise has an extremely strong Sunday School ministry, many classes have already informally embraced this model and provide a safe setting for sharing personal stories and facilitating a sense of belonging and connectedness. With further study of the scriptures and informed by narrative theology, these classes can better understand their stories as a part of God’s emerging narrative. In the telling and the hearing of these stories, church members can better connect to one another and better understand their role as a part of the Body of Christ.

While Sunday School classes provide a stable and steady setting for storytelling at

Smoke Rise, other venues may prove useful as well. Mission team preparation can include a session dedicated solely to sharing testimonies as an effort to build comradery among the participants. Church-wide events and fellowships provide a setting for storytelling to take place and encourage multigenerational interaction and conversation. 142

During the Lenten Season in 2015, our church created a Lenten Journal with 40 church members who reflect upon a sign or turning point in their commitment in their calling to follow Jesus and share this experience in narrative form. The journal provides a unique opportunity for a variety of different members in the congregation to tell their stories and connect with one another. Church committees can become more than mere business meetings when we allow narratives to shape the conversations and encourage creativity.

When church members begin to look at the world through a narrative lens, connecting their story to other stories and recognizing God’s presence in all these stories, the sense of community at Smoke Rise will be strengthened and members will feel an increased connectedness to one another. Church members may not know everyone and everyone’s story, but can still feel engaged in the emerging church’s narrative and experience a sense of belonging.

While I am hopeful about increasing connectedness at Smoke Rise Baptist, I am deeply concerned by the growing sense of disconnectedness present in the church and today’s culture. In the modern world, people are seeking to find and participate in meaningful community. The church has a wonderful opportunity to provide this setting where people can discover peace and purpose, nurture connections with one another, and begin to recognize and write a shared narrative about God’s work in the world. By reclaiming the Baptist testimony tradition, congregations encourage the exchange of ideas, bridge traditional divides, and form authentic communities. Churches can remain relevant in the present and look to the future with a renewed sense of hope. Church leaders must be courageous and must prophetically reclaim the ancient practice of bearing witness and sharing stories in a world where many people feel isolated, 143 unimportant, and anonymous. As demonstrated in social media, people are eager to share their stories and listen to the stories of others. The church can provide a safe setting for storytelling and encourage people to explore together, to learn by listening, and to foster community by connecting their story to God’s story.

In closing, I return to my title and opening research question, “Can I Get a

Witness?” In the process of discovery surrounding this ministry project, I have uncovered a multitude of witnesses who are eager to share their stories. Through reclaiming the testimony tradition, congregations can rediscover connectedness and new communities can form and flourish. From these collected stories and these personal testimonies, God’s great story emerges and inspires us as we face the future strengthened by our faith experiences.

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Appendices

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Appendix 1

TEN THINGS THAT DISTINGUISH FBC MOBILE FROM MOST OTHER SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCHES IN THE MOBILE/BALDWIN COUNTY AREA

1. FBC Mobile is committed to championing and modeling freedom of conscience among Baptists while upholding the authority of the Bible in all matters of faith and practice. [We reject binding creeds or quasi-binding doctrinal statements of human origin.]

2. FBC Mobile governs its own affairs under the lordship of Jesus Christ and the leadership of the Holy Spirit by means of congregational church governance in which important decisions concerning the church are made by the congregation as a whole through the democratic process. [We reject authoritarian pastoral leadership, denominational connectionalism, and any attempt by persons outside our church to exercise authority over the affairs of our church.]

3. FBC Mobile publishes its affiliation with and support of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Southern Baptist Convention. [We are a moderate Southern Baptist church and do not generally support the so-called “conservative resurgence” in the institutions and organizations of the Southern Baptist Convention.]

4. FBC Mobile provides its members with the choice to designate their missions giving through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Southern Baptist Convention, or both. [We do not dictate to our members how they may give to mission causes and are willing to facilitate their giving choices to the extent practicable.]

5. FBC Mobile freely partners with churches of like faith and practice, mission entities, churches of other denominations, parachurch organizations, and secular entities for the promotion of the common good. [We are an ecumenical church willing to make common cause with others (regardless of the theological differences which separate us) for good of the community, nation, and world.]

6. FBC Mobile believes that the love of God for the lost is the principal motivating factor in our evangelistic efforts. Our love for the lost, and respect for them as persons made in the image of God, compels us to reject manipulative forms of evangelism.]

7. FBC Mobile engages in social ministries which are understood to be ends in themselves, and not merely avenues for evangelism, because Jesus has commanded us to do good to and not to neglect “the least of these.” [We reject 156

the philosophy that the only legitimate work of the church is the winning of souls. We affirm that we are called to minister to the whole person.]

8. FBC Mobile affirms without reservation the leadership role of both men and women in the church in recognition of the truth that God, who is no respecter of persons, is free to and does call persons to ministry without regard to their gender. [We reject discrimination against women in the ministry, lay or clerical. No position in the church, lay or clerical, is gender restricted. For example, we affirm that women may be ordained to serve as deacons in FBC.]

9. FBC Mobile continues to worship corporately in a style which is joyous and appropriately respectful of the solemnity and holiness of the occasion and does not substituted religious entertainment for divine worship. [We reject worship as entertainment. However, we do not mean to suggest or imply that all “contemporary” forms of worship are illegitimate or irreverent. We believe that there should be a church in Mobile for Southern Baptists who enjoy worship in a more traditional style.]

10. FBC Mobile provides opportunities for youth and adult Bible study which avoid indoctrination and allow for a free and open discussion of the theological and ethical issues presented by the biblical text. [While we recognize that all religious education (for children, youth, and adults) properly has doctrinal transmission as a primary component, we believe that older youth and adults should be free to engage the biblical text and their teachers with questions which test and challenge traditional understandings and interpretations.]

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Appendix 3

Sense of Community Index 2 (SCI-2): © Background, Instrument, and Scoring Instructions

Community Science 438 N. Frederick Avenue, Suite 315 Gaithersburg, MD 20877 301-519-0722 voice 301-519-0724 fax www.communityscience.com www.senseofcommunity.com

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The Sense of Community Index (SCI) is the most frequently used quantitative measure of sense of community in the social sciences. It has been used in numerous studies covering different cultures in North and South America, Asia, Middle East, as well as many contexts (e.g. urban, suburban, rural, tribal, workplaces, schools, universities, recreational clubs, internet communities, etc.). The SCI is based on a theory of sense of community presented by McMillan and Chavis (1986) that stated that a sense of community was a perception with four elements: membership, influence, meeting needs, and a shared emotional connection.

Results of prior studies have demonstrated that the SCI has been a strong predicator of behaviors (such as participation) and a valid measurement instrument. Nonetheless the SCI has also been subject to criticisms and limitations. The reliability of the overall 12 item scale has be adequate, however it consisted of four subscales whose reliability were inconsistent and generally very low. The SCI had a true-false response set that limited variability and concerned critics. Despite its use with different cultural groups, there were concerns about the adequacy of the SCI as a cross cultural measure. A study of immigrant integration in a western US state, provided the research team the opportunity to revise the SCI in order to address previous concerns. The research team created a 24 item Sense of Community Index version 2 (SCI-2). Unlike the earlier version, it was able to cover all the attributes of a sense of community described in the original theory. A Likert like scale was developed instead of the True-False format. The original draft was piloted with 36 culturally person in seven different setting s from Maryland to Hawaii. Strong reliability was found, but there were several suggestions for improvement which were incorporated (i.e., rewording of the statement to increase clarity)

The SCI-2 was revised and used within a larger survey of 1800 people. The analysis of the SCI- 2 showed that it is a very reliable measure (coefficient alpha= .94). The subscales also proved to be reliable with coefficient alpha scores of .79 to .86.

Community Science is pleased to share this material with other organizations and individuals free of charge. No changes may be made to the SCI-2, for use in either print or electronic form, without the permission of David Chavis, Ph.D., Community Science, 438 N. Frederick Ave., Suite 315, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; 301-519-0722 (office) or 301-519-0724 (fax) or email [email protected].

Citation for this instrument:

Chavis, D.M., Lee, K.S., & Acosta J.D. (2008). The Sense of Community (SCI) Revised: The Reliability and Validity of the SCI-2. Paper presented at the 2nd International Community Psychology Conference, Lisboa, Portugal.

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SENSE OF COMMUNITY INDEX II

The following questions about community refer to: [insert community name].

How important is it to you to feel a sense of community with other community members?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Prefer Not to be Not Important Not Very Somewhat Important Very Important Part of This at All Important Important Community

How well do each of the following statements represent how you feel about this community?

Not at All Somewhat Mostly Completely

1. I get important needs of mine met because I am part of     this community.

2. Community members and I value the same things.    

3. This community has been successful in getting the needs     of its members met.

4. Being a member of this community makes me feel good.    

5. When I have a problem, I can talk about it with members     of this community.

6. People in this community have similar needs, priorities,     and goals.

7. I can trust people in this community.    

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Not at All Somewhat Mostly Completely

8. I can recognize most of the members of this community.    

9. Most community members know me.    

10. This community has symbols and expressions of membership such as clothes, signs, art, architecture,     logos, landmarks, and flags that people can recognize.

11. I put a lot of time and effort into being part of this     community.

12. Being a member of this community is a part of my     identity.

13. Fitting into this community is important to me.    

14. This community can influence other communities.    

15. I care about what other community members think of     me.

16. I have influence over what this community is like.    

17. If there is a problem in this community, members can get     it solved.

18. This community has good leaders.    

19. It is very important to me to be a part of this community.    

20. I am with other community members a lot and enjoy     being with them.

21. I expect to be a part of this community for a long time.    

22. Members of this community have shared important events together, such as holidays, celebrations, or     disasters.

23. I feel hopeful about the future of this community.    

24. Members of this community care about each other.    

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Instructions for Scoring the Revised Sense of Community Index

1. Identifying the Community Referent

The attached scale was developed to be used in many different types of communities. Be sure to specify the type of community the scale is referring to before administering the scale. Do not use “your community” as the referent.

2. Interpreting the Initial Question

The initial question “How important is it to you to feel a sense of community with other community members?” is a validating question that can be used to help you interpret the results. We have found that total sense of community is correlated with this question – but keep in mind this may not be true in every community.

3. Scoring the Scale

For the 24 questions that comprise the revised Sense of Community Index participants:

Not at All = 0, Somewhat = 1, Mostly = 2, Completely =3

Total Sense of Community Index = Sum of Q1 to Q24

Subscales Reinforcement of Needs = Q1 + Q2 + Q3 + Q4 + Q5 + Q6

Membership = Q7 + Q8 + Q9 + Q10 + Q11 + Q12

Influence = Q13 + Q14 + Q15 + Q16 + Q17 + Q18

Shared Emotional Connection = Q19 + Q20 + Q21 + Q22 + Q23 + Q24

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Appendix 4

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Appendix 5

Session 1: Listening to the Stories of Early Christians And Learning to Tell Our Own Stories

The early Christian church found meeting and gave their expressed their faith using these symbols. What are the images and metaphors that you might use to help articulate your faith experience?

Consider these questions for a few minutes:

1. What Bible Story most resonates with your faith experience? Why? Below are some examples to spur the imagination

-Jonah and the Whale (Running from God) -Prodigal Son -Job (Suffering, Confusion, and Questioning) -Paul’s Conversion -Samuel (Responding to God’s Call as a Child) -Jesus Calls the Disciples

Be creative and think of other stories

2. What other images, metaphors or stories express your faith? How? Below are some examples to spur the imagination

-Cooking (Importance of Following Instructions) -Grandpa’s truck -Wind Surfing (God’s Spirit Guides Our Lives) -A Marathon -Aesop’s Fable-The Tortoise and the Hare -Potter and Clay

Feel free to explore and think outside the box

Now share your answers around the table. Everyone participate please.

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Appendix 6

Session 2: Discovering Testimony in the Baptist Tradition And Learning to Tell Our Stories

Early Baptists believed strongly in sharing personal testimonies, especially at baptism, but also in weekly worship. These stories spoke of God’s work in the life of the believer, offering both instruction and encouragement to others.

Consider these questions for a few minutes:

1. What do remember about “getting saved,” your conversion experience, or when faith become real to you for the first time? (Where were you? How old where you? What did you say? What did you do? Who was involved in this experience?)

2. What do you remember about your baptism? (What words were spoken? Who spoke those words? Where did it take place?) What did you it mean to you then? What does it mean to you now?

Now share your answers around the table. Everyone participate please.

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Appendix 7

Created for Community A Sermon Delivered at First Baptist Church Mobile on October 14, 2012 Genesis 2:18-24

18 Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ 19So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’ 24Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. - Genesis 2:18-24

In Genesis 2, God looks at Creation and says something completely unexpected.

“It is not good…”

It comes as a strange interruption to an otherwise familiar story.

In the Genesis 1 Creation Narrative, God separates the water from the land. “And God saw that it was good.” God brings forth fruits and vegetables, plants and bushes. “And God saw that it was good.” God makes the sun, the moon, and the stars. “And God saw that it was good.” God makes fish and birds, cattle and creepy crawly things, animals of all kinds. “And God saw that it was good.” God makes humankind in God’s image. “And God saw that it was good.”

Apparently, “It is all good…” Until, God realizes that something essential is missing. And, God says, “It is not good that man should be alone…”

So, God creates a companion, a woman.

Now, growing up with three sisters, long before I studied theology, I learned many theories about Why Eve was created?

“God created man, then paused and said, ‘Well, I can do better than that…’”

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Or, “God created Adam first. His first model. Then God created Eve second, a later model that definitely looks better and lasts longer.”

Or, “Everyone knows that God made Adam before Eve...because all great artists need a rough draft before they make their masterpiece.”

Of course, in the church, people who were not making jokes were telling me that Eve was created to fulfill a subservient role. She was a helpmate, a sort of sidekick and personal assistant for the main character, Adam. She should be submissive role and simply follow the leader.

But, contrary to what I heard, this Creation Story is less about competition between the sexes, less about the clarification of Godly-ordained gender roles, and more about the importance of companionship and community.

God sees the man alone and declares that something is not right. It is the first sign of Divine dissonance in the entire Bible. Please note, man does not recognize the need for companionship. The man does not say to God, “I need another person.” No, God recognizes the omission. God says, “You need another person.” God the Creator realizes the need for human connection and the value of human community.

In a very real sense, the lesson of this Creation Story is that we are created for community.

We need to remember this lesson, in a world where people are growing more and more distant from one another.

In his book appropriately entitled Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam highlights the loss of community life in America over the past twenty-five years. He points toward simple indicators that we are losing a sense of connectedness. Twenty-five years ago, family dinner was an important time for talking together and sharing the events of the day. Today, family dinner is an optional activity, accompanied by watching the television instead of engaging in conversation. Twenty-five years ago, neighbors were also close friends who frequently talked and supported each other. Today, neighbors are virtual strangers, passing in drive-ways, but rarely stopping to share stories. We have a list of fifteen phone numbers for a family of three, but we still complain that we are never able to get in touch with our children or grandchildren. We can chat several times a day with a stranger in South Africa, but we haven’t spoken to the person three-doors down in two years.

In our world, rugged individualism and personal autonomy are sought after commodities. If you want to pay a compliment, we comment about a person’s independence. Dependence and interdependence is dismissed as weakness. In the process, we are in danger of losing personal connections and developing a meaningful community.

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“It is not good for man to be alone…”

We have forgotten that we are stronger when we lean on each other, than when we attempt to weather the storm alone.

As most of you know, I was born in Western Kentucky. Although it is still near the Mason-Dixon line geographically, it seems like the Arctic North compared to Mobile, Alabama. Snow is not just a four-letter word that sends people scurrying to the grocery for bed and milk. Snow happens! The worst snowstorms involve the “wet snow,” which is not light and fluffy, but heavy and burdensome. Each year, heavy snows cause significant damage to the trees in the area. Often mighty trees will be surrounded by fallen branches. Occasionally, during an ice storm, an entire tree may topple.

However, pine trees are resilient to the wet snow. They often grow extremely tall, but also close to one another. When the snow falls, the branches are bend down so low that the branches from one tree often lean on the trunk or the branches of another tree. These trees survive by supporting each other during the storms.

When the storms of life hit, we need to be standing close to each other in community. Sometimes, we need to seek support to sustain us during those difficult days. Other times, we need to provide strength to sustain others in the midst of struggles and sorrow. The closer we stand, the more we will be able to hold each other.

The church should be a place where people find help in times of trouble. We are called to share our stories, even our struggles, and to find support among a loving group of people committed to Christ and community. We can provide encouragement to those who are struggling with circumstances. We can provide hope for those who are struggling with despair. We can help those who are simply trying to persevere under pressure.

I am reminded of the story of Eric. He was a swimmer for Equatorial Guinea in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The 22-year-old African had only learned to swim in January before the summer games in July. He had only practiced in a 20-meter pool without lane markers and had never raced more than 50 meters. Under a special program that permits poorer countries to participate even though their athletes don’t meet customary standards, he had been invited to enter the 100-meter men’s freestyle.

It was a preliminary of a preliminary heat, the goal was simply to make a certain time in order to qualify for further competition. When the other two swimmers in the heat were disqualified because of false starts, Eric was forced to swim alone. The Associated Press described Eric has “charmingly inept.” He never put his head under the water’s surface and flailed wildly to stay afloat. With ten meters left to the wall, he came virtually came to a stop. Some spectators thought he might drown! Even though his time was over a minute slower than what qualified, the capacity crowd at Olympic Aquatic Center stood to their feet and cheered the swimmer on.

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After what seemed like an eternity, Eric finally reached the wall and hung on for dear life. When he caught his breath and regained his composure, the French-speaking Eric said through an interpreter, “I want to send hugs and kisses to the crowd. It was their cheering that kept me going.”

On that afternoon, the crowd at Olympic Stadium sounded a lot like the “great cloud of witnesses” in the Book of Hebrews who are meant to “help us run with perseverance the race that is set before us…”

The Christian Church should be like this crowd, providing strength to the weak and offering support to those who are struggling. We need each other. We were created not to be islands, but rather to be interconnected. God did not create us for isolationism, but for community.

In the old, familiar Baptist hymn, we sing, “Though none go with me, I still will follow, Though none go with me, I still will follow…No turning back, no turning back.” It is not supposed to be that way, you know? The hymn expresses an important message about commitment, but fails to recognize the significance of community. We may at some point have to walk alone, but we were not created for this purpose. Instead, we sing it together and it reminds us…”I will go with you….You will go with me…You will go with me…You will go with me.” We were meant to travel this path together. We may not always agree, but we can still journey together.

Churches can be open or closed communities. We can be exclusive or inclusive.

Fred Craddock tells the story of the first church that he pastored in the eastern Tennessee hills. One Sunday, he said to the church leaders, “Now we need to launch a calling campaign and invite all those in the nearby trailer parks to church.”

A church member said, “Well, I don’t know. I don’t think they would fit in here. They’re just here temporarily, just construction people. They’ll be leaving pretty soon.”

They argued as folks are apt to do and agreed to withhold a vote until the following Sunday. The next Sunday, the church member who had spoke out said, “I move that in order to be a member of this church, you must own property.” Someone else said, “I second that.” Before the pastor could speak, the church had cast the votes and the resolution passed.

A church can be exclusive or inclusive, open or closed.

Many years later, Craddock went back to visit his first little church. He had a hard time finding it since all the roads had changed. He finally saw the familiar white building, but noticed it was different. The parking lot was full of motorcycles and trucks, cars of every kind. And out front, a great big sign: Barbeque, all you can eat. Pews were replaced by aluminum chairs and plastic tables. All kinds of people were present, young and old, rich

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and poor, black and white. Craddock whispered to his wife, “It’s a good thing this is not still a church, otherwise these people couldn’t be in here.”

God’s calling is for us to be Invitational Community, constantly accepting others and extending God’s grace. God’s Kingdom is a Beloved Community that includes saints and sinners, young and old, good and bad, loud and quiet, bankers and the bankrupt.

I heard the story of another church. It was a little closer to home, in fact, for the people who attended it felt a lot like home. Membership was not defined by official church rolls, but everyone seemed connected, almost like a family. People who were ashamed of their voices, couldn’t carry a tune, would sing along with those who sounded like angels. People who didn’t know what to say, but pray all the same. God heard all those prayers. People would share stories, some would make you laugh and others made you cry. Somewhere along the way, these people came to know one another and love one another. All the people didn’t look the same. All the people didn’t feel the same. The people didn’t agree on everything, some could hardly agree on anything, but they did promise one thing—they would make every effort to follow in the footsteps of Jesus wherever he led. They believed that they were created to be in Community.

They were called the First Baptist Church Mobile.

Let’s pray

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Appendix 8

Session 3: Stories from the Psalms and the Book of Job: Learning to Share Struggles and Sorrow The Psalms of Lament are ancient Hebrew stories that have resonated with people throughout the ages. The writers express a deep faith, but also candidly confess feelings and fears as well as distress and doubts. In the Book of Job, the writer shares his story and his struggles with friends, attempting to reconcile his faith in God with his trials and tribulations. In both Psalms and Job, the writers admit that sometimes God seems strangely silent or even entirely absent. As we share our stories, we would be wise to remember to truthfully tell our testimony, sharing not only our success but also our struggles, not only our faith but also our fears, not only our joys but also our sorrows.

Consider these questions for a few minutes:

1. Can you remember a difficult period or experience in your life’s journey? (A tragic event? A time of darkness or doubt? The loss of a loved one? Prayers that went unanswered? Trials and tribulations?) If an event or experience is particularly painful, you may or may not be comfortable sharing the details with others. If necessary, you may choose a different event or experience. Do not feel compelled to share everything, but please be willing to share something-some moment of sorrow or struggle.

2. What do you remember most about this time? Did you have a sense of God’s presence? Did you have a sense of God’s absence? How did you respond?

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3. In retrospect, how did this experience shape, influence, or impact your faith?

Now share your answers around the table. Everyone participate please.

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Appendix 9

Telling Our Stories with Honesty A Sermon Delivered at First Baptist Church Mobile on October 21, 2012 Psalm 22:1-5, 14-15

1My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 2O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. 3Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. 14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. -Psalm 22:1-5, 14-15

We have all been there before…Testimony Time.

It’s the closest thing in a Baptist Church to open-mic night. The Pastor opens the floor and invites people to bear witness to God’s work in their life. At one time, these occasions were commonplace. For youth, it occurred at the end of the camp week. For adults, it occurred at the end of the revival. “C’mon up and testify.”

Without fail, some poor sinner would walk up to the microphone.

“Before I knew the Lord,” he would say, “I spent every Sunday morning in the local bar, but now I have been saved.” Then another person would speak, then another.

Of course, with each new person, the list of sinful exploits grew a little longer and a bit more extreme. Soon, those of us in the audience were less interested in the salvation part of the stories and more interested in listening to all these exotic sins that had been committed. People would start to take notes, so that they would have something to talk about the next day at the beauty shop or around the water cooler. Did you know he did that? Can you believe she ever said that? People confessed to smoking and swearing, cussing and kissing, drinking and dancing, gaming and gambling, and much, much more. It was a strange game of spiritual one-upmanship to determine who had really been the vilest sinner and most needed God’s Amazing Grace.

I listened in amazement, with eyes wide-open, to these incredible stories as a somewhat naïve and innocent church kid. I didn’t remember the religious conversions as much as the unrighteous activities that preceded them.

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Somewhere along the way, something sad happened to me. I can’t tell you exactly when it occurred. But, I came to believe that my own story was not good enough, or maybe not bad enough. My own sins were of the garden variety-type—telling white lies, disobeying my parents, and I did swipe a candy bar at the local supermarket (but my mom made me take it back). My story was not spectacular. My story was nothing special.

So, during Testimony Time, I would sit quietly in my pew and envy those who had more interesting stories to share.

Who would want to hear my story?--“I grew up going to church every week. I prayed at every meal and before going to bed every night. I didn’t see any blinding light from heaven. I didn’t leave behind a life filled with terrible sins. My faith was inspired by loving parents and loving people whose lives reflected God’s love.” Like I said, who wants to hear a story like that? Who wants to have a story like that?

I was wrong, you know.

Extraordinary stories are not the only stories that matter. God’s work in our world does not always involve blinding lights or burning bushes. God moves in more subtle ways to change our lives and to change our world. Sometimes, it may involve a voice that booms from the heavens, but more often it involves the voice of a mother, a father, or a friend. Salvation may arrive wrapped in the spectacular, but often it appears in simple faith.

Billy Graham has led revivals around the world. Many of those Testimony Stories referenced earlier in the sermon, the stories ended dramatically with a person walking the aisle (or across the infield) at a Billy Graham Crusade. So, it might come as a shock to some folks that his wife’s conversion experience is so, well, commonplace.

Ruth Bell Graham didn’t say the sinner’s prayer. Ruth Bell Graham story didn’t involve much drama. It wouldn’t make for a good movie. She writes, “I have had ‘crisis’ experiences but my salvation did not happen to be one of them…I cannot remember a time when I did not love and trust Him. In fact, my earliest recollections are of deep love and gratitude that God should love me enough to die for me.”

There has never been a time in Ruth Bell Graham’s life when God was not present. Of course, she does not dismiss the dramatic stories of conversion in response to her husband’s revivals. But, she reminds us that these are not the only stories that really matter.

Ruth’s story may seem strangely familiar to many of you. She helps us to overcome our shame and reclaim our simple stories. God works in our world in many ways. God writes different stories and each deserves to be told. God saves not only the vile sinner, but also the innocent child who comes in faith.

Lest we forget, our faith is built on nothing less. Our faith rests on the story of a simple carpenter, turned itinerant preacher. Jesus was not a vile sinner who found grace, but a

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committed Jewish rabbi who embodied God’s love. Miracles occurred to be sure. However, many days of ministry were spent traveling and teaching. God’s work in our world was more mundane than miraculous. And still, we tell this simple story for it has power. In the words of the old hymn, it has “power, power, wonder working power…”

I was wrong, you know. Simple stories are still sacred. Sometimes, the mundane is miraculous.

You have a story to share. Our world needs to hear your story.

Do you know what else I have discovered?

The story of God’s work in our lives does not end with salvation. Conversion, Commitment to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, Acceptance of God’s love and Grace, or to use the Old Baptist Vernacular “Getting Saved”…this is not the end of the story, but the beginning.

In Testimony Time, the story always climaxed at the moment of salvation with the sinner’s prayer. Then, suddenly, the story was over. And, apparently, God’s work was done.

I am reminded of a friend who once commented, in jest, after one of these testimony times. “If all that really matters is getting saved and going to heaven, why doesn’t the preacher just go ahead and hold them under during the baptism.” They would get to heaven quicker and it seems God’s work is finished anyway.

He made a valid point. There is a problem when the best part of the story always happens before a person found salvation. We all sat on the edge of the pews while the person recounted all of the exciting adventures and activities of the sinful life before becoming a Christian. Then, we fell back into our pews with disinterested looks of mild boredom when the person talked about life after salvation. We offered perfunctory smiles of support, but most of us knew that the best part of the story is over.

Since my story didn’t even include any of the pre-salvation adventures, I knew it really wasn’t worth sharing.

But, I was wrong, you know.

The most important parts of our story should not be what happened before we found faith, before we found God or God found us…the most exciting parts should be what happens after. Salvation is not the finish line, but the starting line. God’s work does not end the moment we accept Christ. God’s work begins in new and exciting ways in our lives.

God is working, not only in the past, but also in the present. God’s work is not only behind us, but all around us. Telling your story does not require the recitation of a

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memorized account about your moment of salvation. Telling your story requires simply sharing about an ongoing relationship.

Let me illustrate this idea in a different fashion. Most of you are aware that I am the father of two boys, David and Evan. If someone asked about my four-year old David and my only response was a dated story about the hospital delivery room, the person would be baffled and confused. “What’s wrong with this guy,” the person would think, “Hasn’t anything happened in the last four years?” Sometimes in sharing our stories, Christians have a tendency to do just that, we launch into a detailed account about some past event instead of pointing toward our present relationship with God.

When we stop at the moment of salvation, we tell a partial and incomplete story of God’s work in our lives.

You have a story to share. Our world needs to hear your story.

Oh, I was wrong about something else, you know. All stories don’t have to have happy endings. Since our stories are still being written, we don’t have to come to resolution or pretend to have all the answers. Sometimes, we are still struggling. Sometimes, we are still scared. Our stories do not have to hide these feelings in shame. We do not have to minimize our fears. We do not have to deny our doubts. We do not have to spiritualize or sterilize our stories so that everything is absolutely clean and clear. People do not need to hear artificial stories about perfect people. The best stories are those that are told honestly, because those resonate with everyone.

Stories about the blinding light and the dramatic moment of salvation may connect with some people. If this is your story, share it. But, for others, please know that stories about struggles and confusion, doubt and despair, cloudy days and dark nights…These stories reflect the human experience. These stories connect with every listener and connect every listener with God.

Psalms contain some of our favorite stories because the writers have the courage to be honest. Sometimes, the Psalmist is so filled with joy he can’t help but sing and dance about God’s blessed salvation. But other times, like in today’s reading, the Psalmist feels broken and betrayed:

“My God, my God why has thou forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; And by night, but find no rest…”

The Psalmist remembers the past, salvation provided to our ancestors. But, the Psalmist has the courage to confess his own confusion about the present. And yet, and yet, in past and present, in confidence and in confusion, the Psalmist keeps the faith by telling this story with integrity. The story resonates. Jesus himself quoted the words of this Psalm.

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Fred Craddock, Pastor and Professor, tells a story that echoes this Psalm. It is a story of courage, grace under pressure, but also God’s work in a more simple and subtle fashion.

He writes, “A colleague of mine at Phillips University, a young woman, was a marvelous person who taught physical education...One night she heard a knock at the door. She went and there stood death, with his yellow face staring right at her…Her doctor said, ‘Malignant.’ She had surgery and got better. Everything seemed wonderful.

Then, one night she heard the same knock at the door and met the same stranger. Her doctor said, “Chemotherapy.” Oh, she was sick with the therapy. Her hair came out. She said, ‘I feel pretty good’ and came back to work…”

“But, the knock came again. Friends and relatives arrived.” Craddock writes, “Everybody gathered and took turns leaning against the door. We said to one another, ‘We’re not going to let him in. We’ll keep him out.’ Then, one night, she said to us, ‘Get away from the door…’-- ‘What?”—‘Get away from the door,’ she said. So we did. And, he came. There he stood; in one hand he had peace, in the other, rest. He looked like servant of God.” Then, she died. We cried. It hurt. It still hurts.

It is not an easy story to tell. But it is real. And, it resonates.

Your story—Make sure it is real, nothing whitewashed or edited for content. Real stories resonate. Real stories changes lives. Real stories include the cross as well as the resurrection.

You have a story to share. Our church needs to hear your story. Our world needs to hear your story.

Let’s pray

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Appendix 10

Session 4: Stories from Acts: God’s Work in the Experience and Testimony of Early Believers

The Book of Acts contains a collection of stories about life and ministry in the early Christian church. Peter and Paul engage in preaching the Good News of the Gospel throughout the ancient world. Along the way, these early church leaders also engage in creative storytelling within Christian community, revealing God’s invitation to partner in ongoing work, mission, and ministry. Peter and Paul were not only speaking of the past, but also sharing God’s work in their present. God continued to teach, challenge, shape, and transform their faith and understanding long after their conversion.

Consider these questions for a few minutes:

1. God is always at work in our world. Where do you see God’s work in your life during the last five days, five months, and/or five years? (You may think about something you have learned during this time. You may think of specific experience that has shaped/changed/ deepened your faith. You may think of a song, a sermon, a service project, or a book.)

2. If this time period (last five years) were a chapter and your life were a book, what would be the title(s)? Why?

3. How has your faith changed during this time?

Now share your answers around the table. Everyone participate please. 186

Appendix 11

Learning to Listen and Understand A Sermon Delivered at First Baptist Church Mobile on October 28, 2012

1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. 4 ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? 39 ‘Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert? 41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?

-Job 38:1-7, 39-41

We often hear, but we rarely really listen.

Listening is more than passive hearing. Listening requires active engagement.

Sometimes, we struggle with this. For guys, it happens this time of year during football season. I remember one exchange between Jen and I which illustrates well the difference between hearing and listening. I was watching television and simultaneously trying to talk with her on the phone. She was telling some story, recounting the events of her day. I could have turned down the television set or turned off the program. But, I didn’t. I kept watching, trying to successfully split my attention between her and the program. It wasn’t the first time I had tried this approach. I was even employing some artificial affirmations. “Yes, yes.” I would say every few seconds. “Sounds good to me,” I would add completely unaware of what she was talking about. Finally, she stopped the conversation by saying, “Chris George!” (Whenever she uses both names, I know I am in

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trouble) Chris George, Are you listening to me?” It didn’t take a gifted communicator to recognize that tone—anger coupled with hurt. In a moment of fear, I stuttered out the truth. “I hear you,” I said, “But, I’m not really listening…”

Does this sound familiar?

Sometimes, we struggle to listen due to all the voices competing for our attention. We are easily distracted. Our schedule screams, constantly reminding us that we have due dates and deadlines, appointments to make and commitments to keep. We never really schedule time to listen. When a stranger in line starts to share a story, we quickly try to change the subject or hope the cashier will hurry up. We don’t have time for this. It starts with strangers, but sometimes it impacts our families and friends as well.

Rev. Charles Swindoll, famous author and pastor, recounts a painful incident which reminded him of the importance of listening.

“I vividly remember some time back being caught in the undertow of too many commitments in too few days. It wasn’t long before I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day…

I distinctly recall after supper one evening the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She hurriedly began, ‘Daddy-I-wanna-tell-you-somethin’-and-I’ll-tell-you-really-fast.’

Swindoll, realizing her frustration, answered, “Honey, you can tell me…and you don’t have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly.”

“I’ll never forget her answer…She said, ‘Then listen slowly.’”

Listen slowly--wise words from this little child. We can hear something quickly, but we can really only listen slowly. Listening takes times and energy. Listening requires focus and attention. Hearing may happen accidently, but listening only happens intentionally.

When we listen, we let a person know that we care, we love, and we respect them. When we fail to listen, a person feels insignificant, unimportant, and alone.

Something else happens when listening to someone’s story, we come to know the storyteller.

So, today, let’s slow down and take time to really listen to this story.

The storyteller is God.

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

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Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me…’”

We don’t know Job’s last name, but if we did, God would be using it right now. Job! Job! Are you listening? God’s voice thunders from the heavens.

Our standard reading of the story is that God is angry at Job’s impudence. God, eager to go on the offensive, asks a slew of rhetorical questions that will effectively put Job “back in his place.” God looks like a Divine Principal who is about to provide a lengthy lecture to one of the students. “Be a man,” the lecture starts, “Stand up and take what is coming to you.”

The standard interpretation is that God can do what God wants and when God wants. God doesn’t have to answer to anyone, offer any explanations, nor provide any justifications.

We hear echoes of our parents who answered the ‘Why’ question with the much dreaded, “Just because I said so…”

If God wants Job to suffer for no reason at all, God can rightly inflict needless suffering on his servant. Job doesn’t have the capacity to understand God and should not dare to doubt. So, the listener may conclude, if we dare to question God then we too may be lectured at best and punished at worst.

But, if we do more than just hear, if we step away from our assumptions, if we slow down and really listen, we will discover a different picture of the Storyteller emerges from the text.

Instead of a Principal penalizing a student imagine a Mother teaching a child. After the child has asked question after question after question, Why, Why, Why…the Mother says, “Well, I have a few questions for you…” She asks, not to get answers, but to teach her child.

This Storyteller also proves to be patient. For nearly forty chapters, Job and his friends have expressed frustrations, leveled accusations, and asked questions.

And--What has God been doing? (This is really the question of the book, right?) What if the answer is…God has been listening, waiting for them to finish their story. God does not interrupt. God does not answer questions or offer explanations. God listens.

I am reminded of the story of a new commander who was sent to an army fort on the American frontier. He soon was involved in a conference with an important Indian chief. Working through a translator, he nervously asked the chief a number of questions and was surprised to get no reply. Over and over, he asked. The translator made the message clear. The chief nodded in acknowledgement, but offered no answers. After the meeting, the commander asked the translator why he had gotten no response. The translator

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replied, “That’s what we call Indian time. He has enough respect for your questions to go away and think about them before answering them…”

It seems a strange concept in our culture, but sometimes we need to take time to listen and understand instead of simply hearing and offering thoughtless responses. Other times, we need to ask the question, then patiently wait instead of demanding an instant answer.

God listens attentively, then offers a series of questions to do more than simply stump Job. God tells God’s story through this series of questions.

Did you notice?

“Were you there when I laid the foundation of the Earth?... When all morning stars sang together and all heavenly being shouted for joy.”

God starts “in the beginning,” tracing the contours of Creation. God tells a passionate and personal story where the stars are singing and the angels are shouting for joy. The Storyteller is not far away, safely separated by distance and time, but rather draws near and dares to be engaged with this emerging world.

“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of young lions?... Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, And wander about for lack of food?”

These often overlooked parental images are endearing and powerful. God is intimately involved with newborn cubs and freshly hatched chicks. The Storyteller cares about even these. Contrary to the accusations leveled by Job and his friends, God has not abandoned our world, but rather remains involved in even the smallest details. In this series of questions, God reveals a heart filled with compassion and concern.

Have you ever heard this part of story? Have you ever really listened? Can you hear the whimpering cries of the lion cubs? Can you hear the raven chicks peeping? God can…

God says to Job, I am aware of the appetite of the little lions that hide in the den waiting for their mother to bring food. God says to Job, I hear the cries of the raven chicks in the nest, begging for a morsel to satisfy their hunger. God says to Job, I know your pain, your sorrow, and your suffering.

Suddenly, we realize, God tells this story not just to “set Job straight,” but rather to reveal God’s loving and caring nature. God tells this story, not to answer every question, but rather to reveal God’s character.

When we learn to slow down and listen, we begin to understand not only the story, but also the Storyteller.

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Last Sunday, I delivered a sermon about sharing our stories honestly. This Sunday, we are called to remember an equally important task to listen attentively to the stories of others.

We must look beyond our first impressions for these tend to color and distort stories. If we embraced our first impression of Job’s story, we would be left with a God who acts without care or concern for creatures, dismisses our doubts, and punishes those who question. Today, we have slowed down, we have listened and discovered that God knows and cares for baby birds in a nest, for lion cubs in a den, and for people like you and I.

“I don’t have much of a story,” she said. But, I sat down and listened anyway. She grew up in the church and found faith as a small child. She married a farmer. She tried to be a good mother and wife, but was quick to confess that she failed sometimes. She wished she had smoked a little less and danced a little more. She didn’t have to talk about her pride in her daughter--it was obvious when she recounted the little stories about learning to walk and remembered holding her little hand. She didn’t have to talk about being a loving wife—it was obvious when she talked about going to visit her husband three times a week in the nursing home. She was barely able to drive and he was barely able to walk. So, they would sit, often in silence and stillness. They would sit together, day after day, until one day he went away. But, she knew she would see him again. And, she told me so.

I can remember my grandmother’s stories. I wish I could hear more, but one day she went away. I will see her again. She left behind her stories which have influenced my life and ministry. God speaks through human stories.

Maybe this week, you should make a call or share a cup of coffee or reconnect with a family member or friend. It may be a grandparent or parent, it may be a child or grandchild, it may be a friend separated by time and distance. Don’t worry about what you will say, just listen.

We often hear, but we rarely listen….Shh, listen, God is still speaking.

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Appendix 12

Letter Requesting Permission to Use the SCI-2 Sent June 29, 2010

Dear Dr. Chavis,

Greetings. My name is Chris George. I am the Pastor of First Baptist Church of Mobile and presently seeking my Doctor of Ministry degree at Methodist Theological Seminary of Ohio. My project revolves around the issue of creating community across generations in a church context. In research and preparation for this project, I discovered your organization and the SCI-2 instrument used as a quantitative measure of sense of community. I am writng to verify that I can use this instrument free of charge. I look forward to your response and want to express my thanks for all your work in creating such a helpful tool.

Sincerely, Rev. Chris George

Response Granting Permission to Use the SCI-2 Sent July 7, 2010

Dear Rev George,

Thank you very much for your interest and request. Yes, you can use the SCI-2 free of charge, but you cannot change it without permission. If you have further questions, please post them on www.senseofcommunity.com in the discussion forum. This way you can get the input of others as well.

Good luck.

Best regards,

David M. Chavis

Principal Associate/CEO

Community Science

438 N. Frederick Ave., Suite 315

Gaithersburg, MD 20877

(301) 519-0722 ext.109

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Appendix 13

Data results for Chris George FBC – Mobile, AL November 19, 2012

Variable Pretest Posttest Z-Score SIG* Needs 12.22 14.13 3.49 .0001 Membership 11.60 13.25 3.65 .0001 Influence 12.91 14.69 3.26 .001 Emotions 14.75 15.63 2.16 .031 Total 51.47 57.69 3.61 .0001 Sense of Community Instrument (SCI -2), Gaithersberg, MD

*SIG at alpha < 0.05

Each subscale is built from six items related to that subscale with a range of zero to three for each item. Thus, each subscale has a minimum score of zero and a maximum score of eighteen. The total score was computed by aggregating each of the subscales. Thus, the total scores could range from a minimum of zero to a maximum of seventy-two. The mean scores for each pretest and posttest subscale as well as the pretest and posttest totals are shown in the table. The specific items for this instrument are shown in the Appendix.

Statistical significance was calculated using a matched-pairs procedure known as the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. This is a nonparametric test in which positive and negative changes are compared to one another in the pretest and posttest conditions. In a matched pairs test, each person serves as their own control, eliminating the need for other controls regarding age, gender, ethnicity, etc. In other words, the pretest score for each person was compared the posttest score for that same person and the differences were analyzed statistically. A statistical significance level of 0.05 was predetermined and the significance decision for this project was based upon comparing the total sampling of pretest and posttest scores from the respondents. Z-scores, which are a measure of the magnitude of change, are also shown in the table.

Missing values were minimal, eradicating the need to use the mean-substitution method for missing values.

All four subscales, all well as the total scores showed significant differences at the alpha = 0.05 level, which means that the researcher can conclude with a 95% degree of confidence that the change in scores from pretest to posttest was not due to chance. The statistical analysis reveals a statistically significant difference when comparing the pretest scores to the posttest scores for this sampling of respondents. In other words, the group of respondents significantly altered their attitudes toward sense of community from the time that they took the pretest to the time that they took the posttest. All of the alterations shifted in the positive direction, indicating an increased sense of community among the respondents.

Although other factors could have influenced the shift in sense of community, the data suggests that the interventions were indeed influential for this congregation.

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Previous tests of reliability and validity for this instrument have been shown to be satisfactory for its use in this project. More specifically, the instrument has been shown to have an overall coefficient alpha of 0.94 and coefficient alphas for the subscores have ranged from .79 to .86. Coefficient subscale alphas for this project ranged from .721 to .890, which all fall into or close to the acceptable range of .70 to .90 for scale reliability.

In other words, the items that comprise each subscale appear to have sufficient correlation with one another to indicate that they are indeed measuring a separate dimension of community development and the overall instrument has been shown to have sufficient capability of measuring a person’s sense of community. This instrument appears sufficient to measure shifts in a person’s sense of community.

Data processed and evaluated by Dr. Jeff Woods.

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Appendix 14

Sense of Community Index-2

Pretest Survey Results First Baptist Church of Mobile

Y-axis is Participants (33 in total), P1-Participant 1

X-axis is Statements for Response (24 in total), S1-Statement 1

Numerical Response Correlation—Completely is 3, Mostly is 2, Somewhat is 1, Not at all is 0.

PRETEST S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21 S22 S23 S24 P1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P2 1 2 2 3 1 1 3 0 0 0 1 2 3 3 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P3 3 2 3 3 2 3 3 1 1 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 P4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P5 2 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 1 1 1 2 2 3 2 2 3 P6 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 P7 2 2 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 P8 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 1 3 3 1 0 2 2 3 2 P9 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 1 2 1 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 P10 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 1 3 3 3 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 1 2 2 P11 2 1 1 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 P12 2 2 2 3 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 2 3 3 1 3 2 2 3 P13 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 P14 3 2 2 3 3 1 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P15 2 2 2 2 1 1 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 1 2 2 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 P16 2 2 2 3 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 3 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 P17 2 2 3 3 2 1 2 1 2 2 3 2 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 3 1 2 1 3 P18 2 2 2 3 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 P19 3 2 1 2 0 2 3 2 1 1 2 1 3 2 3 1 1 3 2 0 2 1 3 3 P20 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 P21 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 P22 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 3 1 1 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 P23 2 2 1 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 3 1 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 P24 3 2 2 3 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 P25 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 P26 2 1 1 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P27 1 2 2 2 1 2 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 3 2 0 2 1 2 3 P28 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 1 2 2 3 3 1 2 2 3 P29 1 2 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 1 3 1 2 1 3 3 3 2 1 2 P30 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P31 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 1 3 1 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 P32 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 P33 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 1 0 2 3 3 3 3 1 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 3

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Sense of Community Index-2

Posttest Survey Results First Baptist Church of Mobile

Y-axis is Participants (33 in total), P1-Participant 1

X-axis is Statements for Response (24 in total), S1-Statement 1

Numerical Response Correlation—Completely is 3, Mostly is 2, Somewhat is 1, Not at all is 0.

POSTTEST S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 S21 S22 S23 S24 P1 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 1 1 3 1 1 3 3 3 1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 P4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P5 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P6 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 P7 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 1 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 P8 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 1 3 2 3 2 P9 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P10 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 P11 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P12 2 2 2 3 1 2 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 3 2 1 3 2 3 3 P13 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P14 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P15 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 1 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 P16 1 2 2 2 3 2 3 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 P17 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 1 2 2 3 P18 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 P19 2 3 3 3 1 2 3 2 2 3 1 2 3 3 3 1 2 3 3 1 3 1 3 3 P20 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 P21 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P22 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 P23 3 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 P24 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 P25 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 P26 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 P27 2 1 2 2 0 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 2 P28 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 P29 1 2 2 2 1 2 3 2 1 0 2 3 3 2 2 1 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 P30 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 3 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 P31 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 3 1 3 2 2 2 3 2 1 3 2 3 P32 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 2 3 1 3 3 3 2 P33 2 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 0 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

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Scoring the Scale:

Total Sense of Community Index=Sum of S1 to S24

Subscales:

Reinforcement of Needs=S1+S2+S3+S4+S5+S6

Membership=S7+S8+S9+S10+S11+S12

Influence=S13+S14+S15+S16+S17+S18

Shared Emotional Connection=S19+S20+S21+S22+S23+S2

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Appendix 15

The Power of Testimony and Christian Storytelling A Lecture Delivered at the Mercer Preaching Consultation on September 30, 2014 Acts 11:1-11

I am honored to be standing before you today. I am grateful to Dr. Culpepper for this invitation to speak with you and count myself lucky to call him a friend. He has skillfully Captained this ship called McAfee Divinity School since 1995. Like the sailors in the Story of Jonah, he may have been tempted to throw more than one student overboard. But, he always resisted the temptation. In the process, he found a way to touch and transform many lives. Although I am not a graduate of this fine institution, I can say without hesitation that Dr. Culpepper has touched and transformed my life.

It has been a wonderful preaching conference, hasn’t it? As I looked at the schedule, I noticed that I would be one of the last speakers. I was trying to determine if this was good or bad. So, I talked with my wife about it. I said, “Well, perhaps, they wanted to save the best for last.” To which she replied, “Or, maybe, they knew it was important to make a good first impression.”

Either way, I am here and honored to be here.

As I mentioned before, I didn’t have the opportunity to study at McAfee. So, I missed being trained by some of the Best Preachers in Baptist Life, including the late Dr. John Claypool and the present preaching professor, Dr. Brett Younger. Thus, I come to this conference at a severe disadvantage.

However, I do remember my first and only preaching class at Harvard Divinity School. I was a lowly first-year student, a recent transfer from Alabama and surrounded by the academic elites in Boston. I was an MTS (Master of Theological Studies) student, which meant I did not need to take preaching to graduate. So, other students wondered aloud, “Why would anyone take preaching if it was not required?” It was assumed I was a glutton for punishment. And, I was a Baptist, which meant I was an endangered species in New England. Class members would quietly point and whisper, “Is it real? I have never seen one before…Do you think he bites?”

I remember my first preaching professor. Peter Gomes was the traditional Preaching Professor at Harvard. He was one of the very best and, ironically enough a Baptist. But, I did not have the opportunity to study preaching with Dr. Gomes. Instead, I signed up to study with a visiting professor, Dr. John Shelby Spong. He was the author of countless book and seemed to be at the center of countless controversies. In the Spring of 2000, he delivered the lecture series at Harvard and agreed to teach two Divinity School Preaching Classes. Later, he would dedicate one of his books to our classes, taking the time to include each of us by name in the preface. I can’t say for sure, but I am fairly certain, because of this decision, several Baptist Church Search Committees have removed my name from their list of candidates. 198

I remember my first preaching experience. I spent hour after hour preparing what I thought was the absolute perfect sermon entitled, “The Temptation to Be Good.” I stood before the class, armed with this magnificent manuscript and dove headfirst into a lengthy diatribe about social justice and evangelism. I boldly spoke against racism, sexism, and any other “ism” I could think of. I criticized the right and the left, then took a couple of swipes at those in the middle. And, I quoted and quoted and quoted…My citation list was a list of the best and the brightest. I quoted Jesus Christ and Jimmy Carter, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr., Bonhoeffer and Buechner and Billy Graham, St. Augustine and C.S. Lewis. (I had not read Diane Butler Bass at the time, but if I had, she would have been quoted in this sermon as well.) Needless to say, it was a long sermon, a very long sermon. Which, in some ways was appropriate, I wanted them to have the “full” Baptist experience. I pulled out all the stops. I did everything but offer an Invitation and sing “Just As I Am.”

Everyone listened in stunned, but respectful silence. I raised my voice and even pounded the pew. It was quite a presentation.

I will never forget Dr. Spong’s response.

He said, “Thank you, Chris. You do know, they will be back next week.”

I got a confused look on my face. He said, “You don’t have to tell them everything in a single sermon. They will come back and you can tell them more next Sunday. Every sermon should say something, but no sermon can say everything.”

It was a gentle critique, but in a soft and subtle manner he made a significant point.

The problems facing the Preacher each Sunday is simple, but perplexing—Aware that one can’t say everything, how can one say something that really matters?

We may find an important answer to this question if we look back at one of the traditional, but largely forgotten, Baptist practices--Testimony.

Testimony is the presentation of narrative about God’s work in a person’s life. In the past, testimonies were an important and essential part of the Baptist worship experience. The practice of testifying was not limited to the preachers.

Candidates seeking church membership were expected and often required to share their conversion story with the gathered congregation. In the process, many who had traditionally been oppressed or had their stories suppressed in the church, like African- Americans and women, were given a prominent place to give voice to their rarely heard stories.

Sadly, somewhere along the way, the Baptist testimony practice fell into disuse. Candidates that had been asked to share their story were simply asked to “walk the aisle”

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as a public profession of faith. Sacred storytelling has been replaced by a meaningless item on a membership checklist.

How did this happen?

I think the word was misused or became misunderstood. Testimony became narrowly defined and associated with the conversion experience. The Testimony was just about “Getting Saved.”

I am reminded of a story by a friend of mine, Rev. Ben Boswell who is Pastor at Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina.

"One Wednesday night, when I was a junior in college at Campbell, my best friend Andy and I decided to go to Campus Crusade. We usually worshipped on Thursdays with the Baptist Student Union, but there was a party scheduled for Thursday night so we decided to get our worship in early that week. It turned out to be a huge mistake. On that particular night the speaker was a student known for preaching really long sermons. After we sang a few songs, he got up and preached a "hellfire and brimstone" sermon for a solid hour and a half. Then, after telling us all how sinful we were, he had an alter call. Of course, the irony was that we were at Campus Crusade at Campbell University, a Christian college in North Carolina, and there wasn't a soul in the audience who hadn't already been saved. Nobody came forward, but the preacher just stood there waiting for what seemed like forever. Verse after verse. Chorus after chorus. Finally, I looked over at my friend Andy and said, "Alright, which one of us is gonna take one for the team and get saved again tonight so we can get out of here?" Then, without blinking an eye, my friend Andy got up and went down to the alter."

Andy didn't "get saved " that night from anything but an endless altar call. I suspect the preacher's heart was in the right place. He simply believed that all God really cared about was getting people to walk down the aisle and to say the sinner's prayer.

Similarly, people came to believe that only testimony worth sharing involved “getting saved.”

The best conversion stories were those which involved sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And, the best part of the story was not the conversion or the moment of salvation, but rather all the adventures the person had before they found faith.

Implicitly, God’s only work in our lives was “getting us saved.”

Two problems arise from this approach to Testimony.

The first problem is that this understanding of testimony is trapped in the past. When we can only speak about God’s work in our lives in past tense, we look less like living Christians and more like a stuffed collectable on a museum shelf. If the story is only

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about what happened, the story has no room for what happens and what will happen in our lives.

The second problem is that this understanding of testimony is disconnected from the common experience. When we look only for the spectacular stories, we neglect the simple stories of faith and love.

When I talked with members of my former congregation, I asked, “What is your testimony?” I remember being heartbroken to hear one dearly loved and deeply faithful woman respond, “I don’t really have a testimony. Nothing special happened to me. My story doesn’t matter.”

Of course, I can also remember in my youth group, listening with envy to those who had done everything wrong. Then, I was forced by my youth minister to share my story.

I stood before the gathered community with my head hanging low with shame. In an almost apologetic fashion, I said, “Well. I was raised in a Christian home. So, I have always been going to church.” Yes, in that moment, I thought the same thing. I don’t have a testimony or a story that really matters.

But, Testimony is not the story of what was, but the story of what is. Testimony is just not the story of how God worked, but how God works. Testimony is a story that is still being written, a lived experience filled with ongoing encounters.

Let me share a short story from the scriptures with you. Peter offers a testimony, but not the famous one that he gave at Pentecost. This testimony is hidden in a forgotten corner of Acts. It is not in the lectionary, so lectionary preachers, like myself have a tendency to ignore it. And, it comes right after one of our favorite passages, Peter and Cornelius, which could be Christened “The Story that Launched a Thousand Sermons.” Peter is preaching, or maybe testifying, but the lines get blessedly blurry.

Acts 11:1-18

11Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, 3saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” 4Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. 6As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ 10This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction

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between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ 15And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” 18When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

Notice, Peter is preaching to a rather hostile crowd. The congregation consists of those “circumcised believers” in Jerusalem and before he has said a word, they are expressing anger.

The congregation is filled with harsh critics and antagonistic attitudes. The congregation is filled with accusatory questions from people who don’t want an answer. The congregation is filled with Know-it-alls ready and willing to correct the preacher. The congregation is filled with folks eager and ready to cast off and cast out.

Some of you listening to me this morning are saying, “Ah, sounds familiar, just like home…”

How does Peter preach? How does he respond to the allegations and accusations?

He tells a story. He bears witness. He offers a testimony.

We know the story. We have preached on this part before. We have talked about Peter’s vision. We have reminded our congregation, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” We have talked about his visit to Cornelius and the inclusion of those outcasts.

Peter retells this familiar story. He does not add fireworks. He does not emphasize or hyperbolize or exaggerate. He simply lets the story speak. He lets his story speak.

Did you notice what happened?

The congregation sat in stunned silence.

And, at the end of this sermon, the antagonistic audience experiences a transformation. The questions of those harsh critics are replaced by songs of praise. The know-it-alls have learned something by listening. Those who were so eager to cast off are suddenly speaking of drawing in their Gentile brothers and sisters.

Peter didn’t say everything.

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But, Peter said something. He told a story that changed a community. He witnessed in the best possible.

We need to learn from Peter’s example. We need to preach authentically. We need to resist the temptation to say everything or appease everyone. We need to have the courage to share the story of God’s work in our world.

Many in this room have far more experience than I. I suspect you could offer something far more insightful. But, in my seven years of preaching, if I have learned only one thing…it is this:

Dr. Spong was right…You can’t say everything, but you must say something that matters.

Preach the scriptures, but also have the courage to Preach your story and encourage members of your congregation to Proclaim their stories.

Church is best when it is more than a collection of familiar strangers. Church is best when we are a collection of interconnected stories.

Contrary to what the Revival Preachers told us, God cares about more than “getting saved.” God cares enough to walk with us and to write with us every day of our lives. God cares not only about the spectacular, but also the simple.

I close with a story. It is a borrowed one from my friend, John Killinger.

He says, “A grandfather and his young grandson were enjoying a day of fishing off a pier on the coast of Florida. The boy was filled with questions. Why do birds fly south for the winter? Why can’t people breathe under water? The grandfather happily tried to answer each one. Like all beautiful days, it had to come to an end. As the old man was getting their tackle ready to leave, the boy asked, “Grandpa, Does anybody ever see God?”

“The old man didn’t answer right away. He went on making sure everything was tucked away in the tackle box. Then he secured it and looked at the deepening colors of the evening sky. Finally he gazed into the face of the little boy who meant so much to him. He spoke with a noticeable catch in his throat. ‘Son,” he said, ‘it’s getting so I hardly see anything else.”

We need to look at our world through these lenses. Preach what you see.

God is in the story. Your Story. My Story.

Life is a Testimony.

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