ABCNJ was awarded a grant, in cooperation with a ministry called “Sidebar Stories” to participate in a church revitalization initiative from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. This grant will offer 6-8 small to medium-sized churches in our region training in narrative worship, focusing on worship through storytelling, at no cost. 

Selected churches will attend an initial retreat to be taught about narrative theology and worship. Following their training, they will collect stories from the church members. After collecting stories and testimonies from the congregation, the teams will prepare and lead three narrative worship services. A concluding retreat in the Fall will allow participants to regather and share their experiences and deepen their understanding of how to utilize various forms of storytelling to share the gospel.  

Rev. Ron King, Executive Director of Sidebar Stories and an ABC ordained pastor, along with his colleague (also of Sidebar Stories) Rev. Tamieka Gerow, will lead the retreats and serve as coaches for each team. They will be assisted by Rev. Eric Hoheisel, from the ABCNJ staff.

In describing the project's goals, Rev. King explained that the "stories of God's glory and care will create a context for praise, gratitude, and worship grounded in congregational life, vision, and history. The nature of God will be celebrated as revealed through the narrative of each congregation. The stories of each church will be shared in the learning cohort to develop a more complete understanding of God at work in the church as it exists in our current culture(s)." 

We pray that the twelve-month initiative will allow these congregations to hear their own stories, offer thanks to God for those stories, and imagine new stories about their life together as a community of faith. We anticipate that this will be a catalyst for renewing hope for the participants and look forward to how this experience might be shared in other churches across the region.

Although this is a pilot project and the participating churches are set for this year, if you would like more information, please contact Rev. Eric Hoheisel at ehoheisel@abcnj.net.