What’s YOUR Story?
One of the best ways to get to know people in your group is good old-fashioned story telling! Your story captures your life – growing up, trials, dreams, fears and all that is in-between. Story-telling is a great way to help people in your group to connect, and it’s especially helpful when done in the first few months of your group (but it can be done at any time).
Consider setting aside time this Fall to share stories in your group. You can set aside one night to do this, or schedule another time to gather the group. You can also set aside 10 minutes before The Story study and have one person share their story each week.
When sharing Life Stories you play a significant role in how this time goes. You set the pace for vulnerability. That means that you should go first to model what it looks like to tell your story authentically. Set a time limit for stories, knowing that most people will go over that limit – so you’ll have to keep them on track and model what it means to share your story in a short period of time.
Be sure to thank the person who shared and have someone in the group pray for them. Make sure that you set the rules for a safe environment –i.e. what is said here, stays here; you don’t have to share anything you are not comfortable with; affirm, affirm, affirm, love, love, love. The art is to bring Christ into the center of the sharing – this is not meant to be a “me-me-me” time but rather a time of rejoicing in the grace and mercy and mystery of God in our story.
Ready to share stories? Here are a few ideas for how to share stories in your Life Group. Click on the titles below for more info.
1- Questions
2- Heroes, High Points, Hard Times, Hopes
3- Photographs