Every month we’ve been hosting a “Story Night” as a community. What is Story Night and why do we do it?
Story Night is pretty simple:
- We share a meal together in someone’s home, and
- We share stories from our lives on a topic.
Past story topics include:
- The best party you’ve ever been to.
- An area of pain or loss that you are still grieving today.
- A time of significant growth in your life.
- Something you’ll never do on vacation again.
Story Nights have been important for a few reasons:
Story Night is a practical place to practice some of our practices. WELCOMING and LISTENING (and a little GOSPELING, too, if you’re paying attention). The reason we name practices (instead of “values”) is that values are usually aspirational, but practices are things you can actually DO. Story Night is one place we DO our practices.
Also, Story Night is a practice that not only binds us together as a community, but opens space for others to be drawn in to our life together. As such, it’s an easy way to start and sustain a Table Group.
Story Night (and the possible Table Groups that emerge from it) is part of how we embody and extend the presence of Christ that we encounter at the communion table each Sunday. It’s a way for us to practice being the community we say we want to be.
Hope to see you at the next Story Night!
I love the idea and the one about birthday blessings too. I’m in a small group that has done life together for nearly 20 years. Frankly, it seems unique meaning that other weekly bible studies are only that and don’t quite reach the “doing life together” level. I do pray for these other groups that they would be blessed to grow into such a group.
Thanks Mark!