By Beth Bowman and the Rev. Craig Lemming
Stories are incredibly powerful. They connect us to each other. They surprise us, delight us, and 
move us.
We all have stories to share. When we share our own real-life experiences with others we come together in new and authentic ways.
In our shared life of faith at St. John’s, when we listen to the sacred stories of Holy Scripture, when we liturgically and ritually remember the story of God’s radical love for us in Holy Eucharist, and when our own sacred, personal stories of deep joy or harrowing struggle are shared and heard, our spiritual identity unfolds and deepens with authenticity and grace that is palpable, genuine, and inspiring. We recognize profound spiritual truths which connect us to one another and our spiritual ancestors through faith stories that knit us together as beloved children of God who are made in God’s image.
We plan to curate, share, and preserve the faith stories of our St. John’s community by partnering with American Public Radio’s StoryCorps platform. StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project of recorded audio interviews. Their mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. It is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind. StoryCorps interviews usually take place between two people who know and care about each other. A copy of each interview is archived at the Library of Congress for future generations to hear, and we would like to make the recorded faith stories of St. John’s available on our website as well. In support of St. John’s strategic goals and priorities, we hope to engage, curate, share, and preserve the faith stories of our members.
In recent StoryCorps surveys, 81% of listeners were reminded of their shared humanity; 80% helped see the value in everyone’s life story and experience; and 71% became interested in thinking about how society could be improved. By participating in this project, we will each have the opportunity to have an extraordinary impact on the lives of one another and the lives of all the people we welcome into our community of faith.
Please join us on this storytelling adventure! Contact Beth Bowman ([email protected]) or the Rev. Craig Lemming (craig.lemming@ stjohnsstpaul.org) to find out more information about serving as an interviewer or sharing your faith story.
Originally published in the July/August 2019 Evangelist.
