Conferences. Meetings. Workshops. Children’s rallies. Mission trips. Assemblies. Revivals.

As a denomination, we tend to focus on events as the kinds of stories we tell. Events happen at a certain time and place, and have a tangible focus as we describe how many people came, the event’s objective and how it achieved that objective.

Yet, articles about events rarely tell a “story.” A story has characters that the reader gets to know personally. A story has a series of ordered events that make up a “plot.” There is a “conflict” or “problem” that the characters must resolve. A story has resolution — how did the characters resolve the conflict, or reconcile themselves to the situation? These elements working together create what we call a “narrative.”

A narrative does not have to be fictional. Personal testimonies are stories. Profiles of people can be written as stories. Even when a writer is writing about an event, narrative and a story can be woven into the article.

Read this, for example.

In this story, we have the character of Hannah, an American student who is spending one year in Ireland to plant churches. The conflict, or problem, is that she must overcome cultural barriers and lack of experience to develop a ministry. The plot is that she felt God calling her to go to a nearby community, even though she didn’t know why. Once she was there, a series of events unfolded that she responded to. The resolution? The stranger Hannah befriended is now helping her make the contacts she needs to develop a ministry.

Here is another example of a story that follows a narrative.

The story begins with a team of church planters in Peru who visit a family in which several members are new Christians. Among the main characters are the church planters and the father in the household. The conflict is that the young ministers are trying to share Christ with the father, a former terrorist who is hostile to the team and insists that he has no interest in God. The series of events involve a number of visits to the home, reaching a climax during a final visit in which the father seems especially agitated and talkative. As he shares his life story with the team, focusing on his many disappointments, the team repeatedly ask if he is ready to accept Christ, and he continues to reject the idea.

He surprises them, then, by saying he has had a dream in which God sent him messengers from very far away. One of the church planters points out that each of the team members is from a different part of the world. The story resolution is reached when the man decides to accept Christ and his entire visage and demeanor is filled with peace.

It is the true personal narratives, woven throughout a story about a ministry strategy (in this case, the strategy of Extreme Nazarene Ministries’ “Extreme Peru” church planting project), that bring an emotional connection and investment to the reader. The reader feels something for the characters and wants to know what is going to happen to them; the reader feels a desire to see the conflict resolved, and will continue reading at least until that conclusion to the story is told.

While events such as conferences and pastor retreats are worthy of articles, personal stories and narratives  help to illustrate and enrich those articles. They also make fascinating stand-alone articles.

Think about the people you know. Who might have an inspiring story to tell?

Read more about the elements that make up a story.