Storytelling as Ministry
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Prophetic Storytelling

How do we reach people's hearts and call them to see what we see? to act for justice? to care for the "least of these"?

Why do we tell stories?

To speak heart to heart. To communicate what matters to us. To share life's unexpected twists and turns. To introduce how God has called us to be uniquely us.

In this video, Marshall Ganz explains the power of storytelling to affect change and to call people to take action. First, though, we need to tell the Story of Self...

John Light writing at Moyers and Company takes us step-by-step in this essay entitled,
"How to Tell Your 'Story of Self."

For those of you interested in doing prophetic storytelling to call people to action, see another video and transcript on this topic available at: "On the Power of Personal Storytelling in Activist Team Building."

What can we learn from the world of marketing? Plenty.

If we understand our message as a form of "product" about which we need to communicate, we can potentially learn something from the examples on this Vimeo Blog on "Nine tips for Creating Killer Product Videos."
Marketers are now the most enthusiastic promoters of using media to tell stories!

Check out this overview blog from Socialbrite with links to lots of examples of how non-profits have used storytelling.
The video above comes from a series of videos that are part of a project/website called Thirty Seconds of Less, in which we hear someone speak in the first-person over a single image or video and some music or ambient sound. The creators of this site invited people to contribute...and many have welcomed the opportunity. This is an example of what Henry Jenkins has called "participatory culture."
Professor Eileen D. Crowley, Associate Professor of Liturgy, Arts, and Communications at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, created this website. She is developing a project called Digital Media Storytelling as Ministry (New York: Church Publishing, forthcoming), a book designed for lay and ordained leaders in the churches, as well as for leaders in non-profit organizations, especially those engaged in the work of justice and empowerment of the otherwise voiceless. The materials on this website include Professor Crowley's own photography and video, as well as the creative work of some of her students and participants in her faith formation offerings, all of whom have given her permission to share their work. Prof. Crowley and the other contributors retain their copyrights to their work . As for the website itself: Copyright 2015 Eileen D. Crowley. All rights reserved. No material may be copied and used in other publications and on other websites or social media without the written permission of Professor Crowley.

ecrowley@ctu.edu     Catholic Theological Union, 5410 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago IL 60615   For more information on my work:   www.eileendcrowley.com