Most people love good stories told well. Our family is like that. In my extended family, we know that when Uncle Tom gets on a roll, buckle up, because he’s got hundreds of great stories, each one funnier than the last. When my mom chimes in with him, well, look out because it’s gonna be good!
As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that the love of storytelling is universal. Good stories told well draw us in, captivate us, make us forget ourselves. And it’s not just for adults. As kids we would linger on the edges of the conversations as the adults told stories long into the night at family gatherings. When I was a middle school teacher the kids would beg me to tell them stories. “Please tell us the story of Squirrely Joe again!” “Was he a real guy?” I’d reply that if they finished their work and there was still time, I’d tell them again the story of Squirrely Joe and how he cut off his finger TWICE at the roundhouse in Chicago.
As my relationship with God has deepened and matured, I find that my best stories are those that involve how God has shown up in my life, usually in very unexpected ways. The problem with that, though, is that many people are more comfortable hearing the Squirrely Joe stories, not how God performed a miracle for me when I least expected it. When I’m with my Christian friends, though, they’re not so discriminating. We flow back and forth from faith stories to secular stories. For me, there’s not a dividing line. I don’t have to hold back with my Christian friends. They are just as happy to hear about the miracles as they are to hear the roundhouse stories. And they are eager to share their own. When we share our faith stories with one another, it fans the flames of our faith and enriches us both. We come away amazed at how God works in our lives. Our faith is stronger and our gratitude magnified.
That is what The Dove Faith Café (DFC) is all about. It’s a new program that takes well-crafted faith stories and shares them with a live audience of listeners. Beginning in the spring of 2021, the DFC will travel across our diocese on four different nights with five storytellers to share an evening of storytelling, live music, food and drink, and new friends. During each DFC event, our emcee will welcome the audience then introduce the speakers. After each story, the emcee will introduce the next speaker, with an intermission halfway through the event. When all of the storytellers have spoken, the emcee will invite the audience members to turn to those at their tables and tell their own faith story, as they feel called to do. The hope is that hearing one another’s faith stories will rekindle the flames of our own faith journey, reminding us of all that God has done for us.
Traditionally we think of evangelism as introducing nonbelievers to Jesus. I have long thought that it is just as important to stir up the faith in believers as well. It is easy for the embers of our faith to grow cool. Christianity is not a one-and-done event at baptism. It is a lived journey. When we stir up our faith, we can grow closer to God, his blessed Son, and his beloved Holy Spirit. I have witnessed faith stories stir and move believers. I am curious to see what effect this kind of faith sharing will have on someone who does not consider him-/herself a child of God. I believe that God will use these opportunities to draw all of us closer to God.
The Dove Faith Café was inspired by God while in prayer as I was hiking several years ago. This is God’s plan. It always has been. It has proceeded along God’s timeline, pandemic notwithstanding, and it has drawn the people and resources God has called to it. One of those resources has come in the form of a grant from the United Thank Offering. The UTO generously awarded Deacon (soon-to-be-priest) Cynthia Moore and The Dove Faith Café $5,000 from their Young Adult and Seminarian 2020 Grant monies to help bring this program to fruition. Additionally, a $670 award from the Commission on Ministry’s Continuing Education Grant will cover the cost of teaching our speakers to craft and deliver their experiences into a compelling faith story.
The Dove Faith Café is an opportunity for us to gather and enjoy one another’s stories. Perhaps along the way, it will rekindle our own embers of faith, deepen our relationship with our Creator, and remind us, “Oh, this is gonna be good!”
-Marie Gambetta, St. Paul’s Munster, Calumet Episcopal Ministry Partnership