By Cory J. Hailey

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--From scrolls to CD-ROMs, God's Word has been communicated through the centuries in a variety of ways. But a method that preceded them all is being taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to help students more effectively communicate the gospel cross-culturally.

Chronological Bible storying is a technique that has been taken from missionaries working with tribes who do not have written languages and is being used to reach people even in countries that do, said David Fite, director of continuing education at the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary.

Since August 1997, Bible storying has been taught at Southwestern, usually during I-terms -- one-week courses that occur between semesters. Grant Lovejoy, associate professor of preaching, has taught the course with J.O. Terry and Jim Slack, both of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. Lovejoy is on sabbatical leave but is expected to teach the course as an I-term in 2000.

Storying the Bible was developed by the Florida-based New Tribes Mission, which studied how ethics and customs are passed down in tribes. Many tribes, especially those without a written language, use stories to train young people and to pass on history and culture. NTM storied the chronology in the Bible to share the gospel with these people groups.

Unlike modern expository preaching, Bible storying presents the Bible in story form without exposition. The biblical account is storied, with the tribe meeting every day to review the chronology up to that point and then to hear a new story.

Fite noted it took several months to tell the Bible story all the way through when it was first done by NTM in the Philippines.

"The excitement of the tribe grew as they wondered what would happen next," Fite said.  Often after the story was completed, the people of the tribe would end up retelling the story to others.

"People began to understand who God was, what was wrong with man and what God did about it," Fite said. Bible storying is different from narrative preaching, in which a story is followed by or intertwined with exegesis, because the storying teacher asks questions to allow the listeners to grasp the meaning of the story themselves.

By asking questions or having listeners retell the story, the teacher leads the listeners on a journey of self-discovery, Fite said.

"There's a great deal of confidence in the power of the Word to be understood without an exegete explaining it," he said. Each story must be prepared in the style of the target group, whether it be drama, proverb, parable, chant, song or other art forms, and the style must be maintained within each story. Fite said the teacher must know the biblical account well but not present it as a recitation of a written story.

At a storying workshop held in Taiwan in April, Lovejoy worked with teams from Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong and mainland Asia. Many of those teams, Terry noted, are working with highly illiterate groups, hostile or resistant peoples and "those who simply prefer oral communication as a way of receiving new ideas."

He also said that Lovejoy "did a superb job in sharing with the teams from his expertise in story crafting, word choices for sharing the Bible narratively, storying the gospel, storying the epistles and elements of using narratives in preaching."

Later this year, Lovejoy is expected to work in India, Myanmar and Bhutan, Terry said. "All in all, I believe it will better equip Grant for his continuing role in developing theological students for the task of preaching the Good News to the 'uttermost places,'" he said.

The course had its genesis with an interest by Lovejoy in applying Bible storying to preaching and with the desire of the then-Foreign Mission Board (now IMB) to better equip missionaries.

About 40 to 50 percent of the students in the course are missionaries, Fite said. The classes introduce the students to storying and how it is applied in various settings like church starts, home Bible studies and preaching, as well as the mission field. Storying is also being used in groups, including those in the United States, that have low levels of literacy or limited Bible knowledge.

"Everybody loves a story," Fite said. In addition, storying can be used where it is disadvantageous or even dangerous to have a Bible, such as in the Middle East. Fite, a former missionary to Cuba, recalled that when he was a prisoner after Fidel Castro came to power, services would consist of Bible stories, simply because it wasn't possible to have a Bible.

Sitting in a circle, the Christians would watch for guards and change the subject whenever there was the possibility of being overheard. For Fite, Bible storying has given him a new appreciation of how Bible stories have been passed down. Much of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament existed in oral form for many years before they were ever written.

While modern preachers and teachers tend to embellish biblical accounts, the people of that day passed those accounts down in a very firm, trustworthy fashion, said Fite, much like the tribes who are hearing the Word today pass their customs and stories down in an unaltered fashion. Terry noted this approach to witnessing does more than just reach the tribes of today. While they may never have a written copy of the Scripture, he said, "they can have a functional oral Bible that will serve them well to evangelize, disciple and train emerging leadership among their own people."