Mark Miller, in his book, Experiential Storytelling: (Re)Discovering Narrative to Communicate God’s Message, draws upon his experience as a youth pastor in Ohio to share ideas about how to communicate the timeless stories of the Bible in ways that they touch us on a deeper level than just printed words on a page or spoken words in a sermon. Miller believes that the most remarkable reason why the church in America is declining is because people are “no longer connecting with the redemptive story of the Bible” (p. 6).

The church is in a state of self-evaluation. The post-modern culture is forcing the church to take a penetrating look inside itself to see how it can connect with people today. Truth is questioned everywhere by everyone. People do not simply accept something as a fact because someone says it is true. Out of this self-investigation has come the Emerging Church movement. Church leaders are rethinking their methods, and Experiential Storytelling is part of that process.

In this book, the author tries to get the reader to rethink the way that we tell the stories of the Bible. His focus is on telling the stories of the Bible the way they were told before the Reformation and the invention of the printing press. This new way is one that he thinks will resonate more with the culture of today, and it is one that allows the listener to discover for himself the truth behind the story. Miller believes that the church must change its methods of sharing God’s Word in order to have an audience in the world today.

The author of the book states his case for experiential storytelling because of the age in which we live by saying, “Experience is the new king of the mountain. There are no passive participants” (p. 15). He proves his point by speaking of the experiences that the American culture has created to sell products and create entertainment and even food. He argues that information is not enough to this generation; that experience is essential.

Speaking of storytelling as a vital part of our everyday lives, he shares that stories touch us on a more intimate level than mere information. The stories of people move us and impact our souls. He also speaks of the importance and impact of storytelling in Jesus’ ministry. He was the Master Storyteller, sharing with the crowds many parables and stories in every situation.

Creativity is a part of storytelling, and the author of the book speaks of God as the author of creativity. He shares how creativity is “the ability to think or act differently,” giving practical steps to boost the creativity of the reader, including thinking like a child and not being afraid to take risks. Finally, the author shares some thoughts about “re-imagining the sermon” and gives an outline of “The Jesus Journey,” an experiential retreat for teenagers.

Experiential Storytelling is an easy book to read, with many good points about a topic that needs to be addressed in the contemporary church. The author gives us many good reasons why we need to rethink the way the church engages people with the truth of the Bible. It is not enough to expect people to listen to us tell them what to think about the stories of the Bible; we must connect with them on a more personal level, allowing them to listen and understand what those stories represent, and Miller gives us a few practical tools to use in this endeavour. He could have given more practical ideas about how to include creativity in storytelling, but he chose instead to give us the reasoning behind experiential storytelling. It is by no means a “how to” book.

However, the concepts in this book require outside-the-box thinking, and they require a desire to really connect God’s story with the story of humanity. It will not be easy to change the way people think about sharing these truths, but it must be done if we are to impact the world around us.

Overall, Mark Miller does a good job of sharing with the reader his own journey of re-thinking through the implications of the way we share the Bible with people. It will stimulate you to be more creative in your teaching, and it will cause you to think about whether or not you are really connecting with your audience.

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