The Faith in Story Form<\/h3>\n
Here\u2019s how some pastors in our cohort churches speak about the power of testimony in corporate worship.<\/span><\/p>\nAt First UMC Denton, on the town square of a college town north of Dallas, Rev. Don Lee invites people to turn to someone sitting near them in worship and share briefly their response to a prompt. On Easter Sunday, the prompt was, \u201cWhat gives you hope?\u201d On another Sunday, the prompt was, \u201cShare with your neighbor a good moment that is also a God moment.\u201d Folks responded positively and engaged each other in both the traditional and contemporary worship services. Rev. Lee explained that \u201cInviting worshippers to share their story with each other in the context of worship became a powerful experience creating the opportunity to share their testimony in a non-threatening and playful way, reinforcing that testimony can be a natural expression of their life together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe sharing of testimonies continued after the worship service. During the benediction, folks were invited, as they entered the fellowship hall, to write their responses on a graffiti wall created on a large, white marker board with the prompt for the day written on it. The graffiti wall extended the testimonies visibly to all who read them.<\/span><\/p>\nDuring Sunday morning worship services at Brock Methodist Church, which sits strategically at a rural crossroads forty miles west of Ft. Worth, worshippers are given an opportunity to share a \u201cGod moment.\u201d The pastor, Rev. John Nader, explains that a \u201cGod moment\u201d is a time when God showed up in someone\u2019s life in a powerful way. He acknowledged that \u201cWhen we offer this time, we have to be intentional in knowing that regardless of our own priorities for worship, we are dedicating this time to God. It is kairos (God\u2019s time) not our time. By opening ourselves to God, God then opens the space for testimonies.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\nWhen Christians engage in testimony regularly in the worship service, children and youth, even adults, are catechized in and through the language of faith. In this process, testimony provides a venue for intergenerational learning, because children and youth hear adults telling about their faith in story form. \u201cI\u2019m thinking generationally,\u201d said a UMC pastor in Arkansas. \u201cMany of the people who live authentically well and have a story to tell are older. They\u2019ve grown to a place where they embody their faith stories and have a confidence in themselves and God, so they\u2019re more comfortable.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>Experiments With Testimony<\/h3>\n
Bestselling author, Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, substantiates this point in her book, Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony<\/em> (The Alban Institute, 2006). When Daniel began to integrate testimonies into the Sunday morning worship service, she noted that children, often restless at first, settled in at the testimony time. \u201cThey [the children] appear to find these moments as fascinating as the adults do. Perhaps they can imagine themselves up there one day, sharing their faith.\u201d<\/p>\nGetting a church started with testimony in worship works best, Daniel suggests, as an experiment during a special season, like Lent or Advent, because it involves a finite number of Sundays. In other words, there is an ending date, which encourages innovations and sets people\u2019s mind at ease about the practice of testimony.<\/p>\n
Leaders First<\/h3>\n
Testimony in worship can also be launched, in a less conspicuous way than designating a season for testimony, by the worship leaders themselves, including the pastor. Kim Eiffert, Communications Director and Worship Curator with Grace Avenue UMC in Frisco, a suburb north of Dallas, finds<\/p>\n
\u201cthat our best response to using testimony during a worship context is when it is modeled from those in leadership. When those leading prayers, leading music and those speaking from the pulpit present an appropriate level of vulnerability, it invites others to do the same. It creates a softness in the space and encourages reflection that connects people with their own stories. Testimony has a ripple effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Rev. Charles LeSure, pastor of Williams Memorial CME Temple in Shreveport, LA, gave a testimony during a Sunday morning worship service, he testified that \u201cThrough my trials and troubles, I have reached back and heard what mama always said to me \u2018What God has for you is for you.\u2019 I have experienced abuse, loss, divorce, and I have had triumphs, Masters Degree, Business Owner, School Administrator. Through it all, I have learned that it may not look how I want it to look, but I can\u2019t tell God how to bless me, I can\u2019t tell God when to bless me, but I can thank God for blessing me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearing his testimony was significant for the laity. It gave credence to the power of testimony. \u201cBecause we heard the Pastor\u2019s story,\u201d wrote Saundra Roberson, \u201cthe trials and triumphs that have shaped his life, we have a deeper understanding of how God has molded him into the person he is today. We also identify with him on a different level, because though he is the spiritual leader of the church, he has also faced some adversaries that he had to trust God to overcome. Sharing testimonies to the entire congregation have affected us relationally. New, stronger bonds have developed.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Invitation to Tell Stories<\/h3>\n
So how about starting this Sunday to experience the power of testimony in worship? Begin in a simple way by inviting worshippers to turn to their neighbor and respond to this simple prompt \u2013 \u201cShare with your neighbor a good moment that is also a God moment.\u201d And watch what happens!<\/p><\/div><\/div>