Oral Scripture storying workshop (January 2024)

In mid-January 2024, Wycliffe Malaysia conducted a two hour oral Scripture storying mini workshop on Logos Presbyterian Church’s invitation. The workshop was conducted for members of the church comprising Sunday School teachers and those involved in short-term mission trips with other language communities. During the workshop, participants experienced a Storying Fellowship Group (SFG), before having a time of debrief and Q&A. 

During the SFG, participants first listened to an oral Scripture story told in colloquial Mandarin, before re-telling the story and reflecting on scriptural truths in small groups. It was encouraging for us to see how participants re-told the story enthusiastically, despite initial concern that they would not be able to remember the details of the story. Participants also engaged actively in small group discussions and shared their takeaways about Jesus, God’s love and grace, and Christian responses based on the oral Scripture story.

Some participants shared during the debrief that this oral approach to sharing and reflecting on Scriptures allowed them to visualise the events in the narrative and pay attention to details they might have passed over when reading the Scriptures. Discussing takeaways as a group meant that participants could learn from one another instead of relying only on a single Bible study teacher. Additionally, oral Scripture stories can be shared easily, whether in a formal meeting in church, or casually with relatives and friends.

The Q&A time was also lively, as the facilitators from Wycliffe Malaysia and participants engaged in a lively discussion ranging from the types of stories that could be shared with non-Christians, what it meant to consider the target audience’s perspective to ensure that Scriptures are understood clearly, and what considerations there are in trying to be faithful and accurate to the Scripture text.

We are thankful for the opportunity to conduct this short workshop with Logos Presbyterian Church. While there are many ways of learning God’s Word, we believe that oral Scripture storying is a good complement to many existing methods, and can help many know Scriptures in a clear and compelling way.

If you would like to find out more about oral Scripture storying or explore opportunities to run such a workshop in your church, feel free to contact us.