There are two types of arks in the Bible.

Noah’s ship is surely the first to come to mind, but we think there’s a more important vessel present throughout the book…one of a narrative variety. We’re talking about the narrative arc, the structure behind a good story. What began as rich oral tradition, was chiseled into stone tablets, transcribed by hand on the dried skins of animals, and set in type by an inventor named Johannes? The stories of our faith.

Behind each story is a framework that we must embrace to continue our faith’s rich tradition of storytelling, both by effectively retelling stories from generations past and by capturing the reality of life as we know it and communicating it in real and emotional ways.

Here’s the catch: Talking about storytelling is infinitely easier than actually engaging in it. Why? Because connecting with each other on such a deep level requires vulnerability—and vulnerability is hard. A few months into a partnership with a suburban Texas church, we began to hear how substance abuse, mental illness and suicide were pervasive in the community. The church knew its community was hurting but hadn’t yet found an effective way to help. Fortunately, scripture teaches us that where there is hurt, there is hope-—and it does so using stories.

So, in a leap of faith (of sorts), we guided the church as they launched a season of storytelling beginning on Easter Sunday. They called the series Resurrection Story.

Within a month, the church community was experiencing hope and healing in ways they never thought possible and had fully embraced each other as they made themselves vulnerable through short films and personal testimonies of God’s abundant grace.