This project builds a congregation's Biblical literacy by telling the story of a book of the Bible or Biblical character, not the Biblical metanarrative but particular narratives: Mark's Gospel, Acts, the lives of Luke, Peter, Moses, Esther, Daniel. The writer assumes that learning and using scripture stories for our own meaning-making is foundational to Christian formation. Bible stories are only one tool among many for a preacher. But without the stories, there is not much for a preacher to draw upon with regards to telling a gospel metanarrative, offering a Biblical allusion or Intertextual resonance. The thesis explores the preacher's process of study and sermon-writing, both hermeneutical and homiletical, and poses questions to consider in preaching narrative texts. Through written questionnaires and verbal feedback, parishioners showed signs of theological reflection; the stories helped them articulate theological ideas.
