Participating in ‘The Story’

Published 9:13 am Thursday, September 14, 2017

The Bible is the best-selling book in history, but how many people in Farmville are actually reading it?

A Gallup survey reports the average American household has four Bibles.

However, research by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2008, found that only 16 percent of Americans read the Bible every day.

Email newsletter signup

“St. John’s Lutheran Church is hoping to reverse this trend, starting with its own congregation,” officials said in a press release. “Pastor Matt Sorenson believes that ‘The Story,’ a Zondervan best-seller, is the right tool to increase Biblical literacy, helping readers understand God’s story from Genesis to Revelation and how their own stories intersect with God’s.”

According to the press release, consisting of 31 chapters of carefully-selected scriptures sequenced in chronological order, “The Story” presents the word of God in an engaging format, reading like a novel.

“I want the people in my congregation, as well as the town of Farmville, to realize the incredible love God has for them and how their story is found in His story,” said Sorenson.

The release cited “The Story Church Campaign” as a unique program providing up to 31 weeks of curriculum for children, teen and adult Sunday school and up to 31 weeks of corresponding sermons. “When accompanied by reading through the five age-related books — ‘The Story,’ ‘The Story: Teen Edition,’ ‘The Story for Kids,’ ‘The Story for Children’ and ‘The Story for Little Ones’ — the entire church can be literally on the same page for 31 weeks.”

For more information on the program, visit https://stjohnsfarmville.org.