So, Tell Me a Story

""Everyone loves a good story, and So Tell Me a Story offers wise counsel to preachers and teachers who want to improve their storytelling skills. Farris, an experienced and skilled speaker, provides instruction, encouragement, and advice on how to avoid pitfalls that face storytellers. The book moves beyond the realm of the how-to manual, however, with an extensive collection of stories and reflections on Christian life that will spiritually enrich both speakers and other readers.

""In this beautiful and often profoundly moving collection of stories, Stephen Farris provides vital help for preachers in one of their most difficult tasks: engaging contemporary life through story. He has dug deeply into the narratives of his own life and ministry to teach readers how to find similar stories in theirs. Preachers will experience fresh joy and motivation to preach grace and hope, pointing to God at work in the church and world.""
--Paul Wilson, University of Toronto

""As those who preach, telling the stories of and about the storytelling savior, it is a joy to be able to turn for encouragement from a master storyteller himself. Stephen Farris not only reminds us how central these stories are to our life of faith and worship, but he also offers us wisdom and help to grow as storytellers ourselves. Warning: it is the rare homiletics resource that elicits both laughter and tears.""
--Lucy Lind Hogan, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC

""Stephen Farris has long been not only one of the most knowledgeable teachers of story preaching, but also one of its ablest practitioners. Now he brings a lifetime of learning and experience to this volume, which is full to the brim with insight and sound advice. Read it for the wisdom in these pages, but read it also for the delightful stories!""
--Thomas G. Long, Candler School of Theology, Emory University

""I have listened, laughed, and teared up at these vividly communicated stories . . . Embedded in the way the stories are told is the imagination of the storyteller, deeply shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ and wise in the deferral of all stories to the story.""
--Richard Topping, Vancouver School of Theology


Stephen Farris is a veteran preacher and teacher of preachers. He is the former Dean of St. Andrew's Hall and Professor of Homiletics at Vancouver School of Theology. He has published four books, including Grace (2003) and The Hymns of Luke's Infancy Narrative (2015), as well as many other resources.