The essence of narrative preaching is that the sermon is in the form of a story.

1. Types of narrative sermon

(a) In a ‘pure’ narrative sermon,

‘the story is in no sense explained to the hearer, or commented on, outside the bounds of the narrative. In such a sermon, no introduction or conclusion outside of the story is used. The story’s introduction is the sermon’s introduction; the story’s conclusion is the sermon’s conclusion.’

(b) In a frame narrative the preacher provides some kind of introduction which sits outside the story itself.  He may also provide a conclusion that focuses the narrative (but which does not attempt to ‘explain’ the narrative).

(c) In a multiple story narrative the preacher tells two stories, each drawn from the Bible, that shed light on one another.

(d) In a fictional narrative sermon the preacher creates a new story inspired by the biblical story.  This may involve, for example, putting the ancient story in modern dress in order to show its contemporary significance.

(e) A personal narrative sermon is built around a specific experience of the preacher which responds to the biblical text and makes that text fresh to the hearers.

2. Presenting the story

(a) Third-person narration.  Passive third-person narration is the most common form of presentation, both within and outside the Bible.  However, active third-person narration is also possible: here, the story-teller becomes part of the story.

(b) First-person narration.  The preacher becomes a character in the story and tells the story from that person’s perspective.  Clearly, this is more demanding in terms of dramatic skills.  Props may be used, but these should be kept to a minimum.

3.  Possibilities

(a) Unity of form and content.  If (as is often the case) biblical truth is presented in narrative form, then to turn it into discursive language is to turn it into something it is not.  Narrative preaching is true to the narrative of the Bible.

(b) Increases the likelihood of being heard.  All ears prick up when the words ‘Once upon a time’ are uttered.  Consider:

‘Nathan’s story of the little ewe lamb, delivered to David after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, is nothing other than an inductive narrative sermon (2 Sam. 12:1-7).’

(c) An indirect mode of communication may gain a hearing when a direct mode does not.  The gospel’s main concern is not the transfer of information but to elicit a response from the hearers; and for this an indirect approach is more likely to be effective.

(d) Following on from the indirect nature of narrative preaching, it is also open-ended.  Hearers are invited invited into the sermon, to think for themselves, to supply their own conclusions.  They are more likely to remember and act upon ideas that they have discovered for themselves.  Open-endedness provides opportunities to respond to the work of the Holy Spirit.

4. Perils

(a) Missing the point.  What if a hearer misses the intended point of the story?  Response: how confident that hearer get the point of our discursive sermons?

(b) Story-telling as an end in itself.  True, this is a danger, but the example of Jesus (to say nothing of the way the entire story of the people of God has been told in Scripture) shows us that it is by no means inevitable that that content must be sacrificed to form; that the whole thing should become a performance.  Let not the preacher forget that:

‘the story to be told, whether a biblical or personal story, is merely a “lens” for the Christian story, rather than a dramatic act for the sake of the drama.’

Based on ‘Narrative Preaching: Possibilities and Perils’ by John C. Holbert, Preaching .com