Finding ways to communicate the Bible by Lorna Clark

Today's blog is from another member of Green Pastures Christian Writers, the ACW-affiliated group based in mid-Norfolk. Lorna Clark writes:

I took my first online creative writing course over twenty years ago – in the days before Zoom. I’m a Licensed Lay Minister and I hoped it would help my sermons to resonate with the congregations.

The majority of people in one of my larger churches are not educated to a high standard and easily lose concentration if the message is complicated. This doesn’t mean they are unintelligent, far from it. I admire the wisdom, common sense and practicality of these people.

I started slowly, using short stories as illustrations and linking them to the Bible text. Then one day, one member of the congregation took me to one side and told me there was no need to explain the illustration: they got it and remembered the story.

By this time I had a collection of stories on my computer, which I wouldn’t use again with the same congregations. I was wondering what to do with them, when I was approached by two people from different churches, both suggesting that I publish a book.

The obvious way to structure it seemed to be to follow the gospel readings from the Church of England Lectionary, one for each Sunday across three years. A massive task! At the moment I’m editing the first year, before submitting a proposal to publishers. They will only want a sample of my work, but I need the confidence to know that I can meet their deadlines, should they take me on.

Sometimes an analogy seems inappropriate for the reading and my genre changes to creative non-fiction. I know that if I can get the reader or listener interested at the start, I have a good chance of holding them until the end. My aim is to surround the listeners in the culture of that time and the way people thought and felt.

When I’m struggling with a passage I ask myself a series of questions:

Who is talking and who is their audience?

Where is the passage set, and what was the culture and thinking of the day?

How would I respond if I was there?

What is God saying to me through this passage?

What should I do as a result of reading this passage?

It's hard work and needs a great deal of prayer and research. Sometimes I feel like giving up but I feel God is calling me to complete the work, so I labour on.