Have you ever wondered how to help your entire congregation—from children to adults—truly understand how the Bible fits together as one cohesive narrative? Pastor Kevin Harney at Shoreline Church discovered a surprisingly simple solution that transformed his church's approach to biblical literacy and created a powerful tool for welcoming new believers.
What started as a small devotional study for church leadership grew into something much more significant. The Story, a chronologically arranged collection of biblical passages with connecting bridges, became the foundation for nearly a year of church-wide Bible engagement that strengthened faith across all age groups.
Pastor Harney's experience demonstrates how the right resource can address multiple ministry needs simultaneously: staff development, congregation-wide Bible study, and new believer discipleship. His story offers valuable insights for church leaders seeking practical solutions for biblical literacy challenges.
How It All Began: From Staff Devotions to Church-Wide Impact
In 2010 somebody gave me a copy of The Story and I read it. And what I discovered right away is that The Story is really just a collection of biblical passages put in chronological order with little bridges between them to give the epic sweeping story of God's salvation.
I loved it!
So that year, I gave a copy of The Story to all of my board members and staff members, and I said, “We're going to use this for our devotions in 2011.” And I said as kind of as an added bonus, “I'd like you to be thinking about this question: Should we take the whole congregation through 31 weeks—almost a whole year—walking through The Story?”
Well honestly, four or five weeks into doing this as devotionals, staff members and board members started coming to me saying, “Yes, we need to do The Story. This would be so good for our congregation.”
A Unified Pathway for Multi-Generational Learning and New Believer Discipleship
The Story was an amazing experience for Shoreline Church; for children, youth, and adults to learn together about God's Word, the truth of it, and how the whole story fits together and makes sense.
We even decided that all new believers, people who come to a first-time commitment to Jesus Christ, would have an opportunity to walk through The Story as one of their first commitments so they could get the epic scope of God's story and then fit the pieces of the Bible together in a way that makes sense.
Walking through The Story was an amazing experience for our church and I hope it is for yours as well.
Taking the Next Step in Your Church
Pastor Harney's story offers a practical roadmap for churches seeking to improve biblical literacy across their congregation. The approach he describes—starting with leadership, allowing for organic enthusiasm to build, and then expanding to congregation-wide implementation—provides a tested model for success.
Consider how The Story might address specific challenges in your church context. Are you looking for ways to help your congregation see the big picture of Scripture? Do you need an effective discipleship tool for new believers? Would your leadership team benefit from a shared biblical foundation?
The beauty of Pastor Harney's approach lies in its simplicity and scalability. Whether your church has 50 members or 500, the principles he discovered can be adapted to fit your unique ministry context. The key is starting with committed leadership and allowing the material's inherent value to create momentum for broader implementation.
Your congregation's journey through The Story could be the foundation for deeper biblical understanding, stronger community connections, and more effective discipleship—just as it was for Shoreline Church.