Stories are an integral part of the human experience. We pay good money to sit in a theater full of people and watch a story unfold on the big screen. We turn on our televisions at night to hear about the new stories happening around the world.

“Stories are at the very heart of being human; they talk about where we’re from, where we are, and where we’re going. They’re like bread; you need to hear and tell them everyday.” – Bill Harley

But have you ever heard a good story told poorly? The impact just isn’t there. The punch line has no punch. The characters lack depth and believability.

Unfortunately the greatest story of all time gets communicated every weekend in countless churches across the country by people who have lost the drama, the intrigue, the excitement of what this story is all about. The greatest story ever told falls flat when the storytellers fail to recognize the power of a good story.

Enter STORY in Chicago.

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel – the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the amazing Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include master storytellers like Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster.

A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts.

I’m looking forward to attending this event since I’ll already be in Chicago participating in another one-day conference called Cultivate (more on that later). If you have the last Tuesday-Thursday free in October I hope you’ll join me.

When you register for the conference you’re entered to win 2 free trips to the Kilns – CS Lewis’ home in Oxford, England. How cool would that be?