I often find myself trying to explain to Baby Boomers what the importance of narrative is for the emerging church. There are so many pragmatic pastors who certainly understand the rhetorical value of narrative when they sit down to write a sermon but fail to grasp its signifcance for understanding community and relationships. Perhaps its because boomers so easily ceded the task of storytelling to television and allowed the church to forget how to tell a story. Whatever the reason, younger generations are re-capturing narrative for the church. This site helps to highlight the cultural role of narrative:

The stories we are willing to share with one another give our culture its values, beliefs, goals, and traditions, binding us together into a cohesive society, allowing us to work together with a common purpose. Storytelling lives at the heart of human experience—a compelling form of personal communication as ancient as language itself. Since the beginnings of humankind, we have shared through stories the events, beliefs, and values held dear by our families, communities, and cultures.