Learning to Train Others in Simply The Story

Watching a skilled athlete is a thing of beauty.  We thrill at the smoothness of the performance; the actions look easy. But if we try right then to imitate that athlete’s skills, we find that we cannot duplicate their actions! A good storyteller using Simply The Story (STS) skills, makes the storytelling look easy. But note. The skills the storyteller demonstrated developed from lots of training and practice.  

If only the telling of a story was involved, not much training and practice would be needed. Yes, the successes and the long range impact of Simply The Story are based first on the interesting and accurate telling of the story. But beyond that, good Simply The Story storytellers know:

• How to find deep truths in the story and prepare questions.
• How to skillfully lead discussions.
• How to help people discover the spiritual treasures in a story and make personal applications.

Use of these skills in the delivery of God’s Word leads many listeners to Jesus and ground them deeply in the Word.  

In the academic world, we accept the fact that students spend one to four years in Bible school to learn how to evangelize, disciple and shepherd new believers. We also expect Bible school students to learn from accredited teachers, who have prepared for years and passed tests to become qualified teachers. Compare those preparation times (and financial investment) with the length of time and funds needed to become a Simply The Story practitioner or instructor.  

Considering the demonstrable success of Simply The Story in evangelism, church planting and discipleship, we would expect the Simply The Story instructors to spend time and money to gain their training skills as well.    

Provisional Instructors

Provisional Instructors are invited (and welcomed) to serve as staff for Simply The Story workshops in USA and abroad.
To qualify as a Simply The Story Provisional Instructor, the applicant must be:

1. A Simply The Story Practitioner.
2. Able to find a reasonable amount of original treasures in an assigned story.
3. Able to formulate questions that lead listeners to those treasures.
4. Able to kindly lead attendees to discovery in preparing a story (leading not preaching) in a Simply The Story workshop setting.
5. Able to name and explain the reasons for the parts of Simply The Story in Phase One and Two of the Presentation.
6. Able to tell The Path and The Wise Counselor and know the workshop process well for tribe preparation and presentation as explained on the "Gold" sheet.
7. Able to demonstrate understanding of all six stories used for at least two of the tribes.

Certified Instructors

To qualify as a Simply The Story Certified Instructor, the applicant must be:

• A Simply The Story Practitioner.
• Able to reasonably present and give the reasons behind all of the information in the Simply The Story workshop schedule.
• Able to show ability, knowledge and commitment to the Simply The Story requirements on the certification checklist.
• Able to successfully plan and lead a workshop under the supervision of a Senior Instructor.

Becoming a Simply The Story Instructor

We at The God's Story Project want the understanding of the Simply The Story oral methods of preparing and sharing Scripture and of teaching Simply The Story to others to quickly travel across the world.  

Two kinds of skills are needed to accomplish this task: the skills of an Simply The Story Practitioner and the skills of an Simply The Story Instructor.

After attending an official 3-day Simply The Story workshop, nearly all people are fair to good Simply The Story storyteller practitioners. To become a better storyteller takes time and practice. To be able to train others well in Simply The Story takes added skills; skills beyond those of a practitioner.

We Are VERY Serious About Training Instructors

We are serious about producing well-trained Simply The Story Instructors. We want them to carry everywhere the best that we offer. When considering whether or not you want to pursue becoming an instructor, one of the first considerations would be compatibility.  Although instructing staff come from many denominations and backgrounds, the common beliefs they all must have are represented by the Doctrinal Statement link located on the bottom of the home page.

As stated, workshop attendees do not automatically receive instructor certification. Those who take part in a 2 or 3-day workshop are not yet ready to become Certified Instructors.

However, many who participate in the trainers-track in a workshop, and who agree with the Doctrinal Statement on the Simply The Story website, are ready to serve as Assistant Instructors (AI's) in a following workshop. After AI's have successfully led a group of 3-5 new attendees in an 18-hour workshop, they become Provisional Instructors (PI's.)

We welcome and need these Provisional Instructors to join our staff to lead additional workshops. In these additional workshops, PI's help others learn Simply The Story. The Certified Instructors, with whom the PI's work, continue to refine the skills of the PI's and provide more of the leadership information needed to become Certified Instructors. All who attend a Simply The Story workshop are encouraged to go out and use their new skills in ministry and relational witnessing.

Simply The Story workshops run on a one instructor to every three attendees ratio in the 17-hour instructor's track, and on a one instructor to every four attendees in an 18-hour practitioner's track.

To thoroughly train people for Simply The Story instructor certification takes time. Interested parties go to a minimum of four days of training and use Simply The Story in life. Then, if invited, the applicant completes some homework, assists and moves into leadership during two to four more workshops.

Senior Instructors

Senior Instructors are able and qualified to lead Simply The Story workshops and certify others
To qualify as a Simply The Story Senior Instructor the applicant must be...

1. A Simply The Story Certified Instructor.
2. Able to show spiritual maturity and wisdom in leadership and to show skill in the training and selection of others for certification.