Reaching Nonbook People
Once again, it seems the folks at The Crowded House have got there first. And I'm pleased they have, because there stuff is great. If you're at all interested in this, you should give it a read. I think this sentence basically sums up what I was trying to say yesterday, but was probably a bit scared to:
"being word-centred need not equal being book-centred."
The material at The Crowded House is focussed on 'non-book' people, which means people who choose not to read, even though they can. Obviously this is different to being illiterate, but I think a lot of the issues will probably be the same. And although TCH don't try to suggest how many 'non-book' people there are, I'm guessing it's quite common and this will affect a lot of people.
1 comment:
Yes - this is really important.
This government report from a few years ago suggests that 26 million adults in the UK have levels of literacy that would achieve less than a 'C' at GCSE level, and would not choose to read a book. I remember reading that even 1/3 of university graduates would not read a book within 2 years of graduating.
I was recently reading a book by New Tribes Mission on oral teaching of Scripture and 'Bible storying'. I was struck by how this might be how we reach 'functionally illiterate' people for Christ in the UK. (Interestingly, this book spoke of how even following preaching can require a good level of literacy. We've lost how to preach stories which, after all, is much of what Scripture consists). You might also like to read this short article.
Good to reflect upon and think about - you should keep thinking about the implications of this, as you'll meet these pressures even on the university campus.
Post a Comment