"In 25 years of ministry, I’ve never seen anything more satisfying for creating spiritual depth in my congregation, as well as buzz and unity within my church and community," said Randy Frazee, creator of The Story Church-wide Experience and senior minister of Oak Hills Church, San Antonio, where he teaches and leads in partnership with Max Lucado (Zondervan, TheStory.com).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Feb. 3, 2011 – The Bible is the best-selling book in history, but is anyone reading it?  A Gallup survey reports the average American household has four Bibles.  However, recent findings by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2008) report only 16 percent of Americans read the Bible every day.

“The problem isn’t access to the Bible in America, it is helping people feel like the Bible is accessible,” said Randy Frazee.

Frazee believes that best-selling The Story (Zondervan) provides that accessibility. Consisting of 31 chapters of carefully selected scripture, The Story helps the reader understand God’s story from Genesis to Revelation and how their stories intersect with God’s. Frazee helped pioneer a church-wide experience to utilize The Story and to engage everyone in a church, from life-long Christians to those who are new to the faith – many discovering for the first time how the Bible is one continuous story of God’s unyielding love for his people.

The results exceeded even Frazee’s expectations. Stepping into the pulpit at Oak Hills Church, Frazee used the new curriculum as his first teaching series. He saw a 23 percent growth in attendance over the weeks spent on The Story Church-wide Experience and witnessed a new “buzz and unity within the congregation and community.”  

"People began literally parking illegally in the access roads to participate in this experience and to find themselves in the best-selling, most-translated book of all time," said Max Lucado, minister of preaching at Oak Hills.

The Story Church-wide Experience is now available to churches nationwide and is in multiple formats so the entire church, from children to adults, is literally and figuratively on the same page.  The program includes:

  • up to 31 weeks of curriculum for children, teen and adult Sunday school classes, as well as for adult small groups and Bible studies
  • up to 31 weeks of sermon outlines, illustrations, videos and other sermon preparation resources
  • additional support resources including promotional and stage graphics, leader training resources, themed worship song lists for a season of worship, an Easter musical and more
  • The Story church kit including copies of The Story, The Story – Teen Edition and The Story for Kids, plus a DVD of the video resources and high-resolution graphics. The kit also contains an all-access pass to the online resource library where age-related curriculum is provided, and where cases of books may be purchased at a 50 percent discount (available for a limited time for just $99.99)

"I would like for this church-wide Bible engagement experience to become a tipping point for our nation to discover the overarching love God has for us," said Frazee.  "The Story is a bridge for people to access the Bible in the simplest way so they might be able to see God in a personal way." 

With just under 400 participating churches nationwide, The Story is becoming a movement and a benefit to local congregations. Many have reported increased community outreach, increased biblical literacy, congregational growth and a greater understanding of God’s plan.    

Tags: Zondervan; The Story; Randy Frazee; Max Lucado; Oak Hills Church

STORY OPTIONS & VISUALS

  • Interview:
    • To schedule an interview with Randy Frazee, contact Jennifer Willingham or Kelsey Ware at 770.813.0000 or 404.536.5377.  He is available by phone or in-person with notice.
       

STORY ANGLES

  • Year of the Bible – 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the best-selling, most translated book of all time. The Story is a bridge to the Bible.
  • New church-wide curriculum linked to congregational growth, increased Bible literacy and outreach
  • Pastors can help engage their entire church through the resources provided by The Story Church-wide Experience.
  • As Randy Frazee joined Max Lucado as a minister at Oak Hills Church, their attendance grew by 23% while he was using The Story.

QUOTES

Randy Frazee, one of the creators of The Story Church-wide Experience and senior minister of Oak Hills Church, where he teaches and leads in partnership with Max Lucado (Zondervan, TheStory.com):

  • "In 25 years of ministry, I’ve never seen anything more satisfying for creating spiritual depth in my congregation as well as buzz and unity within my church and community."
     
  • "Christians should be the most knowledgeable about religion, and The Story is a great tool to help foster understanding among your congregation."
     
  • "I would like for this nationwide spread of the experience to be a tipping point for our nation to discover the overarching love story of God for us."
     
  • "Whether people are new to their faith or mature, reading the whole Bible is part of their ‘bucket list.’  The Story is a tool to help them check that off their list."

Max Lucado, minister of preaching at Oak Hills:

  • "People began literally parking illegally in the access roads to participate in this experience and find themselves in the best-selling, most-translated book of all time."

ABOUT

Zondervan is the world’s leading Christian publisher of books whose authors are noted for their excellence in the craft of writing, as well as their worthy contribution to the ongoing global evangelical conversation. The works published by Zondervan not only confirm readers’ faith and understanding, they also challenge and stretch readers’ thinking. For more than 75 years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian experiences through general, ministry and academic resources by influential leaders and emerging voices, and been honored with more Christian Book Awards than any other publisher. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan publishes best-selling books, audio, video, curriculum, software and digital products in such categories as biblical languages and studies, biography, business, contemporary issues, counseling, cultural, devotional, evangelism, family, fiction, history, inspiration, leadership, ministry, pastoral, personal development, prayer, philosophy, reference, relationships, textbooks, theology, youth and more. Zondervan resources are sold worldwide through retail stores, online and by Zondervan ChurchSource, and are translated into nearly 200 languages in more than 60 countries. Visit Zondervan Books on the Internet at Zondervan.com/books.

RELEVANT COVERAGE

BIOS

Randy Frazee, Creator of The Story and Senior Minister of Oak Hills Church

In June 2008, Randy Frazee became the senior minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, where he teaches and leads in partnership with pastor and author Max Lucado. Prior to Oak Hills, Randy served as teaching pastor at Willow Creek and as senior pastor at Pantego Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas, for fifteen years. He is the author of The Connecting Church, Making Room for Life, The Christian Life Profile Assessment and Renovation of the Heart Student Edition. Frazee lives in the San Antonio area with his wife, Rozanne, their four children and granddaughter.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

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