Activity · Connecting
Story Cards
A deck of photos that gets a room of near strangers telling the truth in ten minutes
Leader Context
Story Cards are the week one activity. Spread a deck of photos on the table, ask one question, and let people pick the picture that answers it. Then go around and hear why.
It works because it takes the pressure off. Nobody has to produce a good answer on the spot. They point at a picture and the picture does half the talking. That is why a group of people who barely know each other will tell you something real in the first ten minutes.
The first 15 to 30 minutes of your group night is doing more work than you think. People are arriving from a commute, a hard day, a kid who would not go to bed. That window is how they get from there to here. Story Cards fill it with something everyone can do.
Do not cut people off to get to the real questions. This is the real question. The moment you say “we should move on” is the moment someone decides their story was not what you were after.
The answers surprise you. My favorite was the waterfall card. I have run Story Cards for years, so when someone picked it I assumed we were about to hear how beautiful and scenic life felt right now. Instead: I feel like I am at the top of a waterfall, I can see it coming, I have no way to stop, and I know I am going over the edge. Erika and I were leading a married group at the time. We looked at each other and thought, all right, buckle in. That night went somewhere no discussion question would have taken us.
Read to your group
We are going to do something to get to know each other. There are cards spread out on the table with a picture on each one. I am going to ask a question, and I want you to pick the card that best answers it for you. There is no right card. Grab the one that hits you.
Then we will go around, and you tell us the number on your card and why you picked it. That is it.
Questions
The opening question
Pick two or three, or write your own. One is usually enough for a first night.
Which picture best represents how you think or feel about beginning this group?
Pick a card that represents your personality.
Pick a card that represents how your month has been.
Choose the card that represents what is going on in your life right now.
What card best represents your relationship with God currently?
Next Steps for Leaders
- Go first. Pick your card and answer before anyone else does. What you model is what you get, so if you pick something safe, everyone picks something safe.
- Give it the full time. Ten minutes is the floor, not the ceiling. If the room is talking, let it run.
- Ask one follow up per person. Not advice, not a fix. Just curiosity.
- Write down what you heard. Somebody told you what season they are in. That is the whole point, and you will forget it by Thursday.
- Do not have a deck? Email dinnergroups@hobokengrace.com and we will get you one. In the meantime the digital Story Cards work fine. Everyone scrolls to the photo that fits and shows the group their phone.
- Coming back to a group that has gone quiet? Run this again. It is not only a first night tool.