From The Methodist Recorder - 30 March 2006 Tales of Grace by Eve Lockett is a collection of 50 short stories intended to teach an audience of any age an important Christian message. The brief stories are tailor-made for the short attention span of a child, but an adult audience can appreciate the metaphors in the parables as well. At the end of every story, the author includes discussion questions, relevant Bible verses, sermon pointers and visual aid suggestions to assist anyone who might wish to lead a Christian group. The stories revolve around the central themes of a Christian life: grace, forgiveness, friendship, guidance, trust and prayer. Eve Lockett's 167-page work is designed particularly for a group of younger or mixed-age Christians hoping to grow in their faith. The book includes a foreword by Bob Hartman, noted storyteller. From a review in Parish News - October 2005 It was a sad day in the church when theologians and preachers stopped telling stories and started endlessly analysing the stories Jesus told. The purpose of a story is to hint at the truth, illustrating one or two aspects of it, but not attempting to cover every point. This is what makes them so memorable - doubly so if the story is about familiar objects or situations. Expounding the scriptures is all very well, but if we want the good news to stick in the minds of the new generation, we have to find new ways of telling it. Fortunately, there are a handful of people who have been working to promote storytelling and to bring it back into our churches. Foremost among these is Bob Hartman (he writes the foreword to this volume), and he has helped to make storytelling almost respectable again. It should never be too respectable; there should always be an element of risk, of not knowing where a story is going. Eve Lockett sets herself a formidable task, straitjacketing her imagination into five-minute chunks. She does it well, and suggests related Bible passages, questions and activities to turn the story into a discussion. In so short a space of time, she knows she has to cut to the quick, and the message behind the stories ought to be easy for all to grasp... They are ideal for small children, and ought to win the approval of accompanying adults.
