Real People, Real Faith provides practical tools to portray biblical characters as multidimensional human beings who encountered and journeyed with God. Placing high value on historical, cultural, and scriptural contexts, Cindy Halvorson demonstrates techniques for generating holistic characters, particularly by exploring archetypical human reactions and spiritual longings. She shows how the preacher can use this method to reimagine the biblical characters, present figures with whom listeners relate and empathize, and draw portraits of real people whose relationship with God is in many ways like listeners' own--people with whom they may sojourn and grow.
When listeners are touched by a biblical character's story and shown how their relationship with God was transformed, they too may experience the Divine's love and care for them.
Cindy Halvorson earned an MDiv from Bethel Seminary and a DMin in biblical preaching from Luther Seminary. She has served as solo pastor of a small congregation and as associate pastor of a large congregation. She is a church consultant, workshop facilitator, and clergy coach with LeaderWise, where she focuses on leadership development and congregational health.