Podcasts about biblical storytellers

Second Sunday of Lent - Mark 9:2-10 Rev Dr Sarah Agnew, Minister in the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a poet and liturgist, storyteller and biblical scholar. Though her favourite role in life is ‘Aunt Sarah,' Sarah also takes joy in her placement with the delightful Christ Church Uniting, Wayville, on Kaurna Land, teaching at Uniting College for Leadership and Theology, and participating in the Network of Biblical Storytellers and their Scholars Seminar (nbsint.org). Sarah composes liturgy and prayers for Words for Worship (MediaCom Education) and her own Pray the Story series, and her poetry collections include Whisper on My Palm (2022) and Hold Them Close (2018). Find more at sarahagnew.com.au

Shenandoah Valley Biblical Storytellers – A Collection of Passion Week Tellings from the Gospel of Matthew. Hear the Word of God come alive through storytelling.

For those of you who have been listening to this podcast from its beginning, you know Donna Marie Todd as a storyteller. She was one of the first people who graciously and generously gave her time and talent to allow me to interview her or him. Donna Marie introduced us to the wonderful art of Biblical Storytelling, and that art has been an ongoing series for me as I continue to interview Biblical Storytellers. The link to that side of Donna Marie's life can be found here: http://www.donnamarietodd.com/ And the link to Network of Biblical Storytellers International can be found here: https://www.nbsint.org/ In this episode, Donna Marie tells us a very different sort of story. In 2011, her husband, Perrin, died, and Donna Marie became a widow and a single parent. That experience set her on an unplanned and challenging journey. However, an important and vitally needed outgrowth of that journey is a group of resources Donna Marie has developed for widows. Key among those is her book, Navigating Loss: A Survival Guide for the Newly Widowed. She also has a Navigating Loss video series and a blog and she offers private coaching and retreats. Access to all of these resources can be found on her website, A Widow's Tale. Donna Marie is here to share with us her experience, resources, wisdom, and, most importantly, hope! The music for this episode is from a clip of a song called 'Father Let Your Kingdom Come' which is found on The Porter's Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter's Gate Worship Project. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

As I say in the introduction to this episode, an article in The Lancet by Jane Davis makes the case that reading literature out loud has potential for healing and wellness. As a part of The Reader Organization, Davis says, "Our hypothesis is that reading literature aloud with others offers something uniquely valuable." She goes on to say, It "...facilitates the creation of a series of powerful interplays: between the written text and the aural experience; between hearing the text from outside and processing it within; between one's own experience and that of the author and characters; between the privacy of personal consciousness and the public experience of group...For by reading aloud in a group it may be that readers experience what we might call interpersonality both with the book, and its author and characters, and with other group members...To see oneself in others, to see others in oneself, this is the rich experience going on within the group and with the book ('Enjoying and Enduring: groups read aloud for wellbeing,' by Jane Davis, The Lancet Vol. 373, Issue 9665, February 28, 2009, pp. 714-715.). Jewish and Christian scripture have always ranked among the worlds greatest literature, and both Jews and Christians have known since the time each community was started that the reading aloud of their scripture was something important and profound in multiple ways, not the least of which was for healing and wellbeing. What I love about the art of Biblical Storytelling is that, as my guest, Dr. Kathy Culmer says, the telling of scripture adds something more that simply the reading of scripture. It enables, as The Lancet article claims, an interplay and interpersonality for people in which they identify with the characters, the story, and others listening to the story. They are enabled to live the story and see themselves in others and others in themselves. Of course it takes wonderful storytellers to enable such experiences to happen, and my guest is one such storyteller! If anyone can transport you into the story, it is Dr. Culmer! Dr. Kathy Hood Culmer is an author, storyteller, speaker and teacher and Christian educator. A graduate of Spelman College, the University of South Florida, and United Theological Seminary, Kathy holds a B.A. in English, an M.A. in English, and a D. Min. in Biblical Storytelling. She has taught on the secondary and college levels in a variety of subject areas ranging from English to Speech Communications, to Broadcast Journalism, to Religious Education. As a professional storyteller, she has been a teller and workshop presenter in churches, schools, libraries, at festivals, retreats, on college campuses, in business settings, and a variety of other venues. Kathy has performed at the Exchange Place at the National Storytelling Festival, Georgia State University, Duke University's Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, the Texas Storytelling Festival, and was the Featured Storyteller at the Network of Biblical Storytellers 2008 Festival Gathering. She was a part of a 2008 Biblical Storytelling Mission Trip to The Gambia in West Africa. Her life's work is to provide words of encouragement, truth, and inspiration to others through telling, writing, and speaking. She is the editor of a collection of personal narratives called Yes, Jesus Loves Me: 31 Love Stories and is also author of "Big Wheel Cookies: Two For A Penny," published in The Rolling Stone and Other Read Aloud Stories and "Feasts a Plenty," published in Holiday Stories All Year Round. You can learn more about Dr. Culmer here and from her website: kathyculmer.com.

On this week's episode, Magrey deVega and Mat Hotho sit down with The Rev. Dr. Tom Boomershine to discuss Mark 1–12:3Tom served as a professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, for over twenty years, and was Magrey's mentor in seminary. He has been a leader in the area of biblical storytelling as a way of both communicating and interpreting the scriptures. He is the founder of the Network of Biblical Storytellers as well as GoTell Communications, which provides resources for discovering and telling biblical stories by heart. You can learn more about this ministry at GoTell.org. Tom has a particular interest in the gospel of Mark, which he believes was first circulated as oral storytelling in early Christian community.We discuss the history behind Mark, and then we spend the majority of the episode exploring how Mark used storytelling and performance to animate Jesus throughout the Gospel The end of the episode features Tom doing a storytelling of Mark 14:1–9 when Jesus is anointed by a woman in Bethany. #HydeParkUMC Learn more about The Bible Project 2020. Join our Facebook discussion group. *Facebook account required.

As long as Biblical Storytellers are willing to be guests for this podcast, I want to have an ongoing series that enables you to enjoy this art form. There are multiple reasons why I enjoy this art form, but one of the main reasons is that it combines two ancient practices--storytelling and the public reading of scripture. Throughout human history storytelling has played a fundamental role in human culture. It is one of humanity's oldest art forms. There has always been an entertainment dimension in story telling, but story has used to do so much more. Stories have been used to give people their sense of identity, their understanding of reality, the notion of their place in the world. Stories been used to teach, guide, enlighten, reveal, change minds, and motivate. This is only a small list of the ways story has been used. For the Jewish and Christian heritage, story is the primary dimension of scripture. As such it is understood to be a primary means by which Jews and Christians claim to understand and experience God. Both Jews and Christians see as a central to their obligation to God the task of bearing witness to God and God's deeds. In order to fulfill that task, storytelling is necessary. Since story makes up the primary dimension of Jewish and Christian scripture, it is not surprising that the public reading of scripture has been integral to both traditions. From the time of Moses forward, the public reading of scripture has been a part of Jewish worship, and since Christianity was birthed within Judaism, that tradition carried over has continued. For Christian's the biblical story has an interplay of two components relating to the task of witness--the prophetic and the Gospel. In light of God's holiness and justice, the prophetic holds up a standard that calls us into question and accountability for the sinfulness, brokenness, and evil we choose to create. In light of God's loving nature, the Gospel gives reveals to us the good news that God reaches out to us for reconciliation, healing, and redemption. Christian witness to God is thus an interplay of being prophetic and proclaiming the Gospel. To give us an example of how biblical storytelling is a means of the interplay of these two components, especially as the biblical story relates to present circumstances and events is my guest, Drew Willard. Drew Willard is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, seeking to be what Dennis Dewey of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, Int. calls a “storyvangelist”. Biblical storytelling and graphic arts have been important interpretive skills he brings to ministry. Since the 1990s, he has been performing his own paraphrased translations of the Gospels – notably at 19 venues while on a roadtrip in 2007. He has used his drawings for PowerPoint presentations to accompany Lenten readings, as well as for bulletin cover illustrations. He has organized and participated in interfaith worship events – including “Evenings of Sacred Storytelling” with Jewish and Muslim storytellers. While on sabbatical in 2017, he was an artist-in-residence at the Grunewald Guild in Washington state. In the winter of 2019, he was a Fringe Teller at the Florida Storytelling Association annual festival in Mt Dora, FL and that summer, he performed as a Co-Creator at the Wild Goose Festival in Asheville, NC. A collection of Drew’s paraphrased translations and artwork Gospel Pilgrimage Stories was published in 2017 by Westbow. He is available for preaching, teaching, drawing & storytelling by mutual agreement.   Gospel Pilgrim Storyteller (website) https://www.gospelpilgrimstoryteller.com/     Drew Willard - Youtube (sample stories) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-H-9FKwcydjBhTKcI9-7hg    Gospel Pilgrimage Storytelling (program recitations) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdkJueeuyOQ&list=PLP3PRBPVgY6WuGjmoD-UwVSEtMMtbPF5c   Gospel Pilgrimage Stories (book) Westbow [ISBN-13: 978-1512777222] https://www.

Becca and Lydia talk about the Word portion of worship and how to be creative and innovated during that portion of the worship service. Scripture shots for November are also discussed.  And check out the chasers of biblical storytelling sites, Network of Biblical Storytellers at nbsint.org and Go Tell Communications at gotell.org

Storyteller Pam Faro brought the Parable of the Good Samaritan to life through her gift of story as part of Wellshires Create-ivity Summer Sermon Series. About the artist Pam Faro is co-chair of the board of Rocky Mountain Storytelling. For over 20 years she has been involved with the Academy for Biblical Storytelling and is a past board member of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, as well as past editor of the Journal of Biblical Storytelling. Pam has a B.A. in music with teacher certification from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and a Master of Divinity degree from Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

Easter 5B   Casey FitzGerald tells John 15:1-11 Find the video story (along with storytelling ideas for all ages) from Acts 8:26-40 at Faith and Wonder Come to the Festival Gathering of the Network of Biblical Storytellers this August! Find Jason Chesnut of The Slate Project HERE  Tracy Radosevic, Storyteller, Dean of the Academy for Biblical Storytelling  

Casey FitzGerald tells the story of Jesus getting angry in the temple. Episode notes: www.PulpitFiction.us HERE is the site for my communications coach, Ann Timmons:  Dr. Tom Boomershine's Website is www.gotell.org Here is the commentary on John 2:13-22 from Dr. Boomershinehttp://gotell.org/pdf/commentary/John/Jn02_13-22_commentary.pdf A link to the story HERE www.nbsint.org Go to this site to learn more about the Network of Biblical Storytellers!!!     Go to www.StoryDivine.com to see full episode notes!