The Sacred Story : A day of workshops

We had a successful day of biblical storytelling workshops on Saturday. 

The participants did well to get up early on a Saturday, but were supported in their efforts to wake up with coffee and tea, and yummy morning tea. 

Our opening worship time invited us to bring our passion, our storytelling gifts, ourselves to this community for a day, making a beautiful bouquet as individual flowers do in a vase. 

Andrew McDonough led us in some reflections on the dangerous side of stories before lunch. In the struggle to bring about the reign of God, Jesus models a subversive strategy, as opposed to a warrior who will overturn unjust empires. The subversive way of Jesus is the way of Story, planting stories in the hearts of listeners that will weave their way into the fabric of their lives, transforming those with ears to hear with the Spirit of love, justice, peace. 

On a wintry day, soup and rolls warmed our bodies, and filled our tummies, before the afternoon workshops. 

I was in the one on Godly Play, led by Jennifer Pickard. I'm still processing my response to the different approach of Godly Play to storytelling. In Godly Play, you have figures representing elements and characters in the story, which you move around on a mat or a tray of sand as you tell the story. While you're doing this, you do not look up from the story, do not engage the listeners with eye contact. The reason I love storytelling is that it frees you from the written text of the Bible to be able to meet the eyes of the listeners, communicating a story you have lived with and internalised, communicating meaning from your heart to theirs. So while I see the purpose of no eye contact for the Godly Play method of telling stories, it still sits awkwardly for me. 

Meanwhile Gillian Powis was leading a workshop introducing the biblical storytelling method. 

Then while Catie Morrison led a workshop on reflecting on the process of storytelling, I led one on reading the Bible aloud. I had a splitting headache all day, so I'm not sure how effectively I led the workshop, but we had some good conversations about our experiences of reading aloud in worship settings, and thought through some of the processes that can help us prepare our heart, mind and body for communicating the Sacred Story. We wondered about emotion - and how much we allow ourselves to feel emotion as we read the story aloud, or whether it is more helpful to allow the story to move us deeply as we prepare, but to feel the emotion only as much as will help us to effectively communicate the emotion, will invite the listeners to engage with the story and allow it to move them. Because if we are too visibly moved by a story, we get in the way of the story, and become a distraction. There were other elements we talked about, too. 

Overall the day seemed to go well, the participants seemed mostly to appreciate what was being offered by the facilitators, and we may have begun to gather some momentum and support for the national gathering being held in Adelaide in 2010. 

 

The Esther Project – Business or Community?

I've been thinking a lot this week about how we approach this new venture that I've begun. Is it a business, which we need to register, draw up a constitution for, and manage? Or is it a faith community, whose mission is the business of telling stories, managing theatre projects, gathering around meals, welcoming, encouraging and affirming experiences of the Sacred, each others' stories, creative / artistic / less conventional ways of expressing our praise, thanks, wonder at the Holy One? 

I began from the first point of view, but have turned now and see the Esther Project as the latter. 

The challenge for me, its student minister, is to hold both the community nurture, teaching, woshipping alongside the theatre project, and offer care to both the members of the community and to the workers involved in the project (some of whom will fall into both categories). 

It's been good to work through this, and continue to clarify the goal and vision of this project, my placement, and to learn that this will be the challenge for me in any ministry setting. The minister is set apart in order to offer care, teaching, to lead and encourage others to lead within the congregation / faith community - and also to help the community to engage in God's mission in the world - out there - thus balancing the nurture and growth of the community itself, and managing or enabling mission engagement through projects, partnerships, and for this community, through the many ways we tell our story. 

So story is our reason for being, the Sacred Story is the ongoing story of God's relationship with us, and we will reflect on that, we will engage with it, we will invite others to be transformed by that Story and live it out in their lives. Story is the way we will gather, worship, pray, care for one another, build community, move towards wholeness and healing. And Story is our mission - sharing this Story that has been handed down in our tradition with the wider community, seeking to understand the faith traditions that share part of our story, but not all, intentionally listening for and hearing the story of our community, engaging with it, and bearing witness to the radical difference the Sacred Story can make to the story of our lives. 

pub church conversation

becoming ourselves telling our stories

I've been reading Diana Butler Bass's book Christianity for the Rest of Us. I recommend it. Diana has visited some emerging mainline protestant churches in the US and identified some of the characteristics of these growing, thriving churches. 

Last night I was finishing the chapter about Testimony. These churches encourage the sharing of faith stories. Interesting timing, since I shared my faith story at Blackwood's monthly faith sharing evening this Sunday just gone, which I may blog about separately. 

Anyway, on pages 138–42 are reflections on the importance of understanding our lives as story, of sharing our stories, of having our story heard. Some of the comments that struck me include: 

'we become ourselves as we tell our stories'

she talks about a 'spirituality of imperfection', story as pilgrimage, wandering, 'a spirituality of not having all the answers' - a 'spirituality of living the questions' (and there is a fabulous dvd study series for groups to use as they reflect on such a spirituality). 

'Testimony is not about God fixing people. Rather, it speaks of God making wholeness out of human woundedness, human incompleteness.' 

'in telling the stories of our lives, we find we are not alone on the journey. Other pilgrims are on this road, too. Pilgrims have always told stories along the way. And, in those stories, we may well hear God ringing in our ears.' 

These are words of wisdom that I hope will ring in my ears as the theatre company gathers, and community forms around the sharing of our stories. 

We have a home

I hereby announce that the Esther Project will have its home at Christ Church Uniting, 26 King William Road, Wayville! 

We're all very excited. 

By the way, I am now into the project full time, and would love to hear from anyone who would like to be part of the project, or to be kept informed for prayer & other support of the project. 

The Esther Project - starting block nerves

I am on the eve of what feels at this moment like the biggest thing I've ever embarked on. ncyc nitelife manager, organising the evening activities for 200+ people was pretty big, so I've organised a big event before. I've also written and directed a play before - two actually. for much smaller audiences. I've curated some alternative church spaces, too. So what's the problem?? 

At this very moment, contemplating the next 10 months and the dreams I've been bravely broadcasting to everyone, I feel sick with nerves. Right now, I would be quite happy if these holidays could go on a little longer, and I didn't have to write a play, find people to help put it on, develop budgets and business plans, and guide a new community into being. And I know there is a Creative Spirit who might be enabling all this, but I've opened myself up to that Spirit and it's a scary thing. It's my face in the paper, my name on the project. What have I started? 

Will there be people who want to act, direct, make costumes, design sets, develop and manage budgets??? 

I have been working on this with my supervisor for most of this year. We have done a lot of work laying a foundation for this theatre company to be built on. Why, then, do I feel underprepared for this giant task? Why do I feel like I need more time before it begins?? We have got the tasks broken down, the agreement with the host congregation almost complete, a time line of when to do what ... 

I think I need to stop thinking about it - I really am making myself feel ill ... 

No, I wanted to be honest, to record the feelings of this moment, standing on the precipice as it were. And, honestly, I am scared. I believe in the vision, I believe in the Sacred call in this direction for me and for the church. But I am scared. It's a doubting/ wavering moment - confidence in the call, doubt I can do what is being asked of me. There are characters all through the Sacred Story who have this doubting / wavering moment. I can only think of the disciples right now, but they're a good example, at the moment when Jesus appears to them after the resurrection - they believe, which we see in their immediate response of worship, but they doubt, the narrator tells us. They aren't sure about what God is doing. 

Well, there are a lot of unknowns about this Esther project - will it be the only project for this company? will we even be successful with this one? will I be able to care for the people, lead them, develop a team of leaders, help a new community form and grow? 

I don't know. 

I don't think I can. 

I will have to focus on remaining open so that the Sacred, Creative, Wise, Spirit can do it through me. 

that sounds twee and cliche, but it is true, so I guess I'll leave it there. I can't finish this post with I can't do it. 

Telling the Sacred Story: a day of workshops

Here's an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in improving the way we tell the biblical story. 

The Network of Biblical Storytellers SA is offering a day of workshops in various elements of telling the biblical story - from reading the Bible aloud to Godly Play, telling stories to children and telling the Gospel of Mark, and the how-tos and whys and wherefores of biblical storytelling. 

There's something for everyone. 

Saturday 4 July - 9.30 am - 4.00 pm

Christ Church Uniting, King William Road Wayville

email nbssouthaustralia@gmail.com or sarahagnew@adam.com.au for the registration form.