THEME STORIES

Day 1 Zacchaeus Luke 19:1-10
Day 2 Workers in the Vineyard Matthew 20:1-16
Day 3 Philippians 2:1-11

WEDNESDAY

“Zacchaeus, you come down!”

The children’s song about Zacchaeus, “the wee little man,” is delightful to sing with catchy lyrics and playful gestures. However, it doesn’t exactly capture the gravity of the story Luke told. This workshop will include playful aspects, gestures, and maybe even a song. But there will also be serious elements as we learn, explore, tell, and pray with one of this year’s theme stories. Our goals are to tell the story to at least one other person, to be able to articulate an element of its original meaning, to acquire a practice for praying with this story, and to identify how this story might impact our lives.

Presenter: Amelia Boomershine

Amelia Boomershine has told and taught biblical stories to children, youth, and adults around the world since becoming active in NBSI thirty years ago. She has led weekly biblical storytelling workshops in state prisons and the local jail for the past twelve years. Amelia authored A Breath of Fresh Air: Biblical Storytelling with Prisoners. She and her husband Tom wrote curricula to accompany “The Story Keepers” video series for children. Together they provide free online resources through GoTell Communications to support biblical storytelling, preaching, Christian spirituality, and faith-based social action.

Category: Story learning

Storytelling as a Spiritual Discipline

You may have heard of fasting, meditation and prayer as examples of a spiritual discipline. But have you ever thought of using Biblical Storytelling as one? In this workshop, we will explore how to use Biblical Storytelling as both a personal and corporate spiritual discipline. We will start with a couple of examples then you will have the opportunity to choose a favorite story to practice with.

Presenter: Michele Walton

Category: Spiritual

Finding Peace in Troubling Times Through Speaking and Dancing the Psalms

The Psalms hold many promises of peace, protection, and refreshment. Memorizing the Psalms can bring profound peace to those who seek to follow the path of the Psalm writers (Song writers/poets) of the Hebrew Scriptures. When the recitation of the Psalms is combined with the kinesthetic therapy of dance, the resulting peace can be remarkable and transforming. This workshop will explore many

ways to achieve this. It can be used for all ages – children to seniors. Participants will memorize and create movement to express the peace that God can give.

Presenter: Laura Schultz

Rev. Laura Schultz lives in the mountains of Virginia in the small town of Luray, Virginia and has a passion to bring the truths of the Bible alive through dramatization, intelligent reading, and various the artistic expressions. Her book “How to Do Drama and Dance in the Small Church” is written as a primer for those beginning the Bible storytelling journey but can be used as a guide in other Biblical presentations in the life of the church.

Category: Spiritual

Words Matter: Translations and the Effect on Storytelling

Biblical storytelling is about internalizing the text and learning the story by heart. It is never simply about memorizing words and repeating them exactly. The impact of the words is affected by the tone, emphasis, and gestures with which they are spoken. Still, the words we use do matter. In this session, we will examine various translations and consider the effects of the wording and phrasing they use. We will also learn ways to evaluate translations as part of one’s preparation for biblical storytelling.

Presenter: Mark Hoffman

Mark Vitalis Hoffman was a parish pastor for fourteen years and since 2002 is a Professor of Biblical Studies at United Lutheran Seminary. He regularly teaches classes on biblical storytelling and is working on translation and performance of biblical texts. He is particularly interested in teaching Koine Greek, the Gospel of Mark, the parables of Jesus, and biblical geography. He has published numerous articles, co-authored a biblical atlas, and posts regularly on his various websites. (ScrollandScreen.com)

Category: Scholarly

Story Theater: The Son Returns Again and Again and Again

A fine way to grow as a teller is to observe the choices (translation, tone, gestures, posture, emphasis) that talented tellers make. We will hear a team of fine tellers and explore the beloved story of the Prodigal Son and then discuss the impact each had on the audience.

Presenter: Phil Ruge-Jones

Phil Ruge-Jones has been a biblical storyteller for over three decades. He is an Academy for Biblical Storytelling graduate and presided over the NBSI Seminar for many years. Most importantly for this workshop, he has talented teller friends to bring along.

Category: Performance

Presenting Scripture to Children of All Ages

Children are fast learners. Using the drama techniques demonstrated, participants will be able to engage children in new and exciting ways with biblical texts and have them enjoying biblical stories in no time.

Presenter: Carole Danby

Carole Danby recently retired after working 30 years for the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane in Children's and Family Ministry.  She formerly served as co-chair of the Network of Biblical Storytellers in Australia and has attended 8 NBSINT Festival Gatherings.  Carole has also travelled with the Network on mission trips to the Philippines, India, and the Holy Land.

Category: Practical

THURSDAY

Storylearning 101: Workers in the Vineyard 

We at NBSI encourage everyone to learn and tell biblical stories...but that's easier said than done! This class is for the newbies, those who are interested in biblical storytelling but haven't had a chance to do it themselves, or for those who've done it a few times but crave more strategies and/or a chance to tell again. Sound like you?

Presenter: Jason Chesnut

The Rev. Jason Chesnut is a preacher, pastor, editor, filmmaker, and writer, who makes his living in the same way he keeps his ordination: somehow. He's been telling Bible stories for more than two decades and has taught many others to do the same.

Cateogry: Story learning

Finding Oral and Rhetorical Devices in Biblical Storytelling

In this workshop we will identify and explore rhetorical devices and oral features found in biblical stories. Noting rhetorical devices helps us to understand the focus of the story, how the audience hears it, and helps us as storytellers to remember the story. In this workshop we’ll look at the story from Matthew 20:1-16, ‘Workers in the Vineyard’.

Presenter: Jim Stahl

Jim works with Seed Company partnering with organizations, training people to tell Bible stories in their own languages, especially those languages without a translated Bible. Bible storytelling creates community ownership and builds capacity within the community in local ministries, and sparks interest to translate the Bible. Jim and his wife, Janet have worked in over 80 language groups around the world in vernacular Bible storytelling.

Category: ABS

Wells, Vows, and Worship

A workshop that explores the eastern pattern of meeting prospective life partners by water wells, understand the motif of these stories, and learning the story of The Samaritan woman from the Gospel of John as our performance piece

Presenter: Sandhya Ruban

Category: Spiritual

Hearing One Thing and Seeing Another: A Storytelling Challenge in the Book of Revelation

On multiple occasions in the book of Revelation, John hears one thing but sees another. He hears about the Lion of Judah, but sees a slain lamb (Revelation 5). He hears about 120,000 sealed from every tribe of Judah, but sees a great multitude from every nation (Revelation 7). These occasions present both an exegetical challenge (why does he hear one thing and see something different?) and a storytelling challenge (how can I embody this interplay between hearing and seeing in my storytelling?). This workshop will address both challenges in an attempt to understand and appreciate John's Apocalypse at a deeper level. 

Presenter: Cliff Barbarick

Cliff lives in Texas, where he serves as the chair of the Department of Bible, Missions, and Ministry at Abilene Christian University. He teaches undergraduate classes on the New Testament. He is also the convener for the NBSI Scholars Seminar, a group of "scholarly storytellers" and "storytelling scholars" who explore together the possibilities of biblical performance criticism.

Category: Scholarly

Muddy Water and Changed Hearts

We often miss what we need most because we refuse to see past the surface concerns of our lives. Often God will allow pressures to come to expose the deeper issues and give us a clearer view of ourselves and our greatest need. Come listen, discover, share and learn how the power of story heals.

Presenters: Thelma Thomas and Joyce Parr

Joyce and Thelma have been telling in tandem for over fifteen years. Collectively they have over sixty years’ experience in secular and non-secular genre. Although they have told alone, they have found a certain magic when telling together. Thelma’s Sunday school teacher background and Joyce’s ministry background informs their telling. Thus, creating a bridge that connects people with the living Word of God.

Category: Spiritual

So you Wanna Be in Pictures? Recording Tips and Tricks

NBSI maintains a video library on the website that is open to anyone who wishes to use recorded Bible passages. This workshop will present ways storytellers can record their tellings. We will have a panel of experienced tellers who have recorded themselves successfully, describe the devices they use, how they use them and answer questions. Audio and lighting will also be discussed. Participants will see a live demonstration of a teller being recorded and you may bring your own recording device and practice with it.

Presenters: Workshop leaders include the members of the NBSI Video Library Team: Kathryn Smedley, Janet Steele, Meg Baker, Debbie Weir. They are the people who receive, review and upload video submissions. All are experienced tellers with postings on the NBSI Video Library.

Category: Practical

FRIDAY

Finding Structural Patterns That Help with Comprehension and Memory

Learning to tell portions of the epistles poses a special challenge. In this workshop, we will work together to discover some structural components in Paul’s Christ hymn in Phil 2 that are common to Hebrew poetry. Together we will explore the patterns Paul used to focus our attention and to aid our memory of the passage. And we will practice retelling all or portions of the Phil 2: 5-11using these patterns as memory guides.

Presenter: Janet Stahl

Janet and husband, Jim, have been working as Wycliffe Bible Translators for most of their career. For the past 19 years, they have been helping teams of Bible storytellers from minority language communities to craft, test and tell Bible stories in their own languages, often without the aid of a source Bible in the language. They are currently mentoring teams in Vanuatu, Tanzania and South Asia and tell Bible stories in their home church in Pennsylvania.

Category: ABS, Storylearning

Organizing and Presenting Online Biblical Storytelling Events

This workshop is for those who are curious about organizing and presenting online events. Participants will be led through the organizational process into the features of Zoom that make a presentation interactive and interesting. Whether you want to organize online events or present one, this workshop will show you how to do it.

Presenter: Barbara Tucker is a retired teacher and librarian with over 40 years experience teaching people of all ages in church and public school settings. Ever the lifelong learner, she has completed the Basic and Master's levels of the Academy for Biblical Storytelling. Currently Ms. Tucker is an active member of University Christian Church in Fort Worth, Texas and the Network of Biblical Storytellers, International.

Category: Practical

Hearing One Thing and Seeing Another: A Storytelling Challenge in the Book of Revelation

On multiple occasions in the book of Revelation, John hears one thing but sees another. He hears about the Lion of Judah, but sees a slain lamb (Revelation 5). He hears about 120,000 sealed from every tribe of Judah, but sees a great multitude from every nation (Revelation 7). These occasions present both an exegetical challenge (why does he hear one thing and see something different?) and a storytelling challenge (how can I embody this interplay between hearing and seeing in my storytelling?). This workshop will address both challenges in an attempt to understand and appreciate John's Apocalypse at a deeper level. 

Presenter: Cliff Barbarick

Cliff lives in Texas, where he serves as the chair of the Department of Bible, Missions, and Ministry at Abilene Christian University. He teaches undergraduate classes on the New Testament. He is also the convener for the NBSI Scholars Seminar, a group of "scholarly storytellers" and "storytelling scholars" who explore together the possibilities of biblical performance criticism.

Category: Scholarly

Claiming Mary Magdalene in Troubling Times

Since the release of the film, The DaVinci Code, in 2006 coupled with the growing availability of translations of the Gnostic Gospels, interest in and information about Mary Magdalene has taken on new dimensions. We will immerse ourselves in John 20:1-18, exploring what we know, what we think we know and what we would like to know about Mary Magdalene. Expect to get to know one another and to have fun. Expect to be surprised and provoked. Expect the unexpected!

Presenters: By Heart is comprised of Mary-beth Howard and Shelley Gnade.  They have been telling stories together since 1994. Tandem telling (the telling of stories in two voices) is their trademark, along with a certain warm and quirky humor. Both have been active with the Network of Biblical Storytellers, International for more than 20 years, attending the annual Festival Gathering, leading workshops, serving on the Board in various capacities and serving as Featured Tellers.

Category: Spiritual

Scripture Through the Eyes of a Veterinarian

The Bible has some amazing scientific truths. Even though the Old Testament was written some 4,000 years before the current understanding of various diseases, observant Jews naturally avoided various diseases which would have been present in Gentiles. We will also explore animal behavior to better understand some of Jesus' teachings where animals are part of the story.

Presenter: Wendy Feaga graduated from veterinary school in 1980. She owns and operates her own veterinary hospital. She has been a member of NSBI since 2017. She entered the United Methodist lay servant tract in 2012 and was certified as a Lay Speaker in 2016 and a Lay Minister in 2018. Wendy is President of the Board of Wesley-Nexus, a Baltimore Washington Conference United Methodist group which explores religion and science.