The Story Teller #2 Advice from Carol S. Wolf

Some advice from my friend Carol Wolf (a member of the Network of Biblical Storyteller Intl.) from her book called “Biblical Storytelling in Youth Ministry”

This book is intended to help the leader of a group of youth or youth and adults

Hear, learn, and tell the biblical story by memory. We use the Network of Biblical Storytelling (NBS) process of learning the story by heart rather than just memorizing it. Then tell the story as it was originally intended to be heard. This allows each person to find meaning in places in the story that could surprise them. We should not be afraid to let our children think for themselves. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them. ” What better way than to have children and adults hear, learn and tell the biblical stories together.

Experience the story in various ways.

Explore the stories in scripture that relate to twelve year-olds and their encounter with God.

Find who they relate to in the story, then share how.

Listen and learn from the stories of others.

Today we have an opportunity, as we gather in our faith communities, to live out the covenant that ties us to God and to one another. This means teaching and emphasising to young people that God created the heavens and the earth and that God invites us to share in this joy by hearing and learning the Biblical stories in fresh, new ways.

“The only way to start an exploration of the gospel as storytelling is to learn to tell the stories. Until you have experienced the stories as stories, all arguments about the meaningfulness of “telling” the stories will be more or less meaningless abstractions. ” (Quote from the book by Tom Boomershine (founder of NBS), “Story Journey: An invitation to the Gospel as storytelling”)”

In each story…” as you learn to tell you” will experience how, when we become part of the story, we often find meaning in places we never expected.

My thanks to Carol, who is a writer, speaker, storyteller, Associate Spiritual Director and a leader of workshops and retreats, for her wonderful book and the use of her material.

For more information about Biblical Storytelling visit NBS Int by going to their website.

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