Try something fun with a lot of new ideas for using biblical storytelling in worship and teaching! This workshop expands on the methods taught in Biblical Storytelling I . It explores a number of storytelling genres as well as telling the Biblical text, including midrash, chancel drama, first-person storytelling, puppetry, and more. The workshop also offers specific ideas for using and not abusing voice and body, enhancing tellings with props, digital media, and more with children and adults. It also suggests ways to deepen your practice of this art as a personal spiritual discipline.
This course is for anyone who is already practicing the art of storytelling, Biblical or secular, or “proclaiming Scripture with a storytelling spirit!” Biblical Storytelling I or one of the Proclaiming Scripture with a Storytelling Spirit courses are excellent starting places for those new to the art, but are not required. In this three-week workshop you will dive deeper into developing your unique storytelling or reading “voice,” and explore new ways to use story in your ministry.
Biblical Storytelling I is not a prerequisite for Biblical Storytelling II, but previous storytelling experience is highly recommended.
In addition to Blackboard interactions, one optional Zoom meeting may be held the last week of the course, scheduled with learner input, to share our creative projects.
This course has been approved by Discipleship Ministries as an advanced course in Lay Servant Ministries. It provides the required 10 contact hours.
This course is eligible for 1.5 CEU.
Quick Info:
Number of weeks: 3
Price: $95
CEUs: 1.5
Required books: No
Blackboard: Yes
Zoom: No
Certification or Series: Yes (Lay Servant Ministries)
Read course description for details.
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About the Instructor
Rev. Beth Galbreath is a United Methodist deacon who has been Telling Scripture by heart and teaching others this art and spiritual discipline for over 20 years. She is a former vice president of the Network of Biblical Storytellers International and has presented Tellings and taught biblical storytelling online and in Bolivia, Cameroon, Haiti, India, the Philippines, and of course in churches and conferences in the United States. She led the NBSI mission teams to India and the Philippines. And during the pandemic, she led a storytelling workshop in an online State-Department sponsored leadership program for multi-faith groups of youth in Mindanao.
Beth serves on the pastoral leadership team of Compassion UMC in Brookfield, IL, a new church plant, where she often Tells Scripture in worship. She coordinates the NBSI-related Chicago-area biblical storytelling group, Prairie Wind Guild: Tellers of Sacred Stories.
Past Learners Said…
“I got quite a few ideas of modes of performance that I can use in my children’s time videos and in the story telling that I do for the adults in worship. Already I have gotten compliments. Compliments aren’t in themselves that important, more importantly I can see the faces and I can participate in the discussions that story telling generates whether the performance is memorized scripture or some other mode of story telling. Also, when you prepare a scripture to tell a story, you analyze it differently or additionally to what you’d do in regular exegesis. You get into the heads of the people in the story. Performance says a lot about how you are interpreting the message, more than two pages of sermon.”
“Beth is awesome. I signed up for the Lent course with her already. She is a master and it is a privlege to study with her. I have already recommended the course. I had to preach a sermon for my module class for CLM prep. I told a story. It went over very well. Then there was a discussion and it came up that I had just finished this course and a few people said they would love to take this course.”
“Once again, Reverend Beth Galbreath has opened her “fire hose” of information, suggestions, concrete examples, creative ideas and entirely new concepts for worship! This course provided a host of platforms for students to grow spiritually while trying out new ways to think, new ways to experience scripture, and new ways to worship in a safe, supportive environment.”
“This course was excellent! It was so interesting to learn about the different types of storytelling, and different
ways to deliver scripture and bible stories by heart. Beth is a fantastic instructor; she is a wealth of
knowledge, explains topics clearly and assigns projects that are interesting and thought-provoking, and gives
helpful feedback on assignments. I really enjoyed taking this course, and am inspired to continue telling
scripture by heart!”
“I feel like I’ve been to an “all-you-can-eat” cafeteria and I’m stuffed now! So many great ideas! So many ways to tell Biblical stories! Who woulda thunk it?”
“We have immersed ourselves in one or more stories, considered how to move to tell the story. We’ve placed ourselves in front of a running camera and bravely forged on. We’ve learned the difference between “the M word” and true learning by heart. We’ve made audio tapes and videos. We’ve written first person stories and prayers. We’ve learned about our classmates’ spiritual sides, about their unsuspected talents, their life stories, their personal expressions of ways to see scripture…”
“Through the grace of God, our efforts, the support of our peers, and the patient and enthusiastic feedback from Beth, everyone learned enough to keep on learning, and we have been bitten by the bug of “telling.” What a blessing! I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in not only telling scripture in worship, but also in broadening their personal perspective on conveying the Word.”
“I liked that the course covered a lot of different aspects of storytelling. It gave the participants a chance to see
which style they prefer.”
“I liked that the assignments were thought-provoking, and also allowed for creativity.”
“Man, I loved this course! It kicked my rear, but that’s OK!”
