Network of Biblical Storytellers – Canada
Newsletter
Prepared and Edited
Volume 1 # 2by Ron Coughlin
September
An Exciting Festival is planned for October 12-13, 2012 in Peterborough
Soon, 50-60 people will gather in Peterborough for a very stimulating Festival of Biblical Storytellers. While the American organization has been around for twenty-five years, this is the Third Canadian Festival.
An excellent biblical storyteller from Texas will be our theme speaker and featured storyteller. Kathy Culmer is an author, storyteller, teacher and motivational speaker. She has taught in secondary schools and colleges and is currently working for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. She written several books, the latest called Yes, Jesus Loves Me: 31 Love Stories.
Kathy Culmer is our theme speaker
The Festival will also feature many workshops for beginners and for people with some experience. The two basic workshops are Storytelling 101 led by Ron Coughlin and Know the Story, Love the Story, Trust the Storyled by Mary Bell-Plouffe.
Other workshops include How to Learn a Story that Suits You led by Hermione Rivision; Become the Voice of the Character led by Juliana Rowe; Ten Tips for Effective Biblical Storytelling with Children led by Janet Stobie; The Power of Gesture led by John Epp; Story Learning and More led by Carol Wolf; and Coaching your Storytelling by Kathy Culmer.
The Epic Telling as a part of the closing worship this year is entitled Like a Mighty Wind and features scripture that tells of God's breath, wind and the Holy Spirit.
To register for this year's Third Canadian Festival of Biblical Storytellers contact Ron Coughlin at or call him at 514-694-0214
Plans for Next Year
The organizing group for the Festival is planning to not hold a festival in 2013, but instead will be available to take workshops on the road. The hope is that local churches will invite us to come and lead a Saturday workshop and tell stories in churches on Sunday. If this is of interest to you contact our "Workshop on the Road Coordinator" Joan Cavanaugh at or call her at 705-286-1817
We will hold another Festival in 2014 in the Toronto area.
News from the Network
The Blackstock Biblical Storytelling Guildwas invited to do storytelling atAdelaide Placewhich is a beautifulRetirement Home located in Lindsay, Ontarioon March 22, 2012. Andrea Weir, Brenda Peever, Jenny Beal, Susan Van Tijn and Ruth Welham-Humphrey told wonderful stories from both the old and new testaments. Residents were delighted with the storytelling and haveinvited them back for another visit.
Jenny Beal telling a story at Adelaide Place
Seniors and God's Multi-Splended Wisdom
I turned and there beside me stood an old but sturdy farmer. I had just finished telling Paul's letter to the Ephesians in a rural Mennonite church in a farming community near Tavistock Ontario. This farmer shuffled nervously, dropped his gaze, then looked up again and said, "If we have been given all this, and we were supposed to give it away, have we failed.?" The pews in this church are now regularly half empty with no young people. Again his gaze dropped to the floor, again back at me, peering intently and sincerely.
At the Festival Gathering in North Carolina this past August, Phyllis Tickle spoke of the church having a 'Rummage sale' every 500 years, a time of profound upheaval. I looked back at him and said, "There are powerful forces at work out there. We are going through an upheaval akin to the 16th Century Reformation." It also reminded me of what an elderly lady with big shinning eyes once told one of our national Mennonite leaders. Looking directly at him she said, "Our congregation is like a beautiful songbird. We are small but we have everything we need to be who we are." And I pondered that a flock of thousands of these song birds is no small witness. The words of Paul that sounded out loud that morning through Biblical Storytelling reminded this small, discouraged, guilty congregation of the rich, profound treasure that is within them.
Are you part of a small congregation? Are you retired? Are you an "older person"? Then ask if you are being called to take up the ministry of biblical storytelling. Come to our Festival, learn some basic tools and become biblical storytelling song birds. We are waiting for you and so are the young people. Learning these stories and letting them dwell deep within your hearts and then sharing them is a deeply hopeful gift you can give all of us including young people. God is longing to refract, through your seasoned face and voice the mystery of God's multi-splendid wisdom to the rulers of this age.
One of the women standing by looked at the quiet, sturdy farmer, patted him on the back and said, "Well, George! Looks like you're not finished yet!" As he quietly turned away, I could see a smile gently creeping over his face.
by John Epp
John is a biblical storyteller and a graduate of the Academy of Biblical Storytelling.
Jonah The Man Who Wouldn’t Forgive
Jonah was one of the Epic Telling stories at the Festival in North Carolina. I had fun learning a part of the story for the group telling. I also learned something about the message of the book as I concentrated on learning the story. Here are some of my musings on the story.
Jonah is a short book, just four chapters. It tells an unbelievable story about a man swallowed by a great fish and regurgitated back on shore; about a megapolis of 120,000 people, at the time the biggest city in the world, who repented en masse; about a plant that grew enough in a single day to give shade and then withered overnight...
Ignore the details! They’re deliberate exaggerations, surpassing even Bill Cosby’s wildest imagination. Jonah was never intended as an historical account, it is rather a satirical gem. Look instead at the sweep of the story. Ninevah was the capital of the ruthless Assyrian empire - in Jewish eyes, the home of all evil. And God wanted Jonah, a Jew, a victim of Assyrian oppression, to go to Ninevah to tell the people that God would destroy them.
Jonah did not want that assignment. He tried to run away. But he couldn’t. So he went to Ninevah, and proclaimed a message he was sure the Assyrians would ignore. But they didn’t. They repented. Jonah still expected God to punish them. But God didn’t. It was a chorus of disappointments. Jonah felt cheated of justice.
As Jonah sat on a hill, hoping Ninevah would erupt in a fireball, he benefited from the shade of some kind of fast-growing bush. When the bush died, he felt sorry for it and for himself, exposed to the burning sun. The Bible then explains that the bush was a parable, an analogy. If Jonah could feel pity for a mere bush, why shouldn’t God feel pity for people who didn’t know they were doing wrong?
Did Jonah get the message? Do we?
As I was learning Jonah I became aware that almost every day, when I read my newspapers, I see stories of victims demanding justice. They expect the cop who assaulted them to be fired. They want the thug who robbed them to restore everything, including their peace of mind. They want the rapist locked up for life, the child molester kept under eternal surveillance...
I don’t say these things to belittle their experience. But I wonder if people really know what they’re saying when they insist that only conviction and sentencing can bring “closure” for their pain. There is no “closure.” Not even a life for a life - in countries that still practice capital punishment - can restore the life that was lost.
Jonah would not forgive, he wanted God's favour for Israel, but not for Nineveh! He wanted God's grace for himself, but not for others! This story is like a mirror held up to the eyes of the Israelites of the time. It anticipates, by several centuries, Jesus’ theme of “Love your enemies."
The biblical Jonah couldn’t see any justice in mercy. To him, justice meant vengeance. He has a lot of modern followers.
by Ron Coughlin
Ron has graduated from the Academy of Biblical Storytelling with a Master's Certificate. He has also been elected to become the President of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, International - the first non-American President in its twenty-five year history. Also he is joining with seven others to go to Cameroon Africa in February/March 2103 to lead workshops and share in biblical storytelling.
Network of Biblical Storytellers – Canada
Membership Form
January - December 2013
You are invited to join
the Network of Biblical Storytellers - Canada
Our Mission:to encourage everyone to learn and tell Biblical stories.
The Network of Biblical Storytellers is a fledgling new organization which is just coming into being. We the organizers for this event believe that we need to create a national organization to promote biblical storytelling in Canada and to sponsor future festivals.
You can help us by becoming a member of the network and supporting us financially.
Members in the network will receive a quarterly email newsletter, information about upcoming events, a vote at our future annual meetings and priority registration for future festivals.
If you are interested in helping out this new organization in any way, such as serving on the inaugural Board, or assisting with any of the many task which will be needed, such as publicity, festival planning, legal matters, etc. please contact Ron Coughlin at .
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Yes, I want to join the Network of Biblical Storytellers – Canada.
I enclose my membership fee of $20.00 and give a donation of $.
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Mail this membership form to
NBS Canada c/o Ron Coughlin, 80 Charnwood Rd, Beaconsfield, QC H9W 4Y9
Any questions can be sent to or call 514-694-0214