Spiritual Retreats
around Storytelling
Biblical storytelling is above all a powerful spiritual practice,
or spiritual discipline - a way of prayer which draws us
powerfully to God. In a typical two or three-day weekend retreat, a
group of participants not only learns the art of storytelling, but
also draws closer to each other and to God through sharing God's
story and their own stories.
If your group includes a number of older persons, consider a two-day workshop. Any normal-functioning person can learn to Tell (Beth began at the advanced age of 55, and was certain she was too old to learn by heart!), but older persons especially benefit from a more relaxed schedule, more one on one coaching and more time to practice that a longer format provides.
Here are two testimonies from a two-day retreat, one from a younger and one from a more experienced person:
"Our church is getting ready to start a contemporary service... Last night [right after the storytelling retreat] the youth pastor and I were talking about how excited we were about this all starting. I was telling him about the [Biblical storytelling] class and all I had come away with and that I thought that telling scripture as story would be a neat idea to use in the contemporary service.... He said that he really wanted me to give him all the information I could about it because he really wanted to think about doing this for the services. So, I was called to [Walk to] Emmaus to watch you, which prompted me to take [your] class, which immediately resulted in action. My brain is going wow Praise God! I just get amazed and excited every time the ahhhaaa happens!"
"[I was] very glad to be able to take your workshop. I have hesitated to venture into telling scriptures in the wondrous way [you] presented to us. I guess old dogs can learn new tricks! Sometimes I forget to remember that in a workshop it is "safe" to be an old dog and that classmates are trying to learn in the same manner as I. Most of the time I don't feel the age difference but sometimes when I am fearful I am afraid to seem ridiculous because of my age. Thanks for sharing your wonderful gifts with us. Our little church is very much in need of storytelling."
-- Northern Illinois, 2-day retreat, January 2008