Storytelling basics

Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

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Grace VBS crafts

"Becoming Storykeepers" VBS Pilot

Welcome to GoTell Communications. The purpose of this site is to encourage and enable people to follow Jesus' third way through listening, learning and telling stories of the biblical tradition. The future of our global village depends on it.

Telling By Heart

Use this site to learn how to internalize a biblical story and tell it by heart. Why bother? Read the article on "The Case for Telling by Heart" listed under Feature Articles. Hear stories told by heart from the lectionary (Lections) or specific Gospels (Narratives). In these sections of the site you will also get background info to help you understand the story, tips for telling it effectively, and slides for digital presentations.

New at GoTell

In June we piloted a Vacation Bible School program built around the theme of "Becoming Storykeepers" and finding another creative use for our favorite Christian Education resource: "The Storykeepers." The program, held at Grace United Methodist Church in Dayton, Ohio, was attended by 40 children, mostly from the surrounding urban neighborhood.

Our leadership team included experienced teachers, energetic youth, and creative volunteers who came up with games, music, crafts, props, and snacks to reinforce the Roman theme and biblical stories of the week. The storytelling and movies took place in the Marketplace; games in the Coliseum; music in Nero's Palace; crafts in the Catacombs. I led the various storylearning activities in, where else? Ben's Bakery of course!

All involved were very pleased with the "Becoming Storykeepers" VBS. This was my second year designing a biblical storylearning VBS curriculum using "The Storykeepers" animated videos. Its success is in part due to having built on what was learned from a good first try in 2007. Last year we used the videos as a rotation, told the stories and taught them, for a very large surburban VBS (well over 100 children). This year all activities were coordinated so that learning could be reinforced and all children viewed the movies together during the opening session before the rotations began.

During the coming year we plan to develop a resource to assist other churches in holding their own "Becoming Storykeepers" VBS.

Grace and peace,
Amelia