May 2023 | GoTell

Sacred Stories Back in Jail

From 2013 until March of 2020 a team of women from Grace United Methodist Church (Dayton, Ohio) went to the local county jail on Wednesdays to engage a circle of women with stories from the biblical tradition in a class we called “Sacred Stories.” In 2017 we also took the stories into a state women’s prison in Dayton, called “Circle of the Word.” Three years later, the jail opened up to programming again, so on March 15 we returned to begin an eight-week series of stories from Mark’s version of the passion of Jesus and all four Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection.

April 30 was Second Chance Sunday at Grace (April is National Second Chance Month by presidential decree). One of our Sacred Story team members, Heidi Arnold, told the parable of “The Father and Two Sons” from Luke 15. Willie Templeton, Montgomery County Jail Chaplain and Program Coordinator, was our guest preacher. And returning citizen Zakaya Bragg received her certificate for participation in the Sacred Stories class until her release. It was a wonderful and very special worship service.

Heidi Arnold, Zakaya Bragg, Willie Templeton at Grace UMC, Dayton OH, April 30, 2023 (GoTell’s Tom Boomershine in the background)

2023 NBSI Festival Gathering!!!

Join us for this amazing annual event of the Network of Biblical Storytellers International. We’ll be in Baltimore again this year at the Maritime Institute, August 2-4. You will be so blessed and we will be enriched by your participation. Our keynote speaker this year is Ray Aldred, ThD. Dr. Aldred is the Director of the Indigenous Studies Program at the Vancouver School of Theology and a status Cree Indian. Click here to register…

Monday with Jesus

Each Monday we email a message with resources for the upcoming Sunday Gospel story as designated by the Revised Common Lectionary, including a link to a YouTube video of the story being told, followed by casual Q&A commentary. If you want to be on the elist to receive “Monday with Jesus” emails, send me a message: amelia@gotell.org

Our YouTube channel is GoTellStory. Search on the scripture text reference to find the video you want. Some date back to May 2020 when we started this project during the pandemic.