“Love the Other” by Cortney L. Haley

Stories for Jesus’ Way of Peace

Tom Boomershine

I want to tell you the good news. God has revealed the way we as human beings can be saved from the powers of evil. It has been revealed in the teaching and the actions of Jesus Christ. The problem is that we haven’t paid attention. A source of learning is for us to take seriously the wide range of stories and teachings of Jesus about loving your enemies, about forgiveness—breaking the cycle of revenge, and investing in he myth of redemptive suffering rather than redemptive violence. The whole of the Gospel tradition is a collection of sayings and stories by and about a non-violent Messiah. Specific stories for Jesus’ way of peace include… [click to see list of stories]

The Story Continues in The Gambia

Welcome greetings were received this summer from The Gambia where GoTell has travelled twice to provide training in biblical storytelling. Gambians are now conducting their own trainings as they continue telling the story in this West African country. Pastor Benjamin Michael of Bakau Methodist Church wrote about an ecumenical event held at the Gambia Pastoral Institute:

“It was a great success and NBS [Network of Biblical Storytellers, Gambia] leadership were there to lend support. Fr. Pius did a great job in putting it together, and Bishop Ellison was in attendance and gave an address. Henry Akapo, Lisong, and Mrs. Johnson were all there to play vital roles. Later, a video recorded interview was conducted featuring me and another participant, which has been already aired on Gambia TV and Radio to promote Bible Storytelling.”

The Best Festival Gathering

Back when the Festival Gathering of the Network of Biblical Storytellers was held in Atlanta, 90-some year old Annie attended every year. And after the closing worship every year she would say, “That was the BEST Festival Gather EVER!” And she was always right. We remembered Annie fondly this year because we kept saying, “That was the BEST Festival Gathering EVER!”

For GoTell, the event of the “Festival Gathering” includes the Scholar’s Seminar which precedes it. Founded in 2003, the Seminar has grown into a substantial event with storytelling scholars and scholarly storytellers from around the country and abroad creating a new paradigm of biblical scholarship for the 21st century: performance criticism. This year’s seminar was highlighted by performances of the Sermon on the Mount and Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. Special thanks to Dr. Thomas Rand for his authentic telling of Galatians and creatively leading discussion of audience response. His recent sabbatical in Turkey—modern day Galatia—brought fresh insight to the conversation.