All we were told was to bring a sacred object. So, I sat with Erin Temple in the classroom at Austin Seminary and waited for the workshop to begin.
That was last October. We were drawn to the workshop in part because the guest lecturer, Mark Yaconelli, has written some wonderful books, but mostly because we want to be better at telling stories to the church, and this was a storytelling workshop. What we gained, though, was the conviction that we need to find more ways to let the church tell stories to us, and just as importantly, to invite the people outside our walls to tell us who they are.
I knew some of the people in the room – fellow pastors and former classmates – but most were strangers. We were invited to get up, one by one, tell our name, and tell a story about the sacred object we had brought.
A young man had a ticket from a baseball game, which was his first date with the woman who became his wife.
A woman had a frilly yellow dress with a picture of her daughter, as a baby, wearing the dress, and an older picture of herself, as a baby, in the same dress.
Others brought letters and books and dolls and jewelry.
I brought an hourglass and told about how I bought it after my daughter moved out and I turned her room into a prayer room. I have such a hard time staying still and setting aside busy thoughts, so the hourglass was not only a pretty decoration, but also a way to train myself to just be with God. I hardly ever used it after the first few days – the habit didn’t stick too well – but as I told the group, it was a symbol of hope and longing for time with God. As I told the story, it occurred to me that it was also a symbol of hope at a time was I was grieving the reality of my kids leaving home. If I thought about redecorating a space for myself, I could focus on the positives of the next stage of my life.
The assignment was such a simple one, but the invitation was gigantic: tell us who you are. After the exercise, I felt I knew the people in the room, at least a little bit, and we could get to work.
Mark Yaconelli left his job as a church pastor and now runs a storytelling collective, using stories to help communities heal after mass tragedies, work through divisions, and build bridges. Story nights have become popular secular entertainment and there are groups around the country hosting them. Yaconelli believes churches should get in the game because we practice sharing the ultimate story and can teach the art of storytelling, but also because we are often disconnected from the communities around us, and we need to listen.
Since that day, Erin and I have looked for opportunities for people to share stories. We had a few during the Lent suppers last Spring, and we had a few more at our first story night in June. We invited the ladies at the spring tea to tell us about their hats, and that was a blast.
Our Lent storytelling nights used some of the themes Yaconelli shared, like “Stranger in a Strange Land,” which helped us have more compassion for refugees and outsiders. Our June night sparked our imagination with “Rescue Stories,” as we learned we all have a rescue story or two to tell.
Erin and I followed almost all the guidelines we learned in the class, including the idea of using the gathering as a fundraiser for a partner charity and a venue to support them. There was one we haven’t tried yet, though: we were advised to hold the event outside the church, sort of a neutral territory to put us on a more even ground with the outside world. I guess we needed to take baby steps toward this. We’re giving it a shot on August 6.
Please pray about who you could bring to our story night at Mesa Rosa, at 15515 RR 620. We want people there! There will be a free snack buffet as well as the opportunity to order food and drink off the menu. If you’ve been to Mesa Rosa, you know the patio is a fun, relaxing space, and there is a great playground for kids. We will have storytellers sharing stories about times they were “awestruck.” We’ll be there to listen.
