Much of the Bible originated as oral tradition, stories that were told and retold over the years. Jesus told stories as a key part of his instructional technique, and these stories were retold by his followers. Today, the Bible is a written text, but one way of bringing the stories alive is to remember their origins and to re-work them into a storytelling format. This can mean anything from simply learning the words of a story in a particular version of the Bible by rote and presenting that, through to creative re-writings of the text with sounds and actions with which audiences can join in.
This course will focus on telling stories with children in mind, however, the techniques and the stories developed are applicable to a wide range of ages in appropriate settings. The course will also help the student to think about how a story is situated within the wider context of worship or a teaching environment, and how the story can work alongside interpretative techniques.