This book is a compelling, accessible read that is helpful for anyone working in ministry. I would love for everyone using stories and experiential learning to read this book. It is that good!
I found my self underlining quote after quote, saying, “yes!” and “exactly!”. Beckwith puts to words my same philosophy of education with passion and clarity. She begins by sharing her observation of the state of children’s ministries by recounting her own experiences, recent research and her encounters with hundreds of ministry workers in her workshops. Unfortunately, much of this points to the realization that, “yes, children’s ministry in our churches is, indeed, broken.” (p.13) It seems that ministry in United States is stuck in a rut, focused on a meld of consumeristic (attractional) and formal education approaches.
Though churches are repackaging children’s ministry with attractive and fun play environments, the focus is still the same: teaching facts with a moral application. The problem with this is that spiritual formation is not “primarily a cognitive endeavor”; it involves our whole beings and “direct experience.”
The author suggests a better way forward: “One of the ways, if not the way, children develop faith and are spiritually formed is through having their imaginations captured for the kingdom of God.” ( p.14) She is contending for the same emphasis that I do with my ministry: imagination is the gateway for deeper learning. This requires a different rhythm of ministry in our churches and homes–rhythms of story, ritual, and relationship.
Shaped by the Bible Story Many churches following after the school model of education use the Bible as “a tool or textbook” where “the predetermined one-size-fits-all life application becomes the centerpiece of the lesson.” (p.28) The author suggests that this predetermined focus actually may “get in the way of the spiritual transformative power of the Bible story.” Beckwith continues, “We need to really understand that Bible stories are not vehicles for getting us to propositional truth about God. Bible stories are already truth about God. Let’s let the story be the story and tell its own truth to us.” (p.30 / bold added) Instead, we should be creating space to “allow the bible to be a living, breathing member of the learning environment.” (p.28) This kind of environment “invites children to find the in-breaking of God in their own lives.” (p.29)
I resonate so deeply with this. This perspective follows the ancient Hebrew path of learning and is precisely the goal of Bible storying... to let the story speak, and let meaning arise from the story as the Spirit of God illuminates and the imaginations of the participants are sparked toward creative response. YES!
Another section about story caught my attention. Ivy suggests, “We need parents and other important adults who surround them to be able to articulate their own stories of faith.” She surmises that both adults and children lack the skills and direction to do this well.
Rituals and Formation
Rituals are what “anchors us in the story of God.” (p.70) “The practice of Christian rituals imprints God’s story upon us and helps us to understand it in a way that simply hearing cannot do. There is something about the kinesthetic aspect of the ritual that bonds us to God’s story and God’s way that is amazingly transformation.” (p74)
This section challenged me toward the idea of practicing everyday rituals with my family. We have done well in creating ritual during certain holidays and times throughout the year–like hosting a Seder–but daily practiced are a more challenging for us.
I loved how Ivy infused the practices of spiritual disciplines and solitude in her children’s ministry. I was prompted to find a space in my home that is a “quiet space” or “solitude corner” for all–even my four year-old! My wife and I will need to work hard to create this, and ensure that is a place of creative rest and not viewed as punishment.
> I wonder, what are some examples / resources to help implement daily ritual into our family life? When will Ivy write a book for parents? We need this!!
A Focus on Relationships
I was compelled by the last sections of the book that focus on nurturing vital families (p.127). Beckwith challenges us to create ministries that“enable parents to weave God’s story into the story of their families.”
What if this was the mission statement for your children’s ministry? ...your church?
In addition to the common thread of cultivating imaginative ministry, Ivy’s book also points us toward building into intergenerational faith communities and families toward formation. More than a ministry fad, this is the way forward to create lasting impact.
How do we coach, inspire and equip parents to help their families be shaped by God’s story?
We must give a greater emphasis on coaching, inspiring and equipping parents to help their families be shaped by God’s story. We must model this in our ministries, and invest energy and resources in coming alongside parents and guiding them in this endeavor. Thank you, Ivy, for this excellent resource!
Have you ever considered celebrating a Passover Seder with your group? Being a part of a Seder is a high light of my year… it provides a unique experience for us to embrace rich Hebrew traditions that point to Jesus as the Messiah. I developed a Messianic Seder Booklet – called a Haggadah – a few years ago. Each Haggadah booklet guides participants through interactive exercises, readings and prayers that tie together the stories of the Exodus and Last Supper. I am by no means an expert on Jewish tradition, but I think this booklet is pretty helpful for those new to the experience.
Have you ever considered hosting an Echo Workshop? February has been packed with many fun and rewarding opportunities to lead workshops for local ministries.
Though it may seem easy at first, Bible Storying is hard to lead! To be effect you must guide people toward a new way of learning. Storying has a unique rhythm that takes skill and a new perspective. You must build a new culture of learning and anticipation. I LOVE helping local church volunteers and staff explore how to lead this process effectivity. Consider having me come for a visit and lead a workshop for your team of 6 or more. I led 20 workshops just in the past year! Click here for more information on hosting a workshop for your group.
My friend Amy Dolan wrote a complimentary article about Bible Storying and my book for the Jan/Feb issue of Children's Ministry Magazine. The article also features insights from Amy and Gary Strudler, a veteran Children's Ministry Pastor from Oregon. Both have been using storying and partnered with me on different occasions. Amy leads LemonLime Kids a innovative ministry that helps churches envision a fresh approach to teaching and leading children. Check it out HERE.
"Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand."
A few years ago I stitched together a narrative about the birth of Jesus. Listen to the story told by my friend Kelly Dolan, or download a pdf or mp3. Peace to you during this season of hope and anticipation.
I am already getting excited about the workshop opportunities that are coming up this spring. I still have plenty of openings to come for a visit to your area, too!
I will be hosting two workshops in the midwest:
February 4, 2010 Grand Rapids, MI – Cornerstone University PDF FLYER
February 8, 2010 Elgin, IL – Imago Community PDF FLYER
if you would like to join us!
And please consider hosting a workshop in 2010.
In just the past few weeks, we’ve gotten official confirmation that MERGE 2010 is happening! We’ve got dates, locations, details, and even a new updated web site: www.mergeexperience.com.
MERGE is a 6-day event that I co-lead with Imago, gathering high school students from across the country to Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI.
The event works to engage the imagination of students by helping them experience the story of God through multiple forms of learning such as storytelling, dialogue, interactive experiences, contemplative journaling and more.
One of the uniquenesses of the event is that it is truly shaped by the students and groups who attend. They’re encouraged to learn and respond according to their giftedness, and often create ridiculously thoughtful, artful responses throughout the week.
As we head towards June 27-July 2, 2010, we hope you’ll consider being a part of MERGE. Please visit the website for more details about how you and your student ministry group can attend.
Also, follow all the preparation for MERGE via Facebook and Twitter.
Next Friday, October 9th I will be a part of the Scribble Sessions in Louisville, KY. This is a really interesting idea... 8 "youth ministry minds" will be sharing their passions and innovations, given 30 minutes and a whiteboard. I love that they are trying to do something different and emphasize a visual medium to help express our ideas.
If you are interested in coming, use the code "Whiteboard" to get the conference for just $49! That is a bargain! Hope to see you there. http://www.scribblesessions.com/
I've had a great week at the National Youth Worker's Convention in LA! Even though I've been fighting a nasty cold, it has been a really encouraging week. I've had so many meaningful conversations with youth workers who are hungry to help students find them selves in God's Story. You can access the session handout here at the bottom of my list or articles (login required):
I recently met a youth leader named Jeremy at a workshop I was leading in Ohio. I was really encouraged to hear how he has been using Bible Storying in his context. Here is an excerpt from an email he sent me last week. BE ENCOURAGED!!
"I just wanted to take a moment and let you know of the impact storying has had on my life and also the ministry I am leading. I went to a workshop back in the spring where Mike you lead a group of us youth leaders in the storying journey in Greenville, Ohio. I had just finished reading the book and was excited to learn from the "pro" on how to make the Bible come alive and eager to learn more about this way of doing ministry. After taking the next couple of months researching, praying, thinking, and reading about storying I decided this was something our youth ministry would do come fall. This would give me enough time to prepare things in advance and also give me a time to "test run" things at a week of camp I was going to be leading.
For the week of camp we did storying 13 times to cover major stories from Genesis through Revelation. Each time it was amazing as students were focused and engaged for our whole time together. Sometimes we would go for about 90 minutes as the discussion was rich and the implications for our lives just kept pouring out with each new story. It was also neat to see how they could make the connections from one story to the next so easily. We also drew our own symbols and images of each story which made things come to life some more. Each day the students were excited about what the next story would be and how it would connect with the others. One student said after camp "For the first time the old boring Bible stories came to life and I experience God in a new way. I now see how interesting each story is and how they are connected with each other." Truly a testimony to the power of storying in a group. One of my students who typically does not follow very well loved the experience so much she can't wait for us to start it in our youth group. In fact, she is disappointed we are starting things right away. Never in my 9 years of ministry has this happened, when a student was eager to start our teaching times."
– Jeremy, Youth Leader from Hamilton, OH
I love to work with volunteer teams! I still have availability to come and lead a workshop for your church, ministry or network. If you are interested, click HERE for details.
In addition to working on the programing for the DCLA events, I wrote scripts for three videos. The videos were produced by my partners at Imago, and they did a great job in a time crunch (they had less than three weeks start to finish for the videos!)
Throughout the event Scott Erickson painted murals that represent key elements of the stories. The picture in this post is represents God’s kingdom. I love the style of his work.
DCLA day three began with Learning Labs focusing on loving others. Several youth workers shared with me that their students were really connecting with the content from the Labs. I led Bible Storying workshop in afternoon. I worked hard to try and fit my content into 75 minutes! This was a smaller group than Friday’s workshop-10 people. I was thrilled with this size group because it allowed for more dialogue and interaction. The group really engaged in the Storying experience, sharing creative, deep and wonderfully insightful observations. I left this session so encouraged!
The evening focused on stories from Jesus life. Mandee Radford (from the music group Alathea) shared powerfully about God’s Kingdom. She said, “Jesus flipped everything around, The kingdom of God is less like a palace or a castle but more like a group of people sharing what they have...having a meal together on a hill.” She went on to connect this with the feeding of the five thousand. Then, Marquis Laughlin gave a riveting telling of the story of Jesus’ trial and death.
Day Four was a shorter day. Following the morning Labs was the final Big Room Session. My favorite moment of this session was when Mandee pointed to the thread of the Holy Spirit being present and active throughout the biblical story. She did a wonderful job of connecting us from the current story of the Day of Pentecost all the way back to God’s Spirit hovering over the waters in Creation. Then she gave the observation that God’s Spirit often rests on those who you’d least expect... like humble shepherds. She pointed to shepherds throughout the Bible–and the most important shepherd, Jesus the good shepherd.
I really enjoyed being a part of DCLA. I am greatful that Youth Specialties allowed me to have a voice in this event and was willing to try something new. My hope is that students gained a sense of their role in of the amazing Story of God.
Day Two of Youth Specialties’ DCLA Event in Los Angeles began with Learning Labs. These were clusters of seven students, split up from their youth group to discuss and interact around content guided by media and booklets. Adult leaders formed their own groups around the same content. Student leaders helped keep the conversation moving, with some content given by presenters.I like this model of learning, and it was evident from the first session that students do too. They seemed engaged for the entirety of the time and were candid in their responses. Session one focused on BEING, with discussion and activities centered on discovering our identity in Christ. Steve Gerali did a really good job developing this material.
I taught a workshop on Bible Storying in the afternoon. It is always a struggle for me to compress my presentation into an hour. The hardest part is trying to shorten the story of my experience. It sets up the problem and casts vision, but it is too long! Thankfully, the group of about 50 people seemed engaged. It took lots of energy to keep them engaged right after lunch-and in a gigantic room that swallowed up the sound of my voice. All in all, I feel blessed to be able to share with people my journey and inspire them toward involving their students in their own learning.
The evening Big Room (Whole Group) opened with an interviews-style video recap of the day. Students shared how the Labs had shaped their thinking about God and themselves. It was powerful. The Big Room session continued with a focus on telling God’s Story. It picked up the story of the Israelites, navigating through a large span of narratives from different communicators and video clips.
The level of artistry and variety was engaging. It was a little challenging, however, to gain a sense of the story as a whole. It seems like the event really needs a continual visual device to show the interconnectivity of the stories.
Lots of good “mini-messages” were given. Two stood out to me: Francis Chan unpacked the story of Jonah, giving detail about the context and emotion of the story I’d never thought about. Mandee continued to do a solid job of telling Bible stories and interweaving her own journey through related stories. She is good at making the stories clear and accessible for all.
