Origin Story
When I was six years old at Harrison Elementary School in California, the first-graders gathered in one classroom, the film-projector rolled and we all watched The Red Balloon, Albert Lamorisse’s stunning short film made in Paris in 1956.
Apparently, in the sixties and seventies, The Red Balloon was made available inexpensively in the US and, as a result, and probably because it featured a child (the director’s 5-year-old son), it was projected in school libraries and cafeterias across the country, becoming, in the following decades, the largest-selling nontheatrical print in American history but also a shared and unlikely touchstone for many people of this generation.
What I remember is that my first-grade heart was broken by the beauty of this little film. This speaks to the power of story to reach deep inside of us and move us even if we do not fully grasp its meaning. After all, I could not have known that The Red Balloon, in its own way, told the Easter story – death and resurrection — but I did know, intuitively, that it was relating profound truths: about the challenges of love; the ultimate victory of good over evil; that in our worst moments of despair there is hope; and so much more.
Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact.
— Robert McKee
Jesus: Master Storyteller
The most famous storyteller in the Christian paradigm was Jesus. He understood that to connect with the people he met, he would have to package his message in the trappings of a good story. His disciples ask him directly about this approach in the Book of Matthew (The Message translation):
10 …“Why do you tell stories?”
11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight…”
So his parables featured “farmers and seeds, labor and wages, yeast and bread;” they were thoroughly relatable. And Jesus, attuned to human nature, knew his audience and knew how to engage them with a story and then challenge them. How much more effective this was than lecturing, threatening, cajoling, or berating… The receptivity of the listener was key; otherwise the message would be lost.
Sunday Storytellers
It’s the same in the Sunday school classroom. We get this chance, once a week, for a single hour (at the most!), to connect with the children we serve. To go deep, quickly, is the almost impossible challenge we face. But I believe stories are just the tool to make this possible.
Sunday Storytellers began in 2009 when I was the Christian Education Director for St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Keller, TX. I was looking for something to use with children who had already spent several years participating in Godly Play and were ready for something different but still grounded in Godly Play practices and rhythms, like: the centrality of the story; the rhetorical wondering questions; and the creative art response. I had a background in librarianship and had spent a fair amount of time at the children’s desk so I drew from my love of picture books to create a simple curriculum. Volunteers loved using the books and the children were receptive — even enthusiastic — about the stories. When I moved to Western Washington I brought the Sunday Storytellers method with me to Grace Bainbridge Island where I served as Children & Families Coordinator. Again, the ease of use and the immediate positive feedback from the children, confirmed that this was an approach that could be adapted to almost any church setting.
When when I started working for the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia as the Canon Missioner for Faith Formation, I began sharing out the curriculum that I had created over the years to churches that were looking for that combination of easy-to-use and maximum-engagement-of-children. The final step has been pulling everything together onto this beautiful, intuitive website, designed by Josh deLacy of Branded Look.
The hope is that this free, accessible curriculum will help you meet the needs of the children (and their families!) in your congregation. Sunday Storytellers was originally designed for “Sunday School” but can be used any day of the week, in any setting, and for all ages.