On the National Storytelling Network Blog: New Workshop on Interfaith Storytelling

NSN logo

You probably had to be there…

Raising a quizzical eyebrow, she speaks with feigned ignorance and asks the oh-so-pregnant-with-meaning question: “Now, Pam…What are you a Master of?”

I take my cue…spread open my hands, raise eyes upward, and with a voice exuding a beatific awareness of the numinous, I answer in a breathless, awestruck-yet-knowing tone…“Divinity!”

– Always, people chuckle! (though likely it’s a case of “you had to be there”…oral language, you know…)


This silly-fun little scene is one my storyteller/author friend Cherie Karo Schwartz (Circle Spinning: Jewish Turning and Returning Tales) and I have played out from time to time in the 10 years since I got my MDiv – and it’s how I begin my post for the June 24, 2014 NSN blog.  I hope you’ll click on over and read the whole thing!

NSN confIt’s an opportunity to introduce myself to the NSN readership and to offer background and context for the workshop I’ll be offering at this year’s National Storytelling Conference – July 24-27 in Phoenix AZ. [Storyteller Karen Chace has some wonderful resources and info connected with the conference in her recent blog post – click on over to Catch the Story Bug!]

New Workshop – “Interfaith Interplay: Sharing the Fire & Light of Sacred Stories”

Throughout my years of professional storytelling (26 and counting), I’ve given countless workshops on storytelling skills – guiding people to discover the storyteller that they already are, to develop their skills for crafting stories and telling them effectively, to explore and deepen internal imagery and creativity, and so on.

I’ve also developed a deep interest in and appreciation for interfaith storytelling – the intentional sharing of stories from across different faith and spiritual traditions. [You can read more about this here (“Andalusian Trilogy”) and here (“Interfaith Interplay”) on my website, and here in the blog post (“Andalusia – Stories That Connect Us”) from April 1, 2014.]   I decided to take my teaching and traveling and storytelling and seminary experience, and from all of that craft a new workshop:

“Interfaith Interplay” – inviting people to explore together and hold conversation about sharing sacred stories, and spiritual aspects found in the storytelling experience.

To help me prepare, I’m offering a free preview of this workshop locally, in Lafayette, Colorado this Saturday, June 28 (full details of free workshop here).

(If you receive my newsletter, you will have read about this in the inaugural/June issue.  If you don’t already receive it, you can sign up to subscribe to my newsletter in the right sidebar of this page, where it says “Sign up here for free newsletter”-!)

  • If you’re in the Denver-Boulder area, there’s still room and time to sign up for the free preview workshop! – I’m asking participants to pre-register by tomorrow, Thursday, June 26.  I have 20 confirmed attendees, but would be able and happy to welcome more!
  • And if you’ll be at the National Storytelling Conference, I’d love to see you in my workshop there – and/or let’s have a conversation in the hallway!
  • And/or, if you’re not in Denver-Boulder, Colorado, and if you’re not at the conference, and you are interested in this workshop…contact me and let’s talk about how I might be able to bring it to your area!

As I write in the close of the NSN blog post:

Let’s explore together how our spirits are nourished by our sacred stories, our deepest myths, our stories of personal challenge and transformation, the sharing of folklore and oral literature, and even by the silliest of Jack tales!

—–

P.S. As a companion resource for this topic, I’m striving mightily to get a self-published small book completed in the nick of time for the National Storytelling Conference – and even if it doesn’t appear in time for the conference, be on the lookout for (working title) How to Feed the Spirit with Storytelling – A Getting-Started Guide.  

Thanks for reading – Pam