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Faith Formation: Truth-Telling & Story Telling

Resources including: Children & Family Curricula & Storytime; Confirmation/Affirmation of Baptism; Denominational Resources; Tween & Teen Mental and Spiritual Health; Sexuality & Identity; and Online/At-Home Tech

Children's Books

All God's Critters Sing Allelu     As Babies Dream          The Big Book of Crack Yourself Up Jokes for Kids, Repackaged - By: Sandy Silverthorne     The Girl with Big, Big Questions          I Wish You Knew     A beautifully illustrated Bible for 4-8,encouraging children to wonder about our great God.     Laugh-out-loud Puns, Jokes, and Riddles for Kids (Laugh-out-loud Jokes for Kids): Elliott, Rob: 9780800742546: Amazon.com: Books          Mira and the Big Story (read by the author)     My Hands Tell a Story Trade Book (Hardcover)     Cover of My Story Friend     Poet, Pilgrim, Rebel: The Story of Anne Bradstreet, America's First Published Poet     The Raven and the Dove, The Big Fish, and The Stubborn Donkey     Sing, Aretha, Sing!     Steeped in Stories: Timeless Children's Novels to Refresh Our Tired Souls          Story Quilts: Appalachian Women Speak Trade Book (Hardcover)

Tweens & Teens Books

Ancestor Approved     The Big Book of Crack Yourself Up Jokes for Kids, Repackaged - By: Sandy Silverthorne     Courageous Creativity: Advice and Encouragement for the Creative Life     Girl/Friend Theology | God-Talk with Young People (Baker)     Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing     Story Quilts: Appalachian Women Speak Trade Book (Hardcover)     We're in This Together     When Kids Ask Hard Questions, Volume 2: More Faith-Filled Responses for Tough Topics

Remind Me Again: Poems and Practices for Remembering Who We Are

Poet, artist, and educator Joe Davis' Remind Me Again: Poems and Practices for Remembering Who We Are, is a collection of 41 poems that speak to our mind, body, and spirit, to our community, and to our purpose. Each poem includes a “Try This Practice” to help readers connect the themes to their everyday lives.

Coming Soon: Remind Me Again Facilitator Guide. 41 weeks of content based on all of the poems in Remind Me Again. This content is written by Rev. Jia Starr Brown. This content will help you have meaningful discussions about Joe’s poetry as well as help guide you to connect to your own community. This content is endlessly flexible and can be used as a 10-minute addition to a lesson or 41 weeks of hour-long sessions.

Adult Books

Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us     Beyond the Screen: Youth Ministry for the Connected But Alone Generation - By: Andrew Zirschky          Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World     Cornered by the Dark          The Good Book     The Great Reckoning     How the Word Is Passed     How to Have an Enemy     In the Way of the Story     Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation: Kobes Du Mez, Kristin: 9781631495731: Amazon.com: Books     Jesus Takes a Side     Liberated to the Bone     The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing Your Joy     Lurking Under the Surface: Horror, Religion, and the Questions That Haunt Us          Reading the Times     Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally     Shelter in This Place     Sistering | The Art of Holding Close and Letting Go (Dickey and Neff)     The Soul of the Family Tree     The Storied Church: A Strategy for Congregational Renewal     Storycraft: The Art of Spiritual Narrative               Turning Ourselves Inside Out: Thriving Christian Communities     Unsettling Truths     Upside Down Living     The Visual Preacher: Proclaiming an Embodied Word     When Kids Ask Hard Questions, Volume 2: More Faith-Filled Responses for Tough Topics     

In Our Library

Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt               Faithful Questions     Finding God in the Graffiti | Empowering Teenagers Through Their Stories (Rogers)          9780835899192: The God-Hungry Imagination: The Art of Storytelling for Postmodern Youth Ministry               Kitchen Table Youth Ministry | Inviting God to Dinner (Strukova)     25540140. sy475                Rising Strong by Brene Brown     The Sacred Selves of Adolescent Girls - Edited By: Evelyn L. Parker     2998655     9780787962579: Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families: Living the Faith in Daily Life     Shaped by the Story : Helping Students Encounter God in a New Way     Show Me a Story: 40 Craft Projects and Activities to Spark Children's Storytelling Cover Image               Book - Paperback     Cover Image          Book Cover for: Unearthing My Religion: Real Talk about Real Faith, Mary Gray-Reeves          When Kids Ask Hard Questions: Faith-filled Responses for Tough Topics               Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with My Pen - By: Rachel Hackenberg     

Blogs, Podcasts, & Articles

BB_BoardBooks_BlogBanner6 Benefits of Reading Board Books with Babies and Young Children

May 14, 2021 11:42:00 AM / by Beaming Books

  • Build a Close Bond
  • Enhance Vocabulary Development
  • Encourage Exploration
  • Entertain Them
  • Make Connections
  • Restful Sleep

we wonder original.pngWE WONDER

Contemplative Bible Storytelling for Children & Grownups Alike

The Transformative Power of Film

Gabes Torres

November 20, 2022

Decorative ImageHow Storytelling Can Help Your Church Grow in Faith

“When my father was about 10 years old, he was late getting out of the house for school one day. He grabbed his metal lunch pail and ran out the door to Aunt Lena’s waiting car full of all his siblings. But his feet couldn’t keep up with his body (or his lunch pail) and as his sisters describe it, he went flying into the air, whacked himself on the head with his lunch pail, and fell to the ground, lifeless. . . .”

Continue reading.

A person sharing their story in a small group“The Power of Storytelling in Ministry” featuring Jee Hae Song

How can storytelling impact your ministry? And how can you inspire others to share their stories? Jee Hae Song believes we all have gifts for storytelling. In this podcast episode she shares part of her story to inspire others to share how God works in their lives.

Decorative ImageShare Faith Stories This Summer

Summer is a great time to incorporate storytelling into gatherings, whether they happen in church or around a campfire. The Faith Storytelling toolkit offers ideas to get you started.

Flyaway Books - Home | FacebookFree Activity Pack from Flyaway Books

This activity pack includes a variety of coloring pages and activities inspired by their picture books.

Faith Practices At Home

from Traci Smith, includes videos for Hospitality, Prayer, Retreat, Service, Storytelling, and Holy Week

Featured News ImageHolding the Tension of Opposites

An Alternative Orthodoxy helps us discern which stories to include and which to transcend.

The Mystical Body of Zoom by Diana Butler Bass

Online church is a gift to be embraced.

How To Use Flipgrid In The Classroom Tutorial - YouTubeInvite kids to share their own stories using Flipgrid.

Sharing God’s Big Story With Kids

Why follow Jesus if you don’t believe all of scripture?

by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers

AND

God Is No Longer a Working Number: Rethinking Christianity for the Twenty-first Century

by Martin Thielen

Both include helpful insights when walking youth through faith and the Bible.

cover image conversation cards for every story.jpg

Doing Good Together encourages families to explore Our [Nation's] Storied History with children to empower all kids with stories that inspire civic engagement and a hunger for justice; includes picture books and books for teens and adults.

On Being with Krista Tippett

Jessica Guleth wonders, "What does it look like for the voices of our youth to be invited in, heard and included in the ways we do for adults? What needs adjusting in our minds and hearts to see and hear them as members?" in The Future of the Church Is Young.

Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing

Download the free Mightier than the Sword Activity Pack for kids to continue learning about people who have changed the world through writing!

Community Stories

Check out the SoulPancake website: full of beautiful stories to inspire, encourage, and deepen conversations.

Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence at SMU

Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence offers a list of Storytelling Websites for honing the craft.

Kairos Blanket Exercise

The Kairos Blanket Exercise is available with in-person or virtual facilitation, leading people through locally adapted scripts to appreciate the significant historical and generational toll colonization has had on Indigenous communities.

GOOD DOCS

GoodDocs offers high quality streaming video documentaries and speakers covering a range of topics through diverse lenses.

1- to 3-year subscriptions are available for congregations.

See our Great Idea for one way to incorporate documentaries/speakers into congregational life and outreach.

HEALING MINNESOTA STORIES: SACRED SITES TOURS

As part of Healing Minnesota Stories' effort to create dialogue, understanding, and healing between Native and non-Native peoples, Minnesota Council of Churches offers Sacred Site Tours of the Twin Cities area. The tour includes information on Dakota history, culture, and sacred sites, as well as the oppression and genocide they faced, and ultimately their exile.

As the topics are quite serious the tours are considered age appropriate for high-school age or older.

Learn more and register here.

Websites

Picture Book Theology

Build The Kindom (sic) of God while finding The Sacred in The Ordinary in pages of profound, beautiful picture books.

Hanna Schock maintains the Picture Book Theology website and leads workshops and sacred lessons.

Webinars & Trainings

The HearthCERTIFICATE TRAINING IN COMMUNITY STORYTELLING

The Hearth offers in-person and online Certificate in Community Storytelling trainings for those interested in learning and applying the transformational power of stories in personal and professional settings. These specialized certification programs will assist community and organizational leaders in learning a variety of skills, techniques, and processes for producing community storytelling programs and using story as a practice to heal, strengthen, and enrich relationships.

“In a time of increased polarization, it is storytelling that can connect us.”

– Mark Yaconelli

BIPOC Scholarships available

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HEARTH’S CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

CONVERGENCE offers numerous leadership and community development webinars on-demand or in a cohort: