by Katherine Crockett

As a first-time attendee with fresh eyes there were a few things that stood out for me at the 2007 Festival Gathering.

Quickly stated, the great things were:

1. There were fabulous, great, wonderful storytellers around every corner. There were also storytellers of all calibers, so I felt comfortable!

2. The range of classes and activities was as great as the range of talents.

3. We newbies were constantly invited to jump right in. (Thank you, tour guides and others!)

4. The level of trust allowed everyone to stretch.

As a bit of a disclaimer, I should mention that there are six new-ish storytellers at my church, St. Cross-by-the-Sea Episcopal in Hermosa Beach, CA who have been trained by NOBS board member, Dina Ferguson. Four of us came together and, at Dina's suggestion, we all had parts in the Epic Telling. So, I'm not exactly a typical first-timer. What's amazing is that we four sat together for the keynote presentations but then almost didn't see each other again because of the great variety of program offerings. (We did wave to one another across the dining room since we all ate lunch with scholars.) Everyone felt really free to try different stuff.

St. Cross-by-the-Sea Storytellers (l-r) Kathy Shinkle, Katherine Crockett, Dina Ferguson, Susan Tucker.

In the "It's a small world" category: I met Trudy LaLonde, from the small town of Port Angeles, WA, where one of my co-tellers will be moving in 2009. I'm sure Mary will be delighted to know of another teller in town. Then, I met Susan Meers, and we discovered that we both attended tiny Rice University in Houston at nearly the same time. Wonder who's next?

As one of six tellers at my church, I've told three stories there in the last 18 months. My favorite is Luke 5:1-11 -- the great catch of fish -- and I actually told it in a Master coaching workshop with Pam Faro. But I also told it earlier that same morning to some local folks.

I had eaten breakfast, walked the labyrinth, and was heading down to stroll along the river when a couple walking their LARGE dog saw my name tag and asked what the conference was. After some chit chat about storytelling in general, and their local Presbyterian church, I offered to tell them a story. Being right by a river (with fish, right?) I proceeded to tell about boats, Simon, nets, fish, disciples, and following the Way. They were, of course, properly amazed. Which shows what can happen when NOBS invites everyone to jump right in.

In the "never a dull moment" category: the missing (video) link was easily overcome. Many tellers showed how much humor (that isn't found in reading) there is in telling. There were striking costumes (but many more shorts and sandals); there were fantasized endings (the Prodigal Son and older brother meet St. Peter); there were dramatic and tear-jerking performances; there were ridiculous games. Did I mention we were encouraged to jump right in, especially to the games?

So far at my church we tell just the gospel, and only when the lectionary gives us a good tellable story. David Rhoads' keynotes on telling Paul's letters were eye-opening and stunning. Both the extent of telling and the style were compelling. Gives me ideas ...

The other eye-opener was the range of ways people are doing this, aside from the worship service: senior centers, prisons, hospitals, etc. While I felt limited by the brevity of my stories (two to three minutes), I heard of ways to add material both before and after the actual tellings to make a "story sandwich" of even a short Bible passage. Gives me more ideas ...

And the final great thing about the NOBS Festival Gathering? It gave me so many new ideas!

Katherine Crockett is a former computer programmer who is now an income tax preparer in the Los Angeles area. She's been a storyteller for two years in an Episcopal church, and wherever else she finds a willing ear.

 
More stories and pictures from Festival Gathering 2007