Our sacred stories are meant to be told, out loud. Dried ink on beloved Bibles carried through the generations remind us of the power of God’s words, yet sometimes keep us from remembering holy scripture’s oral roots. Recovering this ancient practice equips us to bear witness to the story of God and God’s people, not merely chapters and verses.

Our Bibles are full of fascinating narratives just waiting to be lifted up off the page and placed down into the midst of God’s people. This workshop will address the what and why of biblical storytelling, its history in the ancient oral traditions, before diving headfirst into the how. We will look at a specific story during our time together, and hopefully participants will be halfway towards learning it themselves (or farther!) by the time we’re done.

The Rev. Jason Chesnut has been ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 2010, and has been a certified biblical storyteller for more than a decade. He has led storytelling workshops at synod assemblies and in church basements, online and face-to-face. Jason is passionate about telling the justice-centered story of Jesus, and in another life he’d be a wildlife photographer.