At Home Menu: Storytelling

Updated: Nov 2, 2021

This is a menu - don’t try to eat it all! Pick one or two suggestions to try at home

“Spiritual practices are tools that God gives us to connect to God and neighbor.” - Rev. Dr. Tanya Marie Eustace Campen

“When I grew up the Bible was a book my parents kept in the closet. It was very pretty with gold letters and glossy pictures.” - John Roberto

Scroll down for printable menus for children, youth, and families.

Adults

Appetizer: Getting hungry for spiritual practice
- Do you own a Bible? Go get it and hold it. Ask yourself, what kinds of feelings do I experience when I see a Bible? Am I curious? Do I feel a sense of anticipation? Am I intimidated? Am I angry? Now put down the Bible and ask yourself, Do I experience the Word of God in places other than the Bible? If so, where? If not, why? Decide if you want to put the Bible back where you found it or move it to a different place.
Main Course: Tasting the practice
- Make your own faith timeline. You can use pen and paper or create a mixed media version with craft supplies around the house. Label one end of your timeline “birth” and the other end “now.” In between, fill in points in your life that had an impact on your faith. - From The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times by Amelia Richardson Dress
Dessert: Using the practice to sweeten my life
- Make an easy Bible reading plan: Choose from the top 100 stories that tell the Bible’s whole story: https://hopechurchtw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Bible-Reading-Plan-E100.pdf
- Which Bible reading activity(s) do you (or your household) want to include in your life?
- When will you (or your household) make time for Bible reading in your day or week (upon rising, before bedtime, mealtime—breakfast or dinner, etc.)?
- Where will you (or your household) read the Bible (at the table, in the car, outdoors, quiet room in the house, etc.)?

Youth

Appetizer: Getting hungry for spiritual practice
- Some people have a “life scripture,” which is a biblical passage or quote that has particular meaning to them. If you already have a passage that’s special to you, make a piece of art inspired by the passage. Be creative! This can be painting, collage, poetry, or music, but consider doing something outside the ordinary for you. If you don’t have a life scripture, see if you can find a passage that speaks to you today, at this point in your life. - From The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times by Amelia Richardson Dress
- Alternative suggestion: Interview your parent or a member of the congregation to find out what their “life scripture” is and why. It is great practice to listen to someone’s story of faith.
Main Course: Tasting the practice
- Journal or draw the story of a challenging time in your life. How did you get through it? - From The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times by Amelia Richardson Dress
- Questions to go deeper: Do you remember a time when you felt your childhood had ended? a time when you realized that the world is more broken and more beautiful than you had known? or a time when God seemed different than you had imagined? What caused this change? Was it an exciting time? Was it sad, scary, or confusing? - From Way to Live: Christian Practices for Teens
Dessert: Using the practice to sweeten my life
- Read Scripture during worship at HUCC.

Kids

Appetizer: Getting hungry for spiritual practice
- Ask your parents the story of how they chose your name. If you were baptized, ask to hear a story about the day of your christening.
Main Course: Tasting the practice
- Story time: Create a story with your friends. One person sets the scene, another describes the characters, another starts the action rolling. After three sentences, another person picks up the story line, then another and another, until everyone has contributed at least once. Have the person who began the story bring it to a conclusion.
- Ask your parents questions about your ancestors:
  - Which member of our extended family do you like best? Why?
  - Which family member do people say you look like or act like? Why?
  - Which countries did our ancestors come from?
  - What does our family value? How can you tell?
Dessert: Using the practice to sweeten my life
- Bible Scavenger Hunt Download

Families

Appetizer: Getting hungry for spiritual practice
- Do you ask each other “How was your day?” What kind of response do you usually get? Have you ever tried saying, “Tell me about something that happened today.” How is the response different?
Main Course: Tasting the practice
- Look through a family photo album with your kids and see what stories emerge. - From The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times by Amelia Richardson Dress
- Telling stories can be a fun way to connect with the whole family. The format is simple - each person has a chance to tell a story, real or imaginary, and also to listen. The goal is short, easy stories - so no one feels pressured to “do it right.” By drawing inspiration from the previous story, you eventually get a “snowball effect” that turns into laughter, creativity, and lifelong memories. - From “A Storytelling Game for Families” at http://howtotellstoriestochildren.com
- Or, use this Story Jumble download with prompts to help young children make up their own stories.

Have different prompts for your household meal. Talk about favorite traditions, worst family vacation, funniest blunders and times when you were most proud of each other. Have someone record the answers and start a book of stories for your household.

Dessert: Using the practice to sweeten my life
- Borrow a story Bible from church and read one story at night together as a family. See which character stands out for each person. [If you want to buy one for your family, there are many wonderful story Bibles out there. Ask Pastor Chelsea for recommendations.] - From The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times by Amelia Richardson Dress

Digest

Absorbing the meaning of the practice

Read Chapter 1, “Sacred Reading: The Stories We Tell,” in The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times by Amelia Richardson Dress, available on Kindle

From Teacher Trent Parkhill: “Telling stories has been central to people throughout time. For example, the oldest stories in the Bible were passed down by telling the next generation for over a thousand years before they wrote them down. And each family has stories that they tell over and over. For example, we are just getting to know a friend of our youngest son in Zoom calls each week, and each week we find ourselves telling old stories. For any group, a family, a group of friends, a church, the stories remind us of how we are connected to each other, about the things we have in common, the care and maybe love that holds us together. When we share our stories with other people, friends, new people we meet, we may not think about it, but we are making a choice to bring them into our circle of family, of friends. We are saying they matter and we are offering to make a stronger connection with them. When we connect with people through our stories, we are saying that they matter to us, so we are loving our neighbor.”

Research has shown that children who know a lot about their families tended to do better when faced with challenges and have a greater sense of self. When we participate in the practice of intergenerational storytelling, we are fostering a sense of belonging and resilience. Hearing our ancestors’ stories of overcoming adversity remind us that we will be able to overcome hurdles too. Furthermore, when children share their story, they begin to connect their story to God’s larger story. The Bible tells the Story of God’s love. When we hear this Story, we meet Jesus. He invites us to join the Story and to share God’s love. The more we “get into” this Story, the more it gets into us and shapes the way we live.