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The Annunciation story, Joseph's dream visit from the angel Gabriel and an improvised interview between Luke the evangelist and an aged Mary were tales explored the opening night, last October, of "Stepping into the Bible through Storytelling."

Sponsored by the diocesan Consultation Center in Albany, this four-week class allows adults to enter into both Old and New Testament tales through dramatic play.

John Courtney, a Consultation Center therapist and student of psychodrama, and Marni Gillard, a storyteller, introduced the concept of "biblio-drama." Participants and teachers, with Bible texts in hand, review each story. They imagine the scene, possible silent or speaking characters, and the dialogue and action.

Biblio-drama is not about memorizing Scripture. It's about trying on" a Bible story's action and experience its emotions to learn what it has to teach us about God and ourselves. As in Ignatian spirituality, participants combine the intellect and imagination to find themselves in the Bible narrative.

As a group, using small props or scarves, they establish a story's scene: a garden, a doorway or window, animals or people, or a hill to climb. Participants volunteer to play the roles of characters.

Some choose the role of observer, later naming what they noticed by remaining outside the action. One long-time Bible student became a silent tree in Mary's garden, wanting to witness the angel's visit and sense the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Another played Mary's angel, but preferred only to witness the angel's late-night dream visit to Joseph. One participant suggested a non-biblical scene of Luke visiting the aged Mary as she recalled her Annunciation and Jesus' young life.

During the closing discussion that night, participants spoke of the importance of balancing text and imagination as well as spiritual and emotional truth. They committed to deep listening and the use of "I-statements," keeping the focus on themselves to avoid passing judgment on anyone's personal experience of the dramatized Bible passage.

At the end of the first evening, the assembled group chose the Bible stories for the remaining three sessions. Their choices reflected their interests and improved participation. They selected "The Prodigal Son," "Joseph's Journey to the Land of Pharaoh," and "Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel."

All three led the group to look deeply at how families face struggles and choose or disavow love.

Rev. Patrick Rice, a newly-ordained second-career priest, found fun and enlightenment playing the wayward prodigal son, who demands and then wastes his father's inheritance. The group asked to add a mother character, which provided insights into how a family's males can be influenced by a strong female.

The older, resentful son's character was played by a Bible scholar who admitted that the story reflected aspects of his own family's drama and the difficulty of accepting justice as a loving Father God sees it. That story alone stretched all of us.

"Stepping into the Bible Through Storytelling" will be offered again Oct. 5, 12, 19 and 26 for anyone who would find the experience fun and educational. Each session is unique; participants don't have to attend all four. The group will meet at the diocesan Pastoral Center in Albany. The cost is $50 before Sept. 28 or $55 after. To register through the Consultation Center, call (518) 489-4431. For more information, contact [email protected].

(Ms. Gillard is a Catholic storyteller based in Schenectady. See www.marnigillard.com.)[[In-content Ad]]

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