Orality, Storying, and Cross-language Story Crafting
The OneStory Partnership (www.onestory.org) is opening one of its foundational training modules to a wider audience August 7-15, 2008 in Dallas. This is the only time this open training module will be offered in the U. S. this year.
This module is for people who would like to experience first-hand how OneStory projects work and the oral, highly-participatory training methods they use. This particular module introduces orality, storying, and cross-language story-crafting, that is, working with mother tongue speakers of the language to help them learn the biblical story and tell it in their own culture’s storytelling style.
This is a good occasion for strategists and administrators to see if a OneStory project would be an appropriate strategy for their work. It is also a good opportunity for someone contemplating doing a project to get a hands-on acquaintance with it. Sponsoring churches may also want to send representatives so that they get a better grasp of what’s involved. Download the Flyer.
Articles on Orality and Oral Culture
The January – June 2007 issue of Dharma Deepika includes three articles which focus on Orality and Oral Culture. Included in this volume are the following articles, “Orality and Anthropological Issues” by George Edward, “The Extent of Orality” by Grant Lovejoy, and “A Literate Walk Down an Oral Road” by J. O. Terry. Dharma Deepika, A South Asian Journal of Missiological research, is a magazine published in India. It is an academic journal dedicated to open inquiry of issues related to the Church's mission in contemporary South Asia, and is published by the Deepika Educational Trust. Dharma Deepika can be found in some theological/seminary libraries.
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Courses in Orality
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary's trustees have approved a new track in orality studies for the master of arts in intercultural studies degree. Read the article.
Storytelling at SEBTS
One of the ways we get people to act on our ideas is by telling stories. Read article by David Phillips.http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=26625
Getting Started in Storying
J.O. Terry has just written Basic Bible Storying to help people get started using Bible storytelling. Read more http://www.churchstarting.net/books.htm
Storytelling Festival of Carolina
2nd Annual Storytelling Festival of Carolina
April 26-27, 2008
For more information visit www.sfoc.info
Teaching Stories Foster Brain Development
A form of literature little-known in the West but common in Afghanistan can help develop thinking skills and perceptions, says neuropsychiatric expert Robert Ornstein. Read more.
Bible translation calls for strong cultural awareness, attention to sound
Translators and Bible Society workers are giving extra attention to how the Bible sounds, especially in oral cultures. This is an encouraging trend. Dr. Margaret Muthwii, a United Bible Societies translation consultant based in Kenya, recently explained this. Here are excerpts from the article in UBS World Report. Read More
The Difference in Learning the Bible and Learning "About" the Bible
What would possess a group of 40 Deaf believers to gather into a small, cramped apartment in a city in Transylvania, Romania, for 6 hours on Sunday afternoon, after already having “been to church” earlier that same morning? It has to do with an experience they had to learn scripture, instead of learning about scripture. Read more