i’ve been helping to lead Vacation Bible School for decades. Over the years, I’ve had many different jobs in the program. I’ve helped with games, assisted with crafts and led mission centers. I’ve led songs, taken photos and helped to serve meals. But hands down, my favorite role in Vacation Bible School is the one I have this year: storyteller. I love to tell stories. And I love to tell stories to children.

Here are my credentials as a storyteller:

• I have a seminary degree and I’ve invested a lifetime in bible study, so I know the stories pretty well.
• I was a staff writer for the Vacation Bible School curriculum “The Storyteller Series.” I attended writer’s conferences and my contributions were published in curricula that was sold throughout the English-speaking part of the world.
• My grandson once told my wife, “I think that grown ups with beards are the best story readers.” His father does not have a beard, nor does his other grandfather, so I was the only one present who qualified.
• My granddaughter recently responded to my wife when she asked who should read stories, “I go up to grandpa!”

I’ve never been very good at doing voices that sound like actual characters, but I have quite a bit of vocal variation and my grandchildren think I do a pretty good Cookie Monster and an acceptable Grover for Sesame Street stories.

Storytelling is a skill that requires practice and honing. I’ve invested years in listening to preachers and storytellers and analyzing the difference between the written word and the spoken word. Writing requires some skill at self-editing. We often use too many words in our writing and learning to cull unnecessary words is a key to good writing. But good writing doesn’t mean that the document will be interesting when spoken out loud. While sparse language can be dramatic when reading out loud - think of poetry - there is room for more repetition and verbal flourishes when speaking out loud. Most importantly, when speaking out loud, rhythm and pitch are essential in keeping your audience interested and engaged. A good preacher or storyteller learns to look directly into the faces of the listeners and respond to their reactions to the story. You can speed up or slow down the pace in response to the listeners. You can raise or lower both pitch and volume to create interest and variety in your speech. Those adjustments require years of practice. I’ve delivered a lot of sermons in front of a mirror and even more in an empty church building. I still run through my sermons in the empty church early on Sunday morning each week. I do the same with the stories for the children in Vacation Bible School.

Our Vacation Bible School is only four nights long this year, so I am at the halfway mark. I’ve told two of the focus stories of our program and I have two more presentations left to make. Last night after I had told the story and as I began to focus on how I will tell tonight’s story, the hymn with words by Katherine Hankey came to my mind:

I love to tell the story
Of unseen things above
Of Jesus and his glory
Of Jesus and his love

I love to tell the story
Because I know 'tis true
It satisfies my longings
As nothing else can do

I love to tell the story
'Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love

I love to tell the story
For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest

And when in scenes of glory
I sing the new, new song
'Twill be the old, old story
That I have loved so long

I love to tell the story
'Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love

In the corner of the tradition where I grew up, the hymn is sung at a reasonably slow pace. We don’t rush it when we are singing it. And we sing the chorus after every verse.

There are a few things about my work that are less pleasant for me. I’m not excited about supervising contractors or debugging the computer network. I wish the church had enough money to just hire someone else to install the extension it needs to make the wireless network function properly. I’m no fan of making reports to the denomination. I get snowed by the mountains of emails and other communications. Some days I am less than creative in my responses to the many appeals for money that come my way.

But I love to baptize children. I feel like leading funerals is a distinct honor. I am always ready to offer a prayer or table grace at any occasion. And I love to tell stories from the Bible just like the song says.

I don’t remember too many details from being a student in Vacation Bible School when I was a child. I know that we participated every year. I know that our mother was a frequent volunteer leader. I remember some of the other teachers with their different styles. I remember the picnic at the end of VBS. I remember having games in the park. I also can tell you several stories that I learned in Vacation Bible School. They were mostly narrative stories with strong characters. Those are the easiest stories to tell. Some of them are repeated in all four gospels. Beyond all of that, however, what I remember is that we were welcomed into the church and surrounded by adults who really cared about us.

That’s the message I try to convey in Vacation Bible School: “You are welcome and loved in this place.” I hope that message comes through the stories and games and crafts and mission projects, so that one day in the future, when each individual needs it most, she or he will remember VBS and return to the church for love and care and support.

Copyright (c) 2019 by Ted E. Huffman. I wrote this. If you would like to share it, please direct your friends to my web site. If you'd like permission to copy, please send me an email. Thanks!