Dr. Tom Boomershine

Scripture by Heart:
Renewal of Performance of the Scriptures in Worship

Saturday, October 23, 2010
2:00 – 5:00 pm
Western Springs

Sunday, October 24, 2010
2:00 – 5:00 pm
Rogers Park, Chicago

The reading of the Scriptures is a major part of most worship services. The performance of the Scriptures in most churches has, however, received little attention and has become a ritual event during which little is happening. This workshop will introduce a process for the renewal of the performance of Scripture in worship. The goal of this workshop will be to enable every church to establish a “Scripture by Heart” group that will recite the Scriptures by heart every week.

This extension of the rediscovery of the vitality of the biblical storytelling tradition has proven to be a major source of energy and spiritual vitality in the churches that have adopted this ancient practice. This process is a dimension of a new paradigm of biblical interpretation that is based on the conclusion that the Scriptures were composed for performance to ancient communities and were experienced in vital oral presentations of the stories of God.

Dr. Tom Boomershine is an internationally known scholar and biblical storyteller who has led the rediscovery of the vitality of the Scriptures in worship. He is the founder of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, an international organization of persons who have as their mission to help everyone learn and tell biblical stories. As a professor of New Testament and Christianity and Communications at United Theological Seminary for 24 years, Tom developed methods for teaching people to become passionate witnesses to the power of the stories of God in the life of Israel and the early church. He and his wife, Amelia, have developed a website at GoTell.org that provides comprehensive resources of performances and commentary on the Gospel stories of the lectionary. Tom is the author of Story Journey: An Introduction to the Gospel as Storytelling and a series of scholarly and pastoral articles on the Bible as performance literature.

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