Greetings to all of you who were at the meeting, and to those who were not.
There were 8 of us, including Steve Yoder, who joined us for the first time, although he's been on the Guild list for quite some time.
 
Here's what we talked about...
 
1. Tom Boomershine, fresh from a meeting of the Board of the Network of Biblical Storytellers, reports that the acronym 'NOBS' will be phased out and replaced by "NBS".  Seems that, as we have more conversations with biblical tellers in England and Australia, "NOBS" does not translate across cultures well.
In support of that change, my future emails will use "NBS" in the subject line instead of NOBS.
 
2. Biblical Storytelling & the Arts workshop, at Christian Theological Seminary, April 5.
Amelia has laid out our part of the morning plenary session; Janet and Joyce will be working out the details on the afternoon workshop.  If you're involved in this project, watch for separate emails.
 
Looks like there will be carpools from Dayton and Cincinnati to Indianapolis, so even if you're not involved and want to attend, you can probably find a ride.
 
NBS sent us flyers advertising this event. I still have some left; let me know if you need some.
 
3. Stories of Peace and Reconciliation
We spent the major part of the meeting investigating the 4 Core stories we've selected:
- David & Abigail (1 Samuel 25:2-35)
- Feeding your enemies (2Kings 6:8-23)
- Betrayal and Breakfast (John 18:12-18, 25-27, 21:1-19)
- The Good Samaritan (personal narratives); 2 have been turned in & emailed out; 2 more to come
 
Remember, the assignment is for each of us to learn all 4 stories, plus 1-2 other Bible or faith stories that are related to the theme.  When you have identified the other stories you want to tell, please email me the title and length to tell (in minutes).
 
We already have one commitment for this telling:
National Day of Prayers, May 1, Thursday at Southminster,
Schedule is: 5pm, space available for set up; 6:30 coffee & light refreshments for guests; program 7-8pm.
Marj Lawson is our GDCC contact; more details as we get closer.
 
We'd like to get other bookings for this program, too.  Soon as I can get it together, I'll be sending you a brochure/press release that you can give out to organizations you know that might be looking for programs.
 
4. NBS challenge
Tom reminded us that at the last Festival Gathering, he challenged all tellers to have Biblical storytelling become a regular part of worship at their home churches.  To support that, he encouraged us to check out Tom and Amelia's business website http://www.gotell.org for resources on the Common Lectionary and on how to start telling groups at local churches.
 
5. Esther DVD is available.
We'll sell them for $10/copy, but Cortney Haley brought copies for all of us. The DVD includes the telling, intro to Esther by Lisa Wolfe, suggestions on forming a storytelling guild and an interview with Tom Boomershine about Biblical storytelling.
 
6. And in our prayers:
Elaine Parulis-Wright, recovering from hip surgery
Nadine Abernathy, having knee surgery soon
Tom and Amelia Boomershine and biblical storytellers as they leave March 5 for a storytelling mission to Gambia.
 
I've also been asked for an updated Guild member address list; I'll send that out separately, soon.
 
Reminder:
our next meeting will be Thursday, March 27, same time, same place.
I'll sent a meeting reminder out about a week in advance.

Notes by Joyce Orr
513-677-9969, joyceorr4@gmail.com