Revelation is both an inspiring book and a dangerous one. At our June meeting we will get basics about the book as a whole, and then focus on the concluding vision in Revelation 22:1-6. We’ll use it to explore a “praying in color with scripture” process from the book Praying in Color by Sybil MacBeth. This process is the author’s adaptation of lectio divina using colored pencils. Fear not, no art skills required, just a willingness to engage the scripture thoughtfully and try something new.
In May, Amelia Boomershine taught this story and three others from Revelation at the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton. She’s also using it in a workshop at the Festival Gathering of the Network of Biblical Storytellers in August.
And below are the awesome meeting notes from the May meeting, submitted by our awesome leader, Janet Steele!
CinDay Guild Meeting – May 23, 2023
Location: Ohio River Valley District Offices, 7388 E. Kemper Road, Cincinnati
Attendees: Tom and Amelia Boomershine, JoAnne Rouse Clark, Darrell Miller, Ed Steele, Janet Steele (notes)
Absent: Gye Miller, Ellen Patton
Meeting began at 7:10 p.m. – There was a delay in setting up the Zoom meeting. Apologies to anyone who was attempting to attend. Zoom was not offered tonight.
Opening Prayer – Darrell wrote the opening prayer, a requirement for his completion of “Leading Public Prayer” through BeADisciple.com. Amelia requested that the group offer prayer for the concerns collected during her women’s ministry in the Montgomery County facility. Tom will attest that Darrell met the requirement and will report to the facilitator through BeADisciple.com. Darrell is close to completing all requirements to become a Certified Lay Speaker, a request he will through the Clifton U.M.C.charge conference, generally held in October.
Program Possibilities – JoAnne and Tom reported on possible locations for CinDay to present programs. JoAnne said SEM Terrace would be willing to host us in August. We agreed to the date of August 30 at 1:30 p.m. [When JoAnne went to confirm with SEM Terrace she was told that date was taken – we are now looking at a date in October.]
Tom said Friendship Village in Milford offered an open invitation for CinDay to present a program. We settled on September 19, time to be determined.
Both programs will center on the theme of “HOPE” and an invitation will be made to the wider CinDay Guild list of tellers to participate in this program. In addition to biblical stories of hope, tellers will be asked to prepare a parallel story of hope for the set. Storytellers are asked to bring a list of their stories, biblical and parallel, to the meeting in June. The August meeting date will be used for a rehearsal of the program to be offered.
District Directory – JoAnne proposed to Nancy Newton that when the new district directory be printed it include a list of biblical storytellers. Nancy agreed that would be helpful. An email will be sent to local storytellers in both the Ohio River Valley and Miami Valley Districts of the U.M.C. to ask if they would like to be included. ORV and MIV will be joined into Great Miami River District beginning July 1st so the list will include all persons from the CinDay Guild area.
Planning a Storyteller’s Funeral – Janet brought up the topic of funeral planning. In her experience the most scripture told at a funeral generally includes Psalm 23 and a passage from Revelation. Tom noted that funerals have developed a habit of requiring a family member to tell a joke about the deceased during the funeral service, where telling jokes and stories of remembrance are more appropriate for the wake after the service.
Janet structured her service around the hymn “I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry” from The Faith We Sing hymnal. Storytellers will be invited to tell the story of the raising of Lazarus from John, the wedding at Cana, the baptism of the Ethiopian eunich from the book of Acts, and other passages that parallel the hymn’s structure. In that way more Scripture will be told than what is normally heard during a memorial service.
Amelia indicated that she would like “Follow Me” by Mary Travers at her service. All were invited to reflect on what they would like to have story told at their memorials.
Casting the Nets – Tom asked that we widen our outreach through better communication of upcoming events. To that end, Amelia will write up a description of her presentation for the June meeting, “Praying in Color,” and Janet will ask that the information be included in both the MIV and the ORV District newsletters. Darrell has volunteered to prepare the program for the July meeting and we will use August as a rehearsal time for the HOPE program at Friendship Village and SEM Terrace.
Next Meeting – June 27 at 7:30 p.m. at ORV District offices. Amelia Boomershine will present “Praying in Color.”
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. at ORV District offices.