Conversations with A Storyteller

Have you ever met a storyteller who draws you in? Not someone who twists the truth, but someone who makes you want to know what happens next, connects you with the characters, and helps you discover your own path?

Recently I had a conversation with Sam Carter Gilliam, a performance artist, storyteller, educator, and member of Actors’ Equity Association who has performed across The United States. Sam believes that storytelling can help heal one of the maladies of today. We often hear just a part of a story and move on, thinking we understand it fully. When we don't ask more questions or explore further, we miss out on valuable insights for ourselves and our community. Storytelling is a Practice in Wellbeing. It teaches us to reach deeper and to connect.

Sam told me, “Through my biblical women’s portraits, I am healed repeatedly by the intimacy forged with these women’s lives—a connection that goes far beyond the text itself. It’s a relationship born between the lines, a deepening created by the dance of imagination and the discipline of concerted study.” For example she continued, “My interpretation of the Samaritan Woman at the Well, which you will hear about at our retreat, challenges the assumptions we’ve made. It breaks open the tale in entirely new ways.”

“Stories are not spectator sports,” insists Sam. “Stories want us to participate, to walk in their worlds, to live with the characters within. Stories can save our lives. And that’s exactly what biblical stories aim to do.”

I look forward to spending time with Sam and others in the community next Saturday, experiencing the art of storytelling.

Are you curious? Join us for a chance to explore the power of story and celebrate the ways we connect through it. More information and registration is available on our website under “Programs”.

Learning and growing together,

The Rev. Mary Bea Sullivan

Director