1
“Our Story, God’s Story: An Adventure in Prayer”
Background Information
In her book Soul Stories: African American Christian Education,1 Anne Streaty Wimberly clearly
outlines and explains the definition and purpose of African American Christian education. Her
model, “story linking,” is deeply rooted in African American history and can be traced back to the
slave era. Wimberly states that the purpose of her “story-linking” approach to Christian
education is to focus on liberation and vocation, thus enhancing the ability of both leaders and
students to make choices in their own lives. She identifies eight dimensions of liberation and
describes vocation as “a purpose for our lives that is related to caring for and helping others.” In
addition, she emphasizes the relationship between liberation and vocation.
The story-linking process itself has four main components:
1. Engaging the everyday story
2. Engaging the Christian faith story in the Bible
3. Engaging Christian faith stories from the African American heritage
4. Engaging in Christian ethical decision making” (p. 39).
The “everyday story” is engaged by having members of the faith community share their own
experiences or life stories. If someone is uncomfortable speaking in front of others, Wimberly
suggests that a case study method can be helpful. In the second phase, the personal story or
case study is linked to a passage of Scripture. Phase three is designed to help the participants
link the everyday life story with African American Christian faith heritage stories. Finally, in
phase four, activities are designed to guide participants in “exploring options for liberative and
Christian vocational actions that have constructive outcomes for them and others” (p. 46). Once
these options have been explored, they are encouraged to decide on concrete actions.
While Wimberly’s intent is to use story-linking with an African American Christian community, I
think that the method can be adapted and used in many church settings, even those with few or
no African Americans who attend. Wimberly emphasizes that story-linking is appropriate for
multi-generational groups, so I have incorporated this method into a Vacation Bible School
(VBS) program. The theme and purpose of the VBS program is to teach the Lord’s Prayer to
children and adults who do not know it. My own church setting has several teens and adults
who have developmental disabilities. This program offers a great opportunity to integrate them
more fully in Christian education, for they can be recruited as helpers for VBS, but they will learn
along with the children. Likewise, adults who are already familiar with the Lord’s Prayer will still
benefit from the story-linking portion. I selected the Lord’s Prayer as the theme because not
only is it important in the Lutheran Church, but it is significant to virtually all Christians. Since
there are usually several non-members who attend VBS, the content will be meaningful to them
as well.
1
Anne Streaty Wimberly, Soul Stories: African American Christian Education (Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1994)
2
Our church generally offers a four-day Vacation Bible School, so I will follow the same pattern,
dividing the Lord’s Prayer into petitions to create the activities for each day. I will recruit four
people in the congregation, being intentional about making the group as diverse as possible, to
share their faith stories, particularly as related to prayer, specifically the Lord’s Prayer if
appropriate. Since Lutherans are not known for their willingness to talk about their faith, I think
that knowing this is for VBS may encourage some adults who wouldn’t ordinarily feel
comfortable sharing their faith stories to do so. There are many things people will do in front of
children that they would never do in front of adults, partly because they feel less threatened by
children, and partly because they feel like they “know enough” to share with them. Since the
majority of students at VBS will be young children, those who are sharing their faith stories will
need to make their stories simple, which will likely be a less threatening task.
Once I have gotten some people to agree to share their faith stories, I will recruit a team of
people to coordinate “stations” at Vacation Bible School: music and movement, crafts, games,
and snacks. The “stations” concept is similar to what we have done in the past, but since the
story-linking process is a new idea, and since I want those sharing their faith stories to feel
comfortable, I will plan to work with them to coordinate the “story-linking station.” I will hold a
planning meeting in which I share the theme and the goal. In order to make everyone feel more
comfortable with the idea of story-linking, I will devote the first part of the meeting to giving the
VBS staff the opportunity to engage in the story-linking process themselves. Afterward, the
group will work together to come up with songs, games, and crafts. Included in the music and
movement station will be the Lord’s Prayer Dance Anthem2
2
Paul Bosch, God's Children: Teaching the Lord's Prayer -- A Dance Anthem, March, 1999, Lift Up Your
Hearts, http://www.worship.ca/docs/godkids3.html (accessed January 19, 2012).
3
Program Outline
An outline of the four-day program follows, with more emphasis on the story-linking “stations.”
Specific activities and stories, as well as the version of the Lord’s Prayer used, can be adapted
to other settings.
I.
3
Day/Evening One: “Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.”
A. Member shares his/her experience with prayer, especially related to the portion
of The Lord’s Prayer that is the theme for the day
B. Lord’s Prayer
1. “Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.”
2. Use Luther’s Small Catechism3 as a guide for explaining the meaning of
these petitions—use simple language to accommodate very young children.
C. Scripture passage
1. Matthew 6:9
2. Select a version of the Bible that is easily understood by all participants
D. Faith hero—Martin Luther King, Jr.
1. Show image of MLK praying
2. Lead short discussion of what makes MLK is a model of faith
E. Engaging in decision making
1. Provide large piece of poster board, along with crayons and markers
2. Have participants think about what was discussed, then draw or write some
things they can do in their own daily life
3. Place poster on display for all to see
F. Suggestions for other stations
1. Music/Movement: “Make Me an Instrument;” “Lord, Listen to Your Children
Praying;” “Kumbayah;” “Lord’s Prayer Dance Anthem”
2. Game: “Simon Says” with postures to represent various prayer requests.
Simon calls out a type of prayer--thanks; help; comfort; blessing; peace; etc.-and players have to respond with the appropriate posture quickly
3. Craft: Prayer reminder pouch—make a “pouch” out of two paper plates to
hold prayer requests; allow children time to make and receive prayer
requests
Martin Luther, The Small Catechism (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1979)
4
II.
4
Day/Evening Two: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven.”
A. Case study and “Faith Hero” portion are combined for day two
1. Show entire video or segment of “Joni Eareckson Tada: I’d Rather Be in this
Wheelchair Knowing Him”
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua9BPbAdCJY).
2. Lead discussion about what makes Joni Eareckson Tada a model of faith
B. Lord’s Prayer
1. “Our Father, who art in heaven…Thy kingdom come. They will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.”
2. Use Luther’s Small Catechism4 as a guide for explaining the meaning of
these petitions—use simple language to accommodate very young children.
C. Scripture passage
1. Matthew 6:9-10
2. Select a version of the Bible that is easily understood by all participants
D. Engaging in decision making
1. Provide large piece of poster board, along with crayons and markers
2. Have participants think about what was discussed, then draw or write some
things they can do in their own daily life
3. Place completed poster on display for all to see
E. Suggestions for other stations—allow VBS volunteers to make additional
suggestions for each day
1. Music/Movement: “Make Me an Instrument;” “Lord, Listen to Your Children
Praying;” “Kumbayah;” “Lord’s Prayer Dance Anthem”
2. Game: “Simon Says” with postures to represent various prayer requests.
Simon calls out a type of prayer--thanks; help; comfort; blessing; peace; etc.-and players have to respond with the appropriate posture quickly
3. Craft: Show one-minute video “Joni Eareckson on Art”
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPi-1QRLPSs&feature=related), and have
participants paint a picture with their mouths—use individual sanitized
paintbrushes!
Martin Luther, The Small Catechism (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1979)
5
III.
5
Day/evening Three: “Give us this day our daily bread.”
A. Member shares his/her experience with prayer, especially related to the portion
of The Lord’s Prayer that is the theme for the day (a teen or adult who has been
on a mission trip would be a good choice for today’s case study)
B. Lord’s Prayer
1. “Our Father who art in heaven…Give us this day our daily bread.”
2. Use Luther’s Small Catechism5 as a guide for explaining the meaning of
these petitions—use simple language to accommodate very young children
C. Scripture passage
1. Matthew 6:9-11
2. Select a version of the Bible that is easily understood by all participants
D. Faith hero—Mother Teresa
1. Show the four-minute video of the Jeremy Camp song “Take Just a Little
Time” that is dedicated to Mother Teresa
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kerSv3iaQyY&feature=fvwrel).
2. Lead short discussion about what makes Mother Teresa a model of faith
E. Suggestions for other stations—allow VBS volunteers to make additional
suggestions for each day
1. Music/Movement: “Make Me an Instrument;” “Lord, Listen to Your Children
Praying;” “Kumbayah;” “Lord’s Prayer Dance Anthem”
2. Game: “Simon Says” with postures to represent various prayer requests.
Simon calls out a type of prayer--thanks; help; comfort; blessing; peace; etc.-and players have to respond with the appropriate posture quickly
3. Craft: Make banks in which to save coins to give to the food center
Martin Luther, The Small Catechism (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1979)
6
IV.
6
Day/evening four: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
A. Member shares his/her experience with prayer, especially related to the portion
of The Lord’s Prayer that is the theme for the day
B. Lord’s Prayer
1. “Our Father who art in heaven…Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us
from evil.”
2. Use Luther’s Small Catechism6 as a guide for explaining the meaning of
these petitions—use simple language to accommodate very young children
C. Scripture passage
1. Matthew 6:9-13
2. Use a translation of the Bible that is easily understood by all participants
D. Faith hero—Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis, Corrie Ten Boom, or present-day
famous Christian
1. Show video clip or read short biography of selected hero
2. Talk about what makes selected person a faith hero
E. Suggestions for other stations—allow VBS volunteers to contribute ideas and
make selections for their stations
1. Music/movement: “Make Me an Instrument;” “Lord, Listen to Your Children
Praying;” “Kumbayah;” “May You Run and not be Weary;” “Lord’s Prayer
Dance Anthem”
2. Games: See above, and ask for suggestions from the team
3. Craft: Ask for suggestions from the team; a good source for inexpensive,
quick craft ideas is Oriental Trading Company (www.orientaltrading.com).
Martin Luther, The Small Catechism (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1979)