Why stories matter

We spend a lot of time in religious education talking about telling stories to children, about how to do it, about which stories to choose and why, about what kinds of books to use. But do we really understand, at a deep gut level, why it’s so important? Go and read Meta Herrick’s observations about stories. She’s a Luther Seminary student who’s on internship this year — and she’s a WONDERFUL story teller! She grew up within a family of story tellers, and now not only are stories a fundamental part of who she is, but the TELLING of stories is. THAT’S what we need to work on with kids — not only LISTENING to stories, but learning how to tell them.