I Gave You To God
Stories
Contents
What's Up This Week
A Story to Live By: "She Had Compassion"
Shining Moments: "I Gave You to God" by Andrew Oren
Sermon Starter: "Like Having a Baby" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "Preaching without a Manuscript" by R. Karl Watkins
"How Do You Preach?" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
You may be sure that there are some parents in your congregation who have been surprised by a child in their old age like Abraham and Sarah. They know from experience that "nothing is too wonderful for the Lord." In Shining Moments Andy Oren tells about a remarkable event in his wife's extended family that involved both a special calling and an unexpected birth late in life. John picks up the theme and applies it to unexpected growth in a congregation in this week's Sermon Starter. Preachers will find Karl Watkins' Scrap Pile piece of interest. He tells about learning to preach without a manuscript the hard way.
A Story to Live By
She Had Compassion
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
Matthew 9:35-38
Mary Helen Gottwald was a legend in South Milwaukee for doing exactly what Jesus modeled for his disciples, showing compassion to the harassed and the helpless:
The stories abound of Mary Helen taking people into her own home on more than one occasion, providing for them room and board and a place to stay when other arrangements were unacceptable. One of her neighbors wrote that, "Mary Helen never considered it a problem. She has become the guardian of many. If an elderly person was without a family... she would become that person's family." She noted that words seemed "so inadequate to describe this most amazing, humble lady. All she does is go about helping people on the most basic level. Food, clothing, housing, love, and more love." At one point, Gottwald helped a woman who was terminally ill, moving in with her until the woman died. On her deathbed, the woman asked Gottwald to watch after her brother who was developmentally disabled. Gottwald did. The man died six weeks ago, and Gottwald was there at the end to handle his funeral arrangements. Mary Helen Gottwald died on May 28 at the age of 80 with her family by her side. Her daughter said, "When she took care of people, she went the whole mile."
(Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, May 30, 2005, http://www.jsonline.com/news/nobits/may05/329841.asp)
Shining Moments
I Gave You to God
by Andrew Oren
The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son."
Genesis 18:13-14
"For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord."
1 Samuel 1:27-28
My wife's cousin is Sister Joan Brede, a School Sister of St. Francis who recently celebrated her 50th year in the order. As I was preparing a sermon about Hannah and Samuel one day, I thought of Joan and what her parents might have thought about her decision to enter the convent. I asked her if she would share with me what that time was like. She laughed and then told me a remarkable story.
Joan was an only child of Dorothy and Charles. Her mother was a devout Catholic, and one day when Joan was 12 years old, her mom came home from church and said to her, "Joan, I did something today that has me a bit scared and I need to tell you about it." Joan asked her mom what she had done.
"I gave you to God... in prayer."
Joan, being 12, didn't think much about it at the time. Joan attended Pius High School in Milwaukee, and when she was a junior she felt a call to enter the convent. She told her mother, but swore her to secrecy because she felt that if her father knew he would tell everyone, and then she would have no social life! She wanted to enjoy her last years of high school, so she waited until graduation to tell her father that she wanted to become a nun. Her father's first words upon hearing her decision were, "Where are my grandchildren going to come from?" Despite that initial hesitation Joan's parents supported her, and at the age of 18 she entered the convent.
Well, imagine everyone's surprise when her parents announced soon after that they were expecting -- expecting a second child, 18 years after their first one! They had a son, and one day he did present them with grandchildren. Now, over 50 years later, Joan has touched countless lives through her work and faith.
Andrew Oren lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his wife Julie. They have three grown children. Andy is pastor of Faith United Methodist Church, a role that has been the result of a long process of discerning God's call in his life. He spent 26 years in manufacturing before leaving in 1999 to become a Lay Minister.
Sermon Starter
Like Having a Baby
by John Sumwalt
Then one said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife, Sarah will have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Sarah and Abraham were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"
Genesis 18:10-12
The news about the coming of a baby is always exciting and sometimes downright shocking.
Sarah was more than a little surprised. She had longed to be a mother most of her adult life, had prayed and prayed for a child, and finally in her old age had given up hope and arranged for her husband to have a son with her handmaiden. And now, to be told in her advanced old age that she was with child. It was laughable.
After you have absorbed the news that you are going to have a baby, the fun part is telling other people. How long do you wait before you tell? Who do you tell first?
And then, how to prepare older brothers and sisters? "Mommy's going to have a baby. You are going to have a little sister or little brother." Do you remember how you felt when you heard that you were going to have a sibling? Perhaps you wanted to say, "But I was hoping for a puppy."
And when the baby came, with all the hoopla and presents that come with babies, you began to wonder if Mom and Dad were ever going to notice you again. That soft spot in Mom's lap where you used to snuggle was now occupied by the baby. If you were blessed with sensitive parents, they noticed when you were feeling left out and made room for you on Mom and Dad's lap, perhaps gave you extra hugs and snuggles and made sure that when the baby received presents you received some too.
We are going to have a baby! Was that Jo who fainted? No, not the Sumwalts -- all of us in this congregation. Next Sunday we will receive 27 new members and several children will be baptized. This falls under the heading of "be careful what you pray for." This is a lot of new people for our congregation. You might find someone sitting in your spot some Sunday. It is a big change. It is like having a baby.
You know how having a baby changes things for a couple. There is less sleep for a while, less of a social life (if any), less spending of money on entertainment and hobbies -- instead buying new things for the baby. A couple's life is never the same after a baby.
It is the same for any congregation that receives new members. Every addition changes the dynamics of a church family. New members need more attention than longtime members. Some longtime members will resent the extra attention on a feeling level, even though it makes perfect sense on a rational level.
f receiving 27 new members is like having a baby, then what we are going to do next fall is like having quadruplets. (See the Scrap Pile article "How Do You Preach?" We received more than 70 new members in the year after starting a new service and a telemarketing campaign.)
Scrap Pile
"I am sometimes amazed that people regularly come, sit, and listen to a sermon, for the most part hopefully and expectantly. They probably give preachers a better hearing than they give anyone else on a regular basis."
(John M. Buchanan, The Christian Century, May 31, 2005, p. 3)
Preaching without A Manuscript
by R. Karl Watkins
I learned to preach without a manuscript on the first Sunday in my second appointment. My second appointment was a two-point charge. I used my manuscript at my first church. As I parked my car at the second church, I reached for my Bible with my manuscript. It wasn't there! I assumed I had left it on the pulpit at the first church. My wife was with me, so I asked her to go back and get it. I figured I could just start the service and I would have the manuscript before the sermon. While I started the service at the second church, she drove back to the first church. She got back before the sermon and walked in the back door of the church, carrying our six-week-old daughter. She lifted her shoulders and shook her head -- the Bible wasn't there. So I preached without manuscript or notes. People told me afterward that I had good eye contact. It actually did go well. That was 27 years ago.
I still use a manuscript a few times a year, to keep in practice. I generally use two sides of a 3 x 5 inch piece of paper for notes. Occasionally I preach without notes. I think building on the rock means starting early in the week on the texts, whichever way you preach.
By the way, a neighbor brought my Bible back to me that afternoon -- I had placed it on top of the car while I put my robe in the car. There is still a tire track in the book of Daniel to this day. When our youngest daughter started kindergarten, my wife went to seminary. She got her D.Min. last December. When she preaches, she uses manuscripts.
R. Karl Watkins is an ordained minister serving two churches, First United Methodist Church in Sheffield, Iowa, and Salem United Methodist Church in Chapin, Iowa. He previously served other churches in Iowa, South Dakota, and Ohio, and was a campus minister for 12 years in South Dakota.
How Do You Preach?
by John Sumwalt
Do you preach with or without a manuscript? I do some of both. I learned to preach without a manuscript four years ago when we started a third service. We started the service mostly with people who were new to the church. They were invited through a telemarketing campaign that included 17,000 dialups followed by a series of six mailings to those who expressed interest in the new service. There were 200 people present on the first Sunday. The service has averaged about 110 over the past few years.
I discovered immediately that I could not connect with this group if I stood behind the pulpit and read from a manuscript, though I am pretty good at it and have always had good eye contact in spite of glancing at the notes from time to time. The new people were not used to listening to sermons. I had to work harder to engage them. One Sunday, in frustration, I just stepped out of the pulpit, thinking, "Whatever I remember of the sermon is what they are going to get, and it will probably do more good than giving them everything I have in my notes." I was right, and I was amazed to discover that not only did I connect better with this new congregation, I also remembered much more of the sermon than I thought I would.
I now preach without a manuscript and without a pulpit about 95% of the time in this new service and 50% of the time in the traditional service that follows. I am getting better at it each week. I admit, though, that I always use my notes and stand behind the pulpit in our early chapel service. I am barely awake at 8:00 a.m. and need all the help I can get.
How do you preach? Has your method and style changed over the years? What have you learned that might be helpful to others? Write to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net. We will publish responses in one of the next editions of StoryShare.
(For a thorough discussion of the art of preaching without a manuscript, including a complete step-by-step system for constructing and delivering sermons without notes, see the recent CSS title Without A Net: Preaching In The Paperless Pulpit by William H. Shepherd.)
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Anne Sunday, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions," "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today," and coming this spring: "Soul Growth: Discovering Lost Spiritual Dimensions." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
**********************************************
StoryShare, June 12, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
What's Up This Week
A Story to Live By: "She Had Compassion"
Shining Moments: "I Gave You to God" by Andrew Oren
Sermon Starter: "Like Having a Baby" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "Preaching without a Manuscript" by R. Karl Watkins
"How Do You Preach?" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
You may be sure that there are some parents in your congregation who have been surprised by a child in their old age like Abraham and Sarah. They know from experience that "nothing is too wonderful for the Lord." In Shining Moments Andy Oren tells about a remarkable event in his wife's extended family that involved both a special calling and an unexpected birth late in life. John picks up the theme and applies it to unexpected growth in a congregation in this week's Sermon Starter. Preachers will find Karl Watkins' Scrap Pile piece of interest. He tells about learning to preach without a manuscript the hard way.
A Story to Live By
She Had Compassion
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
Matthew 9:35-38
Mary Helen Gottwald was a legend in South Milwaukee for doing exactly what Jesus modeled for his disciples, showing compassion to the harassed and the helpless:
The stories abound of Mary Helen taking people into her own home on more than one occasion, providing for them room and board and a place to stay when other arrangements were unacceptable. One of her neighbors wrote that, "Mary Helen never considered it a problem. She has become the guardian of many. If an elderly person was without a family... she would become that person's family." She noted that words seemed "so inadequate to describe this most amazing, humble lady. All she does is go about helping people on the most basic level. Food, clothing, housing, love, and more love." At one point, Gottwald helped a woman who was terminally ill, moving in with her until the woman died. On her deathbed, the woman asked Gottwald to watch after her brother who was developmentally disabled. Gottwald did. The man died six weeks ago, and Gottwald was there at the end to handle his funeral arrangements. Mary Helen Gottwald died on May 28 at the age of 80 with her family by her side. Her daughter said, "When she took care of people, she went the whole mile."
(Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, May 30, 2005, http://www.jsonline.com/news/nobits/may05/329841.asp)
Shining Moments
I Gave You to God
by Andrew Oren
The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son."
Genesis 18:13-14
"For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord."
1 Samuel 1:27-28
My wife's cousin is Sister Joan Brede, a School Sister of St. Francis who recently celebrated her 50th year in the order. As I was preparing a sermon about Hannah and Samuel one day, I thought of Joan and what her parents might have thought about her decision to enter the convent. I asked her if she would share with me what that time was like. She laughed and then told me a remarkable story.
Joan was an only child of Dorothy and Charles. Her mother was a devout Catholic, and one day when Joan was 12 years old, her mom came home from church and said to her, "Joan, I did something today that has me a bit scared and I need to tell you about it." Joan asked her mom what she had done.
"I gave you to God... in prayer."
Joan, being 12, didn't think much about it at the time. Joan attended Pius High School in Milwaukee, and when she was a junior she felt a call to enter the convent. She told her mother, but swore her to secrecy because she felt that if her father knew he would tell everyone, and then she would have no social life! She wanted to enjoy her last years of high school, so she waited until graduation to tell her father that she wanted to become a nun. Her father's first words upon hearing her decision were, "Where are my grandchildren going to come from?" Despite that initial hesitation Joan's parents supported her, and at the age of 18 she entered the convent.
Well, imagine everyone's surprise when her parents announced soon after that they were expecting -- expecting a second child, 18 years after their first one! They had a son, and one day he did present them with grandchildren. Now, over 50 years later, Joan has touched countless lives through her work and faith.
Andrew Oren lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his wife Julie. They have three grown children. Andy is pastor of Faith United Methodist Church, a role that has been the result of a long process of discerning God's call in his life. He spent 26 years in manufacturing before leaving in 1999 to become a Lay Minister.
Sermon Starter
Like Having a Baby
by John Sumwalt
Then one said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife, Sarah will have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Sarah and Abraham were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"
Genesis 18:10-12
The news about the coming of a baby is always exciting and sometimes downright shocking.
Sarah was more than a little surprised. She had longed to be a mother most of her adult life, had prayed and prayed for a child, and finally in her old age had given up hope and arranged for her husband to have a son with her handmaiden. And now, to be told in her advanced old age that she was with child. It was laughable.
After you have absorbed the news that you are going to have a baby, the fun part is telling other people. How long do you wait before you tell? Who do you tell first?
And then, how to prepare older brothers and sisters? "Mommy's going to have a baby. You are going to have a little sister or little brother." Do you remember how you felt when you heard that you were going to have a sibling? Perhaps you wanted to say, "But I was hoping for a puppy."
And when the baby came, with all the hoopla and presents that come with babies, you began to wonder if Mom and Dad were ever going to notice you again. That soft spot in Mom's lap where you used to snuggle was now occupied by the baby. If you were blessed with sensitive parents, they noticed when you were feeling left out and made room for you on Mom and Dad's lap, perhaps gave you extra hugs and snuggles and made sure that when the baby received presents you received some too.
We are going to have a baby! Was that Jo who fainted? No, not the Sumwalts -- all of us in this congregation. Next Sunday we will receive 27 new members and several children will be baptized. This falls under the heading of "be careful what you pray for." This is a lot of new people for our congregation. You might find someone sitting in your spot some Sunday. It is a big change. It is like having a baby.
You know how having a baby changes things for a couple. There is less sleep for a while, less of a social life (if any), less spending of money on entertainment and hobbies -- instead buying new things for the baby. A couple's life is never the same after a baby.
It is the same for any congregation that receives new members. Every addition changes the dynamics of a church family. New members need more attention than longtime members. Some longtime members will resent the extra attention on a feeling level, even though it makes perfect sense on a rational level.
f receiving 27 new members is like having a baby, then what we are going to do next fall is like having quadruplets. (See the Scrap Pile article "How Do You Preach?" We received more than 70 new members in the year after starting a new service and a telemarketing campaign.)
Scrap Pile
"I am sometimes amazed that people regularly come, sit, and listen to a sermon, for the most part hopefully and expectantly. They probably give preachers a better hearing than they give anyone else on a regular basis."
(John M. Buchanan, The Christian Century, May 31, 2005, p. 3)
Preaching without A Manuscript
by R. Karl Watkins
I learned to preach without a manuscript on the first Sunday in my second appointment. My second appointment was a two-point charge. I used my manuscript at my first church. As I parked my car at the second church, I reached for my Bible with my manuscript. It wasn't there! I assumed I had left it on the pulpit at the first church. My wife was with me, so I asked her to go back and get it. I figured I could just start the service and I would have the manuscript before the sermon. While I started the service at the second church, she drove back to the first church. She got back before the sermon and walked in the back door of the church, carrying our six-week-old daughter. She lifted her shoulders and shook her head -- the Bible wasn't there. So I preached without manuscript or notes. People told me afterward that I had good eye contact. It actually did go well. That was 27 years ago.
I still use a manuscript a few times a year, to keep in practice. I generally use two sides of a 3 x 5 inch piece of paper for notes. Occasionally I preach without notes. I think building on the rock means starting early in the week on the texts, whichever way you preach.
By the way, a neighbor brought my Bible back to me that afternoon -- I had placed it on top of the car while I put my robe in the car. There is still a tire track in the book of Daniel to this day. When our youngest daughter started kindergarten, my wife went to seminary. She got her D.Min. last December. When she preaches, she uses manuscripts.
R. Karl Watkins is an ordained minister serving two churches, First United Methodist Church in Sheffield, Iowa, and Salem United Methodist Church in Chapin, Iowa. He previously served other churches in Iowa, South Dakota, and Ohio, and was a campus minister for 12 years in South Dakota.
How Do You Preach?
by John Sumwalt
Do you preach with or without a manuscript? I do some of both. I learned to preach without a manuscript four years ago when we started a third service. We started the service mostly with people who were new to the church. They were invited through a telemarketing campaign that included 17,000 dialups followed by a series of six mailings to those who expressed interest in the new service. There were 200 people present on the first Sunday. The service has averaged about 110 over the past few years.
I discovered immediately that I could not connect with this group if I stood behind the pulpit and read from a manuscript, though I am pretty good at it and have always had good eye contact in spite of glancing at the notes from time to time. The new people were not used to listening to sermons. I had to work harder to engage them. One Sunday, in frustration, I just stepped out of the pulpit, thinking, "Whatever I remember of the sermon is what they are going to get, and it will probably do more good than giving them everything I have in my notes." I was right, and I was amazed to discover that not only did I connect better with this new congregation, I also remembered much more of the sermon than I thought I would.
I now preach without a manuscript and without a pulpit about 95% of the time in this new service and 50% of the time in the traditional service that follows. I am getting better at it each week. I admit, though, that I always use my notes and stand behind the pulpit in our early chapel service. I am barely awake at 8:00 a.m. and need all the help I can get.
How do you preach? Has your method and style changed over the years? What have you learned that might be helpful to others? Write to us at jsumwalt@naspa.net. We will publish responses in one of the next editions of StoryShare.
(For a thorough discussion of the art of preaching without a manuscript, including a complete step-by-step system for constructing and delivering sermons without notes, see the recent CSS title Without A Net: Preaching In The Paperless Pulpit by William H. Shepherd.)
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Anne Sunday, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions," "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today," and coming this spring: "Soul Growth: Discovering Lost Spiritual Dimensions." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
**********************************************
StoryShare, June 12, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
