by Dennis Dewey

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Gathering On the Move

The Gathering then moved to Dayton (actually suburban Ginghamsburg), Ohio for 1996 ("Crossing Boundaries"). Out of that theme grew a biblical storytelling trip to Israel/Palestine in January of 1997 -- a trip organized by Board member Lynn White. Soon after that Dennis Dewey and Lynn White formed a partnership in storytelling travel known as Sacred Story Journeys, which has continued to benefit the Network. Again in 1997 the Network met at Ginghamsburg (Ohio) United Methodist Church ("Ancestors in Faith"). NOBS was now referring to these events as "Festival Gatherings," nomenclature suggested by Dennis Dewey as a way of identifying the event as both a "festival" (open to the public and welcoming of newcomers) and a "gathering" (of storytelling veterans and a reunion of old friends). Festival Gatherings (or "FGs" as they have come to be known) they have been ever since.

Lynn White & Dennis Dewey

The Board had begun to meet regularly in the winter for planning and retreat. These retreat/meetings took place sometimes at the Shepherd's Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and sometimes in Camp Olmstead in New York. In December of 1996 at the board's retreat Tom Boomershine and Amelia Cooper were married.

In 1997 Natasha Litvinov, who had been hired by Amelia to assist her in the office, succeeded Amelia as Coordinator. The Board later changed her title to "Executive Director," and Natasha developed a number of new resources and undertook a major restructuring of the office. She also began to develop NOBS' presence on the internet. Amelia Cooper became editor of "The NOBS News," succeeding the late Dick Coyle.

Shelley Gnade and Mary-beth Howard, "By Heart"

FG98 ("Stories of Vocation: Call, Career and Charisma") and FG99 ("Unexpected Guests at Table: Angels, Enemies and Outcasts") were held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. A team of congregation-based volunteers led by Mary-beth Howard and Shelley Gnade provided the logistical support for those years' events. FG98 was attended by a contingent from the UK who had found NOBS on the internet. Engaged in a parallel mission of telling biblical stories, they met with members of the NOBS Board, and out of that meeting grew an ongoing relationship between NOBS and the Northumbria Community in England and the storytelling-based initiative of the British Bible Society.

New Millenium Brings Change to NOBS

The theme of the Festival Gathering at Simpsonwood in 2000 was "Stories for the Millennium: Parables of the Reign of God". Participants enjoyed the gifts of keynote speakers Sister Miriam Therese Winter and David Rhoades as well as the powerful performance of Revelation by Marquis Laughlin. The next year's FG at Simpsonwood featured the "homegrown" leadership of Dennis Dewey joined with the gifts of a contingent of storytellers and musicians from the UK's Northumbria Community as we relfected on "Storyvangelism: An Invitation to a Storied Spirituality."

New Board member Patti Kadick became editor of The Journal of Biblical Storytelling, succeeding its founding editor, Adam Bartholomew. In 2001 the theme of the Festival Gathering (again at Simpsonwood) was "Storyvagelism: An Invitation to a Storied Spirituality" with keynotes by Dennis Dewey and Angela Knowles. This FG had a Celtic flavor with musician members of the Northumbria Community's sharing their musical gifts. The events of 9/11 made more urgent the mission NOBS.

Angela Knowles

Yet more changes were in store for the staffing of NOBS. In reality, much of the work Natasha and Betty had done was office management. Discussions on the Board had surfaced for some time about the need to move toward establishing a true Executive Director position. So when Betty Stutler resigned toward the end of 2001 just short of a year after she had begun, the Board decided to split the position into two part time positions. Becky Schram was hired as Office Manager at the Dayton office of NOBS and Dennis Dewey was hired as part time Interim Executive Director. The Board decided to drop the "Interim" and hire him as Executive Director in the spring of 2002, funding the position at an appropriate level for 2003 in the hope that additional grant money would begin to flow in, sustain the cost, and even make possible an increase to full time. The Festival Gathering in 2002 was "All in the Family: Stories of Parents, Children and Significant Others" with presenters Megan McKenna and Donald Davis and featured teller, Tracy Radosevic.

The Festival Gathering in 2003 was again held at Simpsonwood with the theme: "Creativity, Theology, and All That Jazz: Performing the Biblical Story" with presenters: Bill Carter (pastor, jazz musician and writer) and Catherine Kapikian (artist, lecturer and founder of the Luce Center for the Arts and Religion) with featured teller, Diane Williams.

Carol Bechtel

The 2004 Festival Gathering moved West to Camp Allen Conference Center in Navasota, Texas, in the hope of building our western membership. But Festival Gathering registrations were down that year despite a concerted effort at publicity. Nonetheless, it was a great event celebrating "Sister Act: Stories of Biblical Women (for Men, Too!)" with presenter Carol Bechtel, professor of Old Testament at Western Theological Seminary, and featured tellers, "By Heart" (Shelley Gnade and Mary-beth Howard).

The Board voted to return to Simpsonwood for the next several years 2005's Festival Gathering was themed, "The Handwriting on the Wall: Telling the Story in the Digital World" with Thomas Boomershine (NOBS Founder) as our presenter and with Pam Faro as featured teller. The Board also acted to establish an Academy for Biblical Storytelling beginning in 2006.

In 2006 the theme was "Setting Out for Home: Living the Story Pilgrimage" at Simpsonwood with keynoter, Judy Fentress-Williams (Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Virginia Theological Seminary) and featured teller, Bailey Phelps.

For 2007 the theme of the 20th Annual Festival Gathering: "Welcome Back: Stories in Celebration of Our Homecoming" with keynoter David Rhoads (Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago) and featured teller, Rev. Richard J. Ricea retired United Methodist minister and past NOBS president.

NOBS Office On the Move

Unfortunately, funding could not be secured to sustain and enlarge the Executive Director position, and in 2004 the Board acted to restructure the position as "Program Director" for 2005. With the resignation of Becky Schram (who was leaving Ohio to move to Florida) in early 2005, the NOBS Office embarked upon a move to relocate on the campus of Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and to hire NOBS member, Ellen Handlin as Office Manager at the new site. Dennis Dewey announced his plan to resign as "Program Director" effective at the end of 2005, and the Board adopted his recommendation to increase Ellen's hours and designate her "NOBS Coordinator" in 2006.

Ellen Handlin

From its humble beginnings in an apartment in New York City, the Network has not lost sight of the fact that its core activity is the deep learning (or "learning by heart") and faithful telling of the sacred stories of the biblical tradition in our post-literate digital culture—a core activity rooted in a communal process of internalization through scholarly inquiry and prayer. We continue to encourage varieties of expression and presentation of the sacred stories in oral, written and digital systems of communication in pursuit of our mission: to encourage everyone to learn and tell biblical stories.