Team Talk February 2014 | Page 17

OPEN THE BOOK Want to see primary children engaging with the Bible? Enjoy telling stories? Have you ever thought that children in schools might be missing out on what the Bible has to show them? They could go through their entire school life without ever learning about Adam and Eve, Noah, David, Jonah ... or even the life of Jesus and the stories of the New Testament. Open the Book is a national storytelling programme delivered by Christians in local primary schools. It offers a programme of themed and dramatised Bible stories delivered by volunteer storytellers using drama, mime, props and costume to present the Bible stories in ways that are lively, engaging, informative ... and great fun for everyone. There are currently two ‘Open The Book’ teams in Barrow Deanery who have regular contact with six local primary schools, including St. George’s, Cambridge Street, Yarlside and Roose Schools in our Team area. What is striking about the ‘Open The Book Team’ is that none of the men and women involved had done anything like it before but were prepared to ‘give it a go’. Now there’s no holding them back - they love it and the school’s love having them to tell stories from the Bible! The OTB Team also go into Risedale Nursing Home on Abbey Road. Across Barrow there are 31 Primary Schools and as a deanery our hope is to be in contact will all these schools. However, we need more volunteers to create more teams. Do you have a couple of spare hours each month? Is this something you might be interested in doing? If so, please contact Maureen Aubrey (822135) or Julia Burns (824112) who has kindly agreed to co-ordinate ’Open The Book’ in Barrow. Alternatively, you can chat to Gary, Matt or Jo, to find out more.