Mark as Story

The Gospel of Mark clearly comes from an oral storytelling tradition. Telling stories was also Jesus’ preferred way to convey his message. Let’s engage with this gospel as if it is the only story we know about Jesus. What does it say to us? What gets triggered? What is eternal? There are 5 elements of…

Workshop Description

The Gospel of Mark clearly comes from an oral storytelling tradition. Telling stories was also Jesus’ preferred way to convey his message. Let’s engage with this gospel as if it is the only story we know about Jesus. What does it say to us? What gets triggered? What is eternal?

There are 5 elements of story we will look at-and play with: narrator, setting, character, plot and rhetoric. How do they affect how we understand the story? Given the story is from a different time and culture, what gets in our way? What might we change-if anything- to reflect current times? What still speaks to us today?

If possible read Mark through as if it were any story-what do you notice? Is it different reading Mark this way? Which events or characters attract your attention? Are there events that confound or confuse you? Beware that some translations add post resurrection appearances after the empty tomb. The earliest manuscripts end with the women fleeing immediately after the discovery that Jesus is not there.

The structure of each day is to begin with worship. We’ll then do a community building activity, moving on to looking at this story together and in small groups. Each day will end with worship sharing queries related to the activities of the day.

Photo by Leo Reynolds