I hope that you all had a great Christmas and holiday over the new year.
The training day that we advertised during 'Esther' has almost arrived. We are busy preparing to make it a fantastic day. Here are the details:
Saturday 27th of January, 2007
10pm - 5pm
St. Silas Hall
Cnr. Maud St. & Osburn Ave.
North Balwyn
Cost: Only $35!
10pm - 5pm
St. Silas Hall
Cnr. Maud St. & Osburn Ave.
North Balwyn
Cost: Only $35!
(The flier with all the information on it is attached at the bottom of the email)
People have asked us a few questions as they've heard about the course:
Who is this course for?
Basically we would like anyone who has enjoyed Biblical Storytelling before to come and see how easy and fun it really is.
Are you someone who:
- reads the Bible up front in church
- wants to connect more with the stories in the Bible
- teaches the Bible to kids at sunday school or Christian Education at schools
- wants to try storytelling at an event at their church/uni or at a special event
NO EXPERIENCE IS NESSESARY. Please come and give it a go.
What will be happening?
- A never-before-seen storytelling performance
- Three workshops on the art of Biblical Storytelling
- BBQ lunch
- A chance to spend time with an experienced storyteller as you prepare to tell a story.
How do I sign up?
You need to register before you come. You can do that by responding to this email and telling me your name and phone number or you can register from the website:http://www.thebackyardbard.com/crashcourse/
If you have any questions please email me.
Rob
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I hope you are all going well and not feeling to cold as we head further into winter. I'm pleased to announce one of the most exciting things that The Backyard Bard are starting. This July, we are going to have our very first 'Campfire'. These will be informal get-togethers for anyone who enjoys talking about, listening to or practising Biblical Storytelling. You can come with a story prepared (or even half-prepared) or you could come just ready to enjoy the friendship and listen to some stories. (I will be busy preparing a storytelling on 1 Samuel 26 for the week after so I hope that I'll have some part of it ready to tell that night.)
Things are shaping up this year for our new show 'Elijah'. We're really excited about telling this amazing story. We're hoping you are looking forward to seeing it.
The next campfire is coming up. Last time we had to stories from David's life - I think I'm allowed mention that this campfire there will be a preview at least two stories told from a certain prophet's life (no prize for guessing which one!) I think I can also mention that one of the storytellers from last year's show of Esther will also be sharing a story. Please come along and enjoy a relaxed night of chatting, snacks, watching stories and (maybe) even sharing one of your own.
Just a quick reminder that Campfire is happening this Friday - a number of people have told me that they are sharing stories - there's even going to be someone coming along and playing a song with storytelling going with it. It should be fantastic.
We are getting our postcards printed today as well, please email me if you would like a bunch to be sent to you so that you can hand them out to your community.
We've confirmed the location for the next two 'Campfire' nights. These nights are informal occasions where we get to hang out, talking about Biblical Storytelling and people get to show each other stories they are working on. We've had three so far they've all been heaps of fun. Find out more information here: 
As many of you know, each year we prepare to tell the Easter story from one of the four Gospels and we offer it as a service to Christian communities and churches. This year we are offering ‘Easter according to Matthew’ (Matthew 26-28) and this will mean that we've told the story from all four Gospel writers after this!
I'm pleased to offer a storytelling of 'Pentecost' over the next few weeks. Pentecost is a fantastic day for Christians of all denominations to celebrate the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and the gift and power of the Holy Spirit. We're telling the story from Acts 1 and 2. You can watch Simon Camilleri's storytelling of it from 2005 as well as download our invitation letter to host the storytelling on our Pentecost website:
Many of you know about our monthly informal get-togethers we call 'Campfire'. They are to give people a chance to show stories that they have prepared in a relaxed setting. This time we thought we'd do something different, it's going to be a special 'Easter' themed one. Daniel Farrugia, Simon Camilleri and myself will be there so we will be sharing some of Easter from Matthew's Gospel (which would be a great opportunity for you to come and see if you missed it over the Easter weekend) plus others of you have told me that you will be sharing your stories from Easter from different Gospels. I will try to get some Easter Eggs and hot cross buns if I can find them and we can enjoy the story again. If you were planning on sharing a story this Campfire and it wasn't from Easter, don't worry, just come and tell your story anyway.
'Campfire' is a monthly get-together for people to share stories with each other. After much discussion, we have decided to take Campfire to the next level. The format has bee revamped to help you get the most out of it. One of the exciting new developments is that we'll be running a mini-workshop each month! In the months to come we will be running workshops on:
I'm pleased to announce that we are running two One Day Crash Courses. One on Biblical Storytelling and one on Public Bible Reading.
Just a quick reminder of the Crash Courses. We are running courses on both Biblical Storytelling and Public Bible Reading. You can see promotional clips for the courses on our website 
The following ones are available:
A few weeks ago, we hosted the Biblical Storytelling crash course. This is what some of the participants had to say:
As you will probably know, Simon Camilleri is touring last year's Elijah show around the USA. Before he leaves, he is performing the show for ONE NIGHT ONLY in Melbourne. There is a promotional DVD as well as a poster and flyers which you can use to advertise the event at your church.
We have officially announced our new show - The Adventures of Elisha. It follows directly on from last year's Elijah production. It promises to be even more spectacular than last year's show. The show is taken from 2 Kings 2 - 13 - which is filled with amazing miracles and stories that reveal the reality of who God is.
We are exactly one month away from the opening night of 'The Adventures of Elisha'.
Our new show 'The Adventures of Elisha' opens in a week and a half. It will be fantastic - filled with drama, emotion and heaps of humour.
Sydney Public Bible Reading Crash Course
Public Bible Reading Crash Course
Jesus: According to Luke
The Backyard Barbecue
Pentecost is coming up this year on Sunday, May 31st. A great way to mark the day in your church calendar is to have a storytelling of Acts 1 & 2. It is also a great way to begin a sermon series on the Spirit or the Book of Acts.
G'day everyone,
Biblical Storytelling is where you take a section in the Bible, use it as a script and perform it word-for-word as a story. You can find information about us from our brochure: 
This year, I have been performing "
G'day everyone,
God's Word out LOUD Workshops - Melbourne and Sydney
A number of you have seen our Easter storytelling from John's Gospel (by Simon Camilleri or myself). I've been working hard over the last few weeks to develop that into a larger show which I'm now pleased to offer to your community. It goes for 90 minutes, in two halves (like the 
I'm pleased to announce a new storytelling presentation: 
Simon Camilleri, the Creative Director of The Backyard Bard, still has more performances of his terrific storytelling of the book of Philippians. This has been a wonderful blessing to many people so I urge you to see it while you can.
I've got exciting news to share. My family and I (i.e. Simone and our two daughters - Hannah and Bethany) are planning to move in August to the Middle East for some years. Our long term goal is to see how Biblical Storytelling can be helpful in sharing God's Word across cultures. Our immediate task will of course be to learn the local spoken language and we also hope to learn the local sign language because we plan to work with people who are deaf. We see that training in Biblical Storytelling will be an essential part of our work and we're delighted that the Anglican Archbishop of Egypt and North Africa has expressed interest in inviting us to do storytelling training in Cairo.
Esther Performance Available
I'm leaving for Sydney tomorrow to do shows, workshops and more. This may be my last visit to Sydney for the next few years. As part of the week in Sydney, I will be running an information night about the work my wife Simone and I plan to do in the Middle East (which includes Biblical Storytelling, deaf education and more). Please come along to hear more about that part of the world and to learn how you can even join us in the work:
I've very excited that the Backyard Bard's 10 year celebration will be happening Saturday next week. It should be a terrific night. There will be a bunch of stories from storytellers past and present, some videos (including footage from our first ever production when I had semi-long hair), and much more. Come along and enjoy the company, the stories and give thanks for God with us for what He's done through His Word over the past decade.