Doug Bland is pastor of the Community Christian Church of Tempe (CCC) and he has a passion for storytelling. Some of you may have been lucky to see him perform in Tucson at Odyssey Storytelling last year at the Humor for the Holidays show.

In addition to his church duties, he spends his time as adjunct faculty at the Storytelling Institute at South Mountain Community College and produces quarterly storytelling events at the CCC. He writes:

More and more, being known as “the storytelling church” is an identity that we are embracing with enthusiasm.  After all, storytelling is the primary way that Jesus taught, built community and transformed lives.

Winter’s Light is the theme of the upcoming show on Sunday, December 18 at 7 p.m. with an impressive line up of diverse storytellers:

Rabbi Dean Shapiro of Temple Emanuel of Tempe; Rana Singh Sodhi, (see his story about the aftermath of 9/11 at Arizona Storytellers); Karina Bland, Arizona Republic reporter;  Liz Warren, faculty member and cofounder of the Storytelling Institute,; Desert Marigold Waldorf Choir; and Sandi Howlet (see her story about skinny dipping at Arizona Storytellers).

The Community Christian Church is at 1701 S. College Avenue, Tempe, AZ. You can contact them at 480-967-5266 or office@tempeccc.com for more information.

There’s an innovative program at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s Center on Age and Community for people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s called TimeSlips. Begun in 1996 by Anne Basting, the program uses improvisation and storytelling to help people express themselves and connect with others.

The website says, “TimeSlips opens storytelling to everyone by replacing the pressure to remember with the freedom to imagine.” It seems to me that all sorts of storytellers, writers and educators would benefit from their methods and creative storytelling prompts.

You can try it out on their website. First you choose an image and prompt and then tell or write. Here are a few examples:

What should we name him? . . . Tell a Story

What's so funny? . . . Tell a Story

What's going on here? . . . Tell a Story

You can read some of the stories, from short phrases to elaborate and funny poems to disturbing interpretations, at the “browse stories” tab.

They offer training for individuals, classrooms and organizations and you can apply for certification as a TimeSlips Trainer. And they have great pictures on their website:

Her name might be Gloria Jean. She looks happy.

The organizationTechnology, Entertainment, Design, known popularly as TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. They began as a national conference and have evolved to include international conferences, the award-winning TEDTalks video site (riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world) TEDx programs (we had one in Tucson at the Fox Theatre in November) and much more.

It’s always fascinating listening. My sister in Australia even sends me links to stories she thinks I might enjoy. One I especially liked was a playlist called “The truth about stories” posted on the TED blog that features three amazing storytellers, Elif Shafak,  Chimamanda Adichie, and  Jonathan Harris. Take a listen and then cruise around the website.

You can search by speaker, theme, or by the talks themselves. Be prepared to spend lots of time because there is truly something for everyone. I just found the highly entertaining Joe Sabia telling the story of the technology of storytelling and I’m going back for more.