Storytelling as respite

Rose. Thorn. Bud. What is beautiful in your life right now (your rose)? What is your grievance (your thorn)? What do you eagerly anticipate (your bud)? These are the questions that women of St. Stephen’s, Columbus, share answers to in the Soul Sisters ministry of storytelling.

Begun about two years ago, approximately half of the women in the congregation have participated in the Soul Sisters conversations. Most meetings are a gathering of five to ten women ranging from college age through 90+ years young. We listen, we grieve, we laugh, we learn, we love. These two-hour respites are sorely needed by women in our roles as breadwinners, caregivers, and Christians. We take the rose as our symbol, with its flower, thorns, and buds reminding us of the beauty and frustration packaged together in life.

Kaethe Sandman serves as Senior Warden at St. Stephen’s, Columbus.

St. Stephen’s parishioners Elaine Fleschner, Kaitlin Raver and Fran Carr at a recent gathering of the Soul Sisters.

Photo by Kaethe Sandman