[Washington Window] Once upon a time, there was a church named St. Barnabas’ in Temple Hills, Md.

It was a happy place, surrounded by green grass and cherry trees, and the parishioners wanted to share their church with their neighbors. But the church was on a busy road, and most people drove by too quickly to really notice its welcome sign.

One day, about four years ago, the church’s rector – the Rev. Sherrill Lee Page – met with the vestry to try to find a new way to invite the community into the church.

They decided that stories were just the way to draw people in.

Soon the parishioners had set to work to organize a storytelling festival, so people of all ages could sit under the spreading trees in the churchyard and listen to tales both tall and truthful, while small children rode ponies or played on the moon bounce.

“Our goal was to try to be an inviting presence in the community, and offer an inexpensive cultural event,” Page said. “This is a way a mom or dad or kids could come and have a fun day and not have to travel that far.”

The women of the church made sandwiches, so families could eat a tasty lunch for just a few dollars. And Page tracked down some professional storytellers to share their tales.

Now in its fourth year, the festival is still catching the eyes of passers by and drawing them in.

On a recent blue-skied Saturday, stalls under the cherry trees offered baskets and baby blankets, cosmetics and coloring books, jewelry and pottery and all manner of things.

Two small ponies – Brownie and Chief – gave rides to even smaller children, stopping at intervals to snatch a mouthful or two of the lush green grass. And stray balloons escaped from little hands drifted in the cloudless sky.

Taking her place under a tree, Corinne Stavish – a Jewish storyteller of national acclaim –began to tell of her childhood in the Bronx as the daughter of a union leader.

As the ponies plodded in the background, she spoke of her father’s commitment to his union and his insistence that working people stand strong and stand together.

Charlotte Blake Alston, a storyteller who draws on the rich African-American oral tradition, was up next, followed by Barbara McBride Smith, who specializes in home-spun versions of the Greek myths.

“We’re trying to reflect the diversity in the community,” Page said.

Each of the three storytellers is nationally known, Page said, and must be booked a year in advance. And each offers a ticket to another place – the exotic world of unlimited imagination.

To raise funds for the storytellers and other festival expenses, which amount to almost $20,000, parishioners pitched in with individual donations and helped organize a Friday night benefit reception. And to cover the cost of the moon bounce this year, junior high and high school students held a car wash.

But most of all, Page said, parishioners have been generous with their time, setting up sound systems and seating, barbecuing chicken, walking ponies and acting as tellers, so that each year, someone new will notice the church for the first time.

It’s the story, she claims, of a small congregation that’s reaching out to its neighbors and gradually growing bigger.

“It really is fun and it’s just amazing,” she said. “We’re a really little congregation and to do something this big – it’s really amazing.”

Postscript: This was my first encounter with the Rev. Sherrill Lee Page, a wonderful priest, storyteller and friend. I am reposting this on the day of her funeral, as it reminds me of her joy in life and of the wonderful atmosphere she was able to create around her, wherever she went.