by Ebby Watkins and Shelley Byrnes
Children’s formation in church is usually called “Sunday School” — which has the potential to be misleading if we think of it as a one-way knowledge transmission, where adults teach and children learn. In truth, when it comes to belief and faith, children are not born helpless blank slates but spiritual beings in their own right who probably have more to teach grown-ups than we have to teach them.
This is the ethos behind the Godly Play curriculum that we use here at St. John’s. Those adults who help make this happen on Sundays by serving as storytellers, doorkeepers, and greeters get the chance to experience this creative, imaginative approach to Christian formation and spiritual guidance. But many of us have never gotten to see and hear a Godly Play Story, and never gotten to benefit from how it nurtures faith through wondering and play.
Fortunately, we will all get that chance this Sunday, May 11 at both the 8am and 10am worship services. The Gospel and Sermon will be presented using the format of Godly Play, with Gene Strickland serving as the Gospeller/Storyteller and Jay Clark helping everyone to get settled and ready.
Jay is a longtime Godly Play Storyteller here at St. John’s. He explains, “Godly Play is the classroom curriculum we use to present the Bible stories to the children of our parish. While Godly Play has been developed for children’s formation, many of its adherents, including me, think that its principles can be used for discussion and reflection of Bible stories with all ages.”
The format of Godly Play helps us as adults challenge stereotypes we may have that can be so limiting to us in our own faith formation journeys—for instance, that teaching and learning can only happen when facts are stated by an authority to be memorized by the listeners. “By acknowledging that Bible stories can be difficult to comprehend since they are presenting a different way of seeing and being in the world, Godly Play allows the participant to be OK with not immediately grasping a story and its message. Through the use of moderated questions that ask the listener to wonder, it provides a method of discussion that the participants can carry with them as they think and rehear these stories that are so central to our faith,” Jay says. “I hope you find this methodology enlightening.”
We spoke to another Godly Play regular, Charlie S., for additional perspective on the Godly Play format and how it invites young people into Scripture and spiritual experience:
(Click here to watch the video on YouTube)
Come hear the story of the Good Shepherd this Sunday!
