St. Michaels Episcopal Church STM-CA.net

Godly Play

Children are led to our special Godly Play Classroom by their teachers following the music program. They are brought into the church just before Communion.

Ages 4 through First Grade: Sacred Stories & Parables

What is Godly Play? It is primarily sacred worship for young children using trained adults to convey the Christian tradition through presentations of sacred stories, parables, liturgy and silence. Godly Play draws on the traditions of ancient storytelling and simple hands-on materials.

A Way to Wonder Together

The approach to religious education called Godly Play is offered to the young children of St. Michael’s Church in the context of Sunday morning worship. It is a wonderful way to tell the stories of faith -- Bible stories, baptism, church seasons, and others -- in a manner that allows adults & children to enter the stories "as little children" and discover the riches that are waiting there for all of us. Because it is important that parents share these stories with their children, we will be providing “Parent Pages” at the end of each session for the children to bring back to you.

"Godly Play" is a term coined by Jerome Berryman to describe an approach to children's spiritual formation that is based on creating a sacred space in which to present the stories of our faith, wonder about them together, and then, during the “work sessions,” allow the children open-ended opportunities, usually with art supplies, to engage the story on their own terms.

The stories are told very simply, with simple props, and without interpretation or explicit moral instruction. After a story is presented, the children and the storyteller wonder together about aspects of the story that draw their interest. For instance, with the parable of the Good Shepherd, they might wonder together how the sheep felt as they followed the shepherd. Or whether the sheep have names. Or how it might feel to be inside the sheepfold.

About once a month, we schedule “work sessions” where the children choose the art supplies they would like to work with, and they spend some time creating whatever they choose, in response to what they feel is most important or most interesting in a story that has been presented.

This is play. It is Godly. It is meeting God along with children knowing that our faith stories are very powerful and offer plenty to think about even without our elaboration on what they "mean." Godly Play is often deeply satisfying for the adults who engage the stories along with the children. What a gift for your child to share with you! Ask them about Godly Play.