Godly Play, offered for pre-school children through approximately Grade 2, tells the core stories of the Christian faith. This is done by telling stories and using materials that the children can see, hear, and touch, therefore making the stories come alive. No matter what a child’s primary learning style – visual, auditory, or kinetic – this curriculum addresses the children’s spiritual lives in ways they can understand. All Godly Play teachers have been trained in this technique, which is very child-centered.
Godly Play is a Montessori-related approach to learning which enables children to experience the presence of a loving God and to discover how to “speak the language” of biblical faith. It is a delivery method of learning, which enables young children to encounter God by using both of their critical “gates” of knowing the world: play and language. Its intent is to invite children to experience God’s presence as real and gracious.
Godly Play is the product of many years’ work by the Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman of the Center for the Theology of Childhood in Houston, TX. Godly Play is currently used in more than 700 churches that range in spiritual sensibility from Pentecostal to Mainline to Quaker. Godly Play is also being used in some hospitals, and has contacts in Australia, the United Kingdom, Africa, South America, and Mexico.
Time: 9:00 am Sunday mornings
Place: The Godly Play room can be found up the stairs (past the elevator), to the right, at the end of the hallway. Children are greeted at the door, and families are encouraged to be on time so that children won’t miss the beginning of the story.
