News:An Invitation to Godly Play: A Journey of Wonder, Mystery, and Presence on May 18th
What was your childhood Christian education experience? If you are like me, you may remember Bible school songs, memorizing the Ten Commandments, and coloring pictures of Jesus with the children. These experiences were useful--they gave me a framework for a basic understanding for my forming existential questions. However, they did not give me what I needed most: a direct experience of the Living God.
Children naturally are in the moment, playful and loving. Godly Play affirms children as they are and helps them enter into the sacred through verbal and non-verbal communication. We build a “campfire” circle and tell stories from the heart--stories of God and God’s people. We create a safe place for children to wonder and to feel the presence of God in the words of the story and the higher meanings connected to it.
Children have much to teach us. We are looking for guides who will walk with these small miracles and experience the wonder and mystery of God with them. Maybe you are one of those persons. Search your heart, and come experience what you may have missed in your own childhood--a direct and intimate dialogue with our Creator.
If you would like to learn more about Godly Play, please attend our open parent information/demonstration session on Sunday, May 18th, at 9:50 a.m. in the Parlor. Paula Stiernberg can also arrange to have a Godly Play teacher come to your Sunday School class if the whole group is interested in learning more.
--Tracey Stephens, Godly Play Teacher 2003-2008
