Chapter Two: The Threshold at Good Shepherd

At the beginning of chapter two, Berryman introduces the idea that the spaces we inhabit do indeed "speak" to us. Even though Good Shepherd meets in an exercise room, we take great care to make sure that the space doesn't say to us, "Time to pull out the mats and start stretching for a workout!" All of the hard work that goes into setting up the room each Sunday morning transforms it into a place that invites us to worship God together.

This is no less true for our children. We need to create a physical space for our children that "prepares them to be mindful of where they are going," where they can "learn the language of the Christian People…a language for reflection and creativity" (28).

The first aspect of this is the threshold our children at Good Shepherd cross to enter their worship space downstairs. The empty hallways of the Y practically beg children to tear at lightning speed through them (I would've done the same as a kid!), and for much of last year, the race began as soon as Kyle dismissed them. I like to think of the stretch between the sanctuary and the entrance to the children's classrooms as a big, long threshold.

Toward the end of last year, we worked on walking quietly out of the service, and continuing to walk quietly all the way downstairs to the classroom. Once our new year starts, we'll keep working on it.

Though it may seem like a small issue, how children enter their worship space matters. As Berryman points out, we want our children to be " 'set up' for deep concentration and learning" (29).

I look forward to working together as a team to think of ways that we can help our children learn how to "get ready."

 

Reflections on Chapter One: the God of Power and the Church God

Last night at Good Shepherd's "Ladies' Night Out" a few of us started talking about the conversations our toddlers/preschoolers have been initiating lately on God and life and death. 

"Where is God?"
"Can't we see him, just a little bit?"
"How can I feel God?"
"What's 'died,' mommy?"
"Am I going to die?"
To a mom stuck in traffic, "Maybe Jesus can help us."
In response to thunder, "That's Jesus. He's coming."

We all agreed that it's hard to know how to answer these questions and guide these conversations because we ourselves still wonder about all of it. When my son Beck told me recently he didn't want to die, an instinctual pang of fear shot through me because I get it--I don't want to die either, I don't want my baby to have to think about death, and with every fiber of my being, I don't want him to die. 

Godly Play as an approach to children's spirituality acknowledges that children are experiencing God and wrestling with the deeply personal questions humans ask about God and life and death, questions that don't have easy answers. Berryman refers to this in chapter one as their experience of the God of Power.

Our hope and humble prayer as parents and church school teachers is that our children will be firmly rooted as Christians for the rest of their lives. One way toward this seems to be that the Church God we present to them Sunday after Sunday must be integrated with this personal experience they are having of God. 

At its best, Godly Play seeks to integrate the Church God and the God of Power by offering children a playful, imaginative, yet highly structured space where they feel safe bringing their questions, hurts, fears, and joys, and at the same time where they receive the truth, mystery, and wonder of the Christian Story -- the Story that they are a part of, the Story that gives them the language they need to express their experiences of God, to remain deeply rooted in their faith, and to be open to growth in the future.

And isn't this what we as adults experience, or hope to experience, week after week at Good Shepherd? 

Remember & Reflect

Whether or not you've started reading Teaching Godly Play, you likely have more questions than answers about what exactly this approach to children's spirituality is. My first impulse is to get the fire hose out and craft a thorough response to every question I imagine you asking as you sort through the ins and outs of Godly Play.

But of course no one enjoys trying to drink from a fire hose, so I'll stick to reasonable sips.

Which brings me to one helpful exercise for any adult learning Godly Play: Remember and Reflect. Remember your experience of God as a child, how you viewed God, what your deepest joys and deepest fears were. And reflect on why you experienced God as such, why you held these views, why you feared what you did, why you found safety where you did. As Berryman would argue, whether or not you grew up in a Christian home, you were experiencing God--you just may not have had the language to describe it that way. One of the primary goals of Godly Play is to give children language to understand and express their experiences of God.

Remembering and reflecting on our own experiences of God as children keep us mindful of what the children we teach may be experiencing.

Please read this brief essay by Sally Lloyd-Jones (author of The Jesus Storybook Bible), posted on Ann Voskamp's blog. Though she is not affiliated with Godly Play in any way that I'm aware of, she remembers and reflects on her experience of God and church as a child and reaches some conclusions that resonate with Godly Play.

A Gathering Place

Welcome to our virtual Godly Play gathering space! First and foremost, I've designed this blog to be a place where together we can prepare for the year ahead and for our upcoming Godly Play workshop by discussing Jerome Berryman's Teaching Godly Play.

Please feel free to use this platform to post insights into, questions about, and personal reflection on the text. And if your life is crazy, you are not allowed to experience any guilt over not jumping into the online discussion!

Each week, I'll post some of my reflections on the book, just to get the conversation going, but no need to remain tethered to my line of thought. This is an open discussion--no right or wrong topics, no right or wrong questions.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to engage Teaching Godly Play, and even more importantly for serving and nurturing the spiritual development of our children at Good Shepherd in this way!