All active Godly Players are invited to display these visual assets on social media and websites.
If you have an active program, please add your program to the Godly Play Program Directory so that we can link to your site.
Examine how changing times call for changing leadership styles, strategies, and attitudes. Facilitated April 3, 2024 by Dr. Sarah B. Drummond, Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School. View recording HERE.
Caring for young children's spirituality is a delicate balance and can often be made more difficult when we grown-ups don't care for ourselves. Struggling through religious or church related trauma or even feelings of inadequacy when it comes to answering our children's big questions.
Created for all Godly Play practitioners, storytellers, trainers and fans! This podcast is full of trainers, storytellers, even the participants giving tips for a fantastic program and sharing stories of inspiration for all. Explore topics and listen to episodes HERE.
You can access our Inventory and Budget tool here. This is a good starting point for new programs teams as it organizes all the stories by volume number and priority, but it can also be used by established programs for inventory/keeping track of materials.
The Wondering Together Project by Sally Thomas, licensed Godly Play Trainer, "invites your family, classroom, or group to come together once a day to check in with each other using the same five questions in the same order." To learn more and access materials, visit https://wonderingtogether.org/.
The most effective way to bring Godly Play to your church is to do your research, learn some stories, and then take them to every meeting and event possible! As you do this work, it is important to explain that the story you are about totell is just one piece of the overall Godly Play session. But hopefully it will be intriguing enough that you gain support for your new program.
You can also print a What Is Godly Play? handout and bring it to your church's governing body to give them a sense of what your goals.
SPACE
Ideally you will start with a clean room with blank walls, however, it may take some work to clear a space to build the sacred space of the Godly Play environment. Remove chalkboards and bulletin boards, clean the carpets or buff the floors, take down busy artwork or wall decorations.
For an inspiration, check out the PowerPoint of Godly Play Spaces at All Saints' Episcopal in Fort Worth, TX!
Program longevity corresponds directly to number of well-trained Godly Play leaders. Because Godly Play is a dynamic, spiritual practice, training is essential to every Godly Play program.
We recommend that all adults in the Godly Play room attend Core Godly Play training before beginning to teach Godly Play. Core training equips Storytellers and Doorpersons with the skills and processes to lead Godly Play sessions with children.
Start your program with the pedagogical and theological understanding Godly Play. For a successful Godly Play program, you will want to have everything in place before the initial launch. This takes some time. From research to support to funding to training to building your Godly Play space, four months to a year is not an unusual amount of time to set up a fully functional program.