About
The Rev. Dr. Rosemary Beales has been a practitioner in Godly Play since 1996 and an accredited trainer since 2000. After a career in journalism, she likes to say she “found a better story to tell” when she discovered Godly Play. She has conducted trainings in Virginia, Maryland, DC, and Texas, among others Through years of sitting in circles with children, she found herself led to Virginia Theological Seminary, where she graduated in 2005 and was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood. In 2012, she received a Doctor of Ministry degree from VTS, completing a thesis based on using Godly Play to encourage parents in their role as primary spiritual mentors (“Nurturing the Nurturers,” available http://www.academia.edu/). She is honored to have been part of the team that revised and expanded the eight volumes of Complete Guide to Godly Play. Rosemary has served both in parishes and in school ministry, including 12 years as chaplain to grades JK-5 in Alexandria, Va. After two years as interim rector at an Alexandria parish, Rosemary retired but took a part-time position for two years in Fredericksburg, Va., and is now retired again, allowing her time to continue Godly Play training and also to relax a bit with her three grown children and seven grandchildren.
