On March 8-10, I had the opportunity to attend three days of Godly Play training in Atlanta. Godly Play is a creative method for children to explore the stories of our faith, build community together, and begin to listen to the word of God in their lives. Through the art of story telling and the use of a wide range of materials to engage the children within the story, Godly Play leads children into a process of wondering to discover how God is working in and through the stories - even 2,000 years after they were written!

As you can imagine, such a unique program requires a great deal of intentionality to implement with children. Each session has five key elements: Getting Ready; Storytelling; Work Time; Feast (goldfish and juice!); and Blessing. Through the training, I learned how important each of these elements are for the spiritual formation of each child, and how to introduce them to the child in a way that they will be able to make the process meaningful to them.

Starting (or re-starting) a Godly Play program will require a great deal of support and patience. The children will need more consistent adult leaders so that they can develop relationships of trust with the two people entering the Godly Play space with them. At some point, I would also love to send the adult leaders who serve in Godly Play to their own Godly Play training, so that they will develop their own sense of intentionality and skill for the program.

We will begin implementing the Godly Play stories (though not the whole program) with the children during Children’s Worship after Easter to get them used to the storytelling method. In the coming months, we will also host full Godly Play sessions for adults, so that you can have the opportunity to experience the wonder and faith formation that takes place through Godly Play. Be on the look-out for these opportunities, and more ways that you can invest in the spiritual development of our children!

- Emily Holladay