Godly Play Envy

You know that feeling when you see a really cool toy for kids and you think to yourself "Why didn't they have that when I was a kid?" Over the past week and a half I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the Godly Play programme and this is the feeling I get every time I do.

The thing I am most jealous of is the atmosphere of expectation, reverence and engagement that is created in the Godly Play classroom. I love the way that the children are prepared to enter the classroom by the doorkeeper; being greeted one by one and asked if they are ready to do Godly Play that day. This question of readiness is a really important one. It gives each child a chance to prepare themselves for what they will be doing and it also gives them an opportunity to recognize if for some reason they are not ready today. I think this is a really important part of Godly Play. It recognizes each child as a subject capable of engaging in the community of the Godly Play classroom. As the storyteller tells the story for the week, they continue this process by ensuring that everyone is ready and responding to any disruptions by reminding the children that they all need to be ready and what this looks like. The children themselves play a role in maintaining that atmosphere. It is a religious community where they are recognized as full and active members with responsibility for what happens therein. There is a great deal of thought and effort that goes into creating this community. It requires the support of the doorkeepers, story-tellers, children and parents as well as those in the wider community.

From the perspective of the Anglican Church, where even the youngest infants are baptized and considered full members of the Body of Christ, this is a wonderful vision of the Church. Children are not seen as objects of cuteness or entertainment for the sake of adults, nor are they treated as empty vessels or blank slates to be filled by those older members of the Church and prepared to be the Church of tomorrow. Instead they are the Church today. They are bearers of the image of God and as such they possess a divine spark which shows others something unique about who God is. Godly play offers children an opportunity to be recognized as full contributors to the Body of Christ through the means that are most natural to them; through play. This play for them is not simply a diversion, rather play, especially for children, is important work. It is how they learn to engage with the world around them and Godly play is their opportunity to engage purposefully with God in the context of the Christian community.

When compared to other Christian Education programmes that do not offer these opportunities it is no wonder to me now why the children at my last parish never wanted to age out of the Godly Play class. 

If you are interested in learning more about Godly Play, here are some great links to follow:

The Canadian Godly Play Website: www.godlyplay.ca
Godly Play Blog for a church in South Carolina: www.godlyplayblog.blogspot.ca
Godly Play Pinterest: pinterest.com/easterkind/godly-play-spaces-group-board