Yearly Archives: 2018

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Our 2018 Christmas Card

In this season of giving, the Godly Play Foundation has given a gift:
A Lending Library of Stories of God at Home for Church of our Saviour in Arlington, MA

Several weeks ago the Godly Play Foundation dreamed up a special way to celebrate Christmas in 2018 – to give a whole set of Home Edition Godly Play lessons and two copies of Stories of God at Home: A Godly Play Approach to a church ready to dive into this ministry but lacking the resources to establish it. This church would then have the opportunity to set up a lending library for families interested in trying out the stories at home. To further support this ministry, the Rev. Cheryl Minor, Ph.D., the Director of the Center for the Theology of Childhood for the Foundation will offer a free workshop at the parish for parents.

When asked which parish should be chosen, Dr. Minor immediately named The Church of Saviour in Arlington, Massachusetts. Church of our Saviour is a small parish. Their Rector, the Rev. Malia Crawford, has a special heart for children and has worked tirelessly during her time at Our Saviour to serve the children in her community. In addition to developing a small, but thriving Godly Play program with very little budget, she developed a monthly service intentionally designed for babies, toddlers, and their families. The service has been wildly successful and has become program which in turn supports their Godly Play program.

Mid-Advent, Dr. Minor had the opportunity to deliver the stories and books in person to the Rev. Crawford and her Director of Christian Formation, Fiona Vidal. Both Crawford and Vidal spoke about how transforming Godly Play has been for the children and families in their parish. They are always looking for opportunities to bring Godly Play into the all-ages service and other times during the church year. Stories of God at Home seems like a wonderful new opportunity to extend into people’s homes what they already are doing so well at church.

Additionally, Rev. Crawford spoke of several faithful families in the parish who have one or more parents who have to work on Sunday mornings, so this will be a special opportunity for them to access faith formation for their children since they cannot always get to Sunday morning Godly Play.

Dr. Minor and the team at Our Saviour quickly put together a plan for a workshop for parents during the season of Lent. The plan is to introduce them to the book and prepare them to use the “Knowing Jesus in a New Way” lesson at home during the season of Easter. In the meantime, Vidal will organize the lending library for parents so the stories can begin to be used immediately.

It was simply thrilling to give this gift to this special community – one with a unique charism for children! We pray the stories will find their way into many homes, and that they will stimulate family storytelling and theological reflection for years to come!

Merry Christmas from all of us at the Godly Play Foundation!!!

Home / 2018

2018 Matching Gift Campaign

It’s on! We’ve raised $7500 in commitments to fund our year-end Matching Gift Campaign. Now we need the circle’s support to raise another $7500 to secure the matching gift!

Please help us obtain this matching gift!!

We have until December 31st, and every donation helps us to reach our goal! Together we met last year’s matching gift goal–let’s do it again!!

Please join us in building the Kingdom of God through the Godly Play method.

Donate Now

UPDATE!!!! We have now been offered an additional $2500 in matching gifts, which raises our total goal to $10,000. By the grace of God, we have almost met this challenge!! Please contribute to what will surely be a wonderful “win” on New Year’s Eve—please join us and become part of this story!

What does your gift do?

The short answer is that your gift to the Godly Play Foundation goes directly to the work of bringing quality Godly Play to children of all ages throughout the world—directly to our vision of enlarging our circle to include every child of God.

How do we spread quality Godly Play across the globe?

We do it together!

Some of the proposals for the next couple of years include:

Increasing our scholarships for training and materials to support churches who have the time and talent but are lacking the treasure to launch or expand their Godly Play program
Adding story videos to our YouTube page, which we know many people find invaluable in preparing to tell their weekly story
Expanding work with elders in home care settings, including additional work and training in serving adults with dementia and physical limitations
Continuing to bring together pediatric hospital chaplains who are Godly Players for hospital specific trainings so hospitalized children with deep need for spiritual support and guidance can experience the depth of Godly Play
Ensuring continued support for families making Stories of God at Home a family tradition
Developing trainings specifically for clergy to ensure church leaders know what they need to know to support their programs
Enlarging our US Missioner program to ensure trained, local support is available nationally
Funding the movement of people and materials to bring Godly Play to new circles across oceans and mountains and to bring Godly Players to sister circles in different locales
Support refugee children by continuing efforts and starting new support programs
Revising The Complete Guide to Godly Play, Volume 6—similar to the work completed on Volumes 2, 3, and 4—so these stories can be shared more easily throughout the world
Populating additional social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest
Reconstructing our website to align our online presence with the quality of the Godly Play method

Collectively throughout the world, we have been working toward these goals and have many accomplishments. Yet, these new initiatives need funding to make them a reality.

Please join us in building the Kingdom of God through Godly Play.

Please Donate Now to the 2018 Matching Gift Campaign

Home / 2018

Godly Play and the Refugee Child

Introduction

I attended my first official Godly Play workshop in 2013 at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in San Angelo, Texas, and although it was just an introduction to the method, I was excited to finally attend a real Godly Play event! My husband and I were in discernment about a potential toddler adoption, and so I personally felt unsettled and nervous about the future. But I knew this introductory workshop was something I needed to do for me. After dinner in the church fellowship hall, we settled into a circle on the floor and introduced ourselves.

“Hi, I’m Beth, and I’m actually from South 11th and Willis Church of Christ in Abilene.” An elderly woman sitting nearby raised her eyebrows, and I heard her whisper in a somber tone, “The Lord help you!” I laughed, because I knew what she meant. The Churches of Christ are located in what scholars call the Restoration Movement, which began in the early 19th century. Some of the movement’s key “features” include: local autonomous churches, a shedding of all creeds, and a reliance on the Bible as the one and only revelation of God to humankind. There was to be no fancy high church liturgy and no instrumental music. One of its highest aspirations was to restore Christianity to what it would have looked like in the first century (as much as possible), as described in the New Testament.

So yeah, it seemed a little strange that a lady from a conservative, non-liturgical, and historically fundamentalist religious group was hanging out with liberal Episcopalians. I guess I’ve never been good at knowing where I belong. Continue reading →