I began working in parish-based children’s ministry when my youngest child was just two months old. Churches are familiar places to them. Children’s spaces in particular become like an extension of our living room.

Recently my daughters helped me to select and prepare a small gift to give each student and teacher at our parish’s Blessing of the Backpacks – pocket-sized holding crosses made of olive wood in Bethlehem. Sitting in our Godly Play room, the girls took up the big work of taping said crosses to prayer cards and placing them neatly in baskets so that they could be handed out at each Mass.

Finally, this weekend they could place their new pocket crosses in one of the cool zippered compartments on their backpacks. (The one on the shoulder strap seemed to be the most awesome, in case you’re wondering.) Continue reading →

Yes, we have updated our curriculum, revised grammar and illustrations, and are adding new stories! Many of you had an opportunity to see the changes at our 2017 North American Godly Play Conference. This good news needs to be spread!

Quick Guide: 2017 Curriculum Updates – Volume 2

For a quick guide to the 2017 curriculum updates in Volume 2, please see our one-page handout noting the changes you will find detailed in the revised and expanded second edition. We suggest that every Godly Play teacher receive a copy and that you leave a copy in each of your Godly Play rooms.

2017 Curriculum Updates – Volume 2

Revised and Expanded Second Edition of Volume 2

For background information on how we got here, please take a minute to read the below story explaining the reasons and processes for the curriculum updates.

But most importantly, be sure to order the new revised and expanded edition to discover the details of these updates for yourself!

Beyond the new practice, the new story, and new words for the stories you already love, the new edition of Volume 2 includes significant grammar and illustration revisions to better support your program.

Order the book in print

Order the individual stories in digital form

Continue reading →

The Wichita Eagle

Many of you have asked about our friends and colleagues in Ashland, Kansas after the entire town was evacuated Monday due to uncontrollable wildfires ripping through the region. As Patricia Carney posted on Facebook: “I suspect many of us in the Godly Play world feel as though we have family in Ashland, Kansas! Prayers continue!”

We are grateful to report that all of the Foundation employees at Godly Play Resources are safe and their houses still stand. Godly Play Resources headquarters was spared, and the team is beginning to return to work. Your thoughts and prayers pouring in meant so much to Mike, Teresa, Connie, Teika, and all of our vendors and the professionals who serve the Foundation.

But the destruction to the area was significant. Continue reading →