“There was no hurry.”
The children’s eyes are fixed on the bucket, left in the desert like the scattered bits of golden thread.
“I wonder how we wonder?” the storyteller says.
One little boy answers, “It takes a very long time.” Continue reading
Doug Watts and Ryan Campbell recently presented a workshop at the 15th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN’S SPIRITUALITY, convened by the International Association for Children’s Spirituality, at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln, UK.
15th International Conference on Children’s Spirituality Workshop Leaders
The theme of this year’s conference, SPIRITUALITY AND THE WHOLE CHILD: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES, matches closely the focus of the work Watts and Campbell do at Children’s Medical Center – Dallas. Continue reading
The Rev. Cheryl V. Minor, Ph.D.
“I have to learn how to do this.” That’s what the Rev. Cheryl V. Minor, Ph.D., freshly ordained, said after she watched a woman sit on the floor to tell a story. The storyteller, Laurel Mosteller, encouraged Minor to fly with her to Houston, where Dr. Jerome Berryman was serving as Canon Educator at Christ Church Cathedral. She attended a three day training that included every Liturgical Action story, plus modules on response time led by Thea Berryman.
Neither Minor’s ministry nor her personal spirituality have been the same since. Godly Play changed her work in the parish, her work as a parent, and who she is as a person. Continue reading
Jerome Berryman with Rabbi Michael Shire
As the academic and publishing arm of the Godly Play Foundation, the Center for the Theology of Childhood functions as a research center. It houses a library of over 4,000 books related to Godly Play. Some of the topics includes classical theology, mystical theology, philosophy (especially the existentialists), ethics, child development, Montessori, play, silence, laughter, tears, religious education, and the history of childhood. The archive houses a collection of Jerome Berryman’s publications and important historical documents related to Godly Play and the Foundation. The Center also includes a well-equipped Godly Play room nearby, hosted by St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in South Denver. Children of the parish gather there each Sunday. Continue reading