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By THE VERY REV. REBECCA L. MCCLAIN
GRACEFUL NURTURE:
Using Godly Play with Adults
Graceful Nurture was written to do one thing: to open up a conversation about the spiritual wellbeing of adults. Although I hope it will be a useful resource
to the Godly Play community, more
importantly, I hope this book unleashes your own creativity to welcome adults into the work of re-creation.
Graceful Nurture does not stand alone
but lies underneath the enormous tent
that is the inspired creation of Jerome and
Thea Berryman and the many faithful
practitioners who sit in the circle of children
every week. I commend every bit of it—
books, training, resources, conferences
and conversations, even the hard work of
creating organizations and structures to
support this ministry: all of it matters. May
I also be so bold as to say I believe we hold the seeds of reformation in our hands as we go back to the ground and enter deeply into the stories that break us open and make us whole.
For me, it was time to state the obvious: Godly Play is for all of us, at every age and stage of life. From longstanding practitioners to rst timers, the invitation to come into the circle is provocative. We are coaxed to cross the threshold and rediscover this deep longing to engage in a dance with the Divine, or as we are reminded by Jerome Berryman in Becoming Like a Child: The Curiosity of Maturity Beyond the Norm, to enter the four dimensions of creativity: ow, play, love, and contemplation. It is a way of being that brings us to a place of deep
satisfaction and a profound sense of being in the presence of God. Godly Play is a spiritual practice.
My journey with Godly Play began in 1985 in the o ce of my bishop. Newly ordained, I was invited to one of those terrifying chats about my vocation as priest. There was another priest in the room. He was also recently ordained but older and thankfully incredibly gracious— smiling as we met, signaling to me that all would be well. The Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman stood to greet me thus, and my rst glimpse into the wonder of Godly Play began. Jerome shared a vision of children and a process of opening them to the whole language of the Christian people. I was captivated and knew our paths would cross again.
It was several years later when I extended an invitation to Jerome and Thea to come to Phoenix to share the Godly Play story with Christian educators in the Valley of the Sun. But rst, I was invited into a small circle of two.
A gold box appeared, and Jerome began. He told the “Parable of the Good Shepherd.” Here I was: cradle Christian, lover of Jesus, educated and ordained, faithful in my worship and my spiritual life, an excellent student, immersed in Scripture, theology, history, ethics, liturgy, preaching and the pastoral arts. And in that moment of wonder, my entire worldview was reordered. In the kind of knowing that can never be fully explained, I knew this mattered—this work mattered— and I would never be the same.
In 1997, while serving as Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, I invited
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the CIRCLE | SEPTEMBER 2017