"GODLY PLAY"
"I WONDER?"
The philosophy and curriculum of Jerome Berryman (founder of Godly Play) and Sonja Stewart (founder of Children and Worship) have shaped the way I "wonder" about Scripture and Theology. Below are some of the ways I have used "Godly Play" methods to help teach kids, adults, and graduate students.
Teaching the Gospel of John during Lent
Similar to the Jesse Tree and Matthew for Lent, here are the ornaments for the John for Lent Cross. We will use this for the next Lent. John is a favorite gospel of mine for many reasons, but one is the way in which John uses Temple worship and themes throughout the gospel to reveal who Jesus is. To bring this about I showed on the reverse side of many of the ornaments aspects of the feast that was being celebrated during that story on the front side. There were so many stories that I ended up with multiple ornaments having a reverse side. Oh well. For the 47 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday we will have lots to talk about.

My Abuela, again helped me finish some of these. The majority of the patterns come from Do Small Things with Love. As with Advent and the Matthew series of ornaments, I have again taken some creative liberties. My hope is that we grow in our wisdom of Jesus as we listen to the gospel of John during Lent. The ornaments include the 7 signs (with scalloped edges), the 7 "I am" statements, the three passover trips, with the other feasts.
Teaching the Annunciation and the Trinity 

For Trinity Sunday 2018, I used the Annunciation to teach about the revelation of the Trinity to Mary. Here I incorporated the ideas of (building on the work of Rowan Williams) the ways in which we build curtains to separate ourselves from God, but how God overcomes these by announcing his favor, coming near to us, and overshadowing us. The video of the sermon can be found in the video section of this website.
Teaching the Gospel of Matthew during Lent

This is similar to the Jesse Tree for Advent, but using a Cross, we go through the days of Lent telling the Gospel of Matthew. Each day we will read a passage and put up the corresponding ornament on the Cross. This year we will go through Matthew as our preparation for celebrating the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Next year I hope to do the Gospel of John. 

Like the ornaments for Advent, my Abuela helped out. The patterns for these ornaments originates from Do Small Things with Love. She has patterns for Matthew and for John on her Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DoSmallThingsWLove . I have taken some liberties in the designs and added more ornaments to cover some stories that I wanted covered, so there are 47 ornaments on my tree (40 during Lent, 6 during the Lenten Sundays, and 1 for Easter Sunday).

Teaching  the Jesse Tree during Advent

This is the Jesse Tree I put together for our Advent activities. Each day of Advent we will read an OT story (the last couple are John the Baptist & Mary stories)  and then hang the corresponding ornament on the tree. Hopefully this Jesse Tree will be a family tradition for a long time that prepares us for the celebration of the incarnation.

It was a lot of fun making the ornaments; I had my Abuela help too. I got the patterns of the ornaments off of Etsy from: Do Small Things with Love.
Teaching the Burning Bush

The lectionary reading for this Sunday included the Exodus 3:1-15 passage. After reading Ellen Davis's chapter on the burning bush for sermon prep, which made a reference to the Icon of Unburnt Thorn-bush of Mary from the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai.  I made my own godly play set up for this passage where the reverse side of the bush has a cut out of Mary in the bush. I preached on this passage at one of my former student's church near LAX (Congregational Church of the Messiah). The sermon was about the connection between the burning bush, the annunciation, and Pentecost. 
Teaching the book of Job

The time to teach the book of Job is not in the midst of suffering or trial. Though the Godly Play curriculum has one lesson on this rich book, I found it lacking in helping children and adults wonder about its themes. I divided the book into four lessons: 1) The Prologue, 2) The Dialog, 3) God's Tour of Creation, and 4) The Epilogue. 
Teaching Song of Songs

Godly Play doesn't have a Song of Songs curriculum and seeing that the Song is a difficult book to teach adults and children I decided to make my own curriculum of the Song in four lessons, using the interpretive help of Ellen Davis. I taught an adult Sunday school covering these four themes of the Song: 1) Three Important Loves, 2) I Can't Get No Satisfaction, 3) Singing of Beauty, and 4) Desiring God. 

The three tiers represent three broken loves (of nature [green heart], between humans [brown heart], and of God [blue heart]). Here is the layout for part 1: The first tier tells the story of Eden and the expulsion; the second of Israel/Temple and the Lover and Beloved (Song chapter 1), while the third tier tells of God, the good shepherd and vine dresser. Each scene is narrated through "Solomon," the singers, and musicians on the red felt heart layout. 
Teaching Advent

Here is a "Godly Play" themed sermon I gave where I made a figure for Isaiah, John the Baptist, Joseph & Mary, the Magi & Shepherds all moving toward Bethlehem and the manger.
Teaching the Saints

For my Church History classes I have my students present on a saint to the class. I use a modified "Godly Play" method to introduce some saints to my students in my Church History I class: (from left to right) St. Lawrence, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Martin of Tours, St. Julian of Norwich, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Columba, and St. Nicholas.

SOME BOOKS FOR GETTING STARTED:
SOME WEBSITE RESOURCES:
Share by: