Here at the Church of St. Benedict, we offer a way of teaching young children developed by The Godly Play Foundation , a non-profit educational organization, which since 1960 has been researching, developing teaching materials and training religious education teachers. Our lead-teachers have received training from the Godly Play Foundation, and our classroom has been designed to invite children to learn and grow, in accordance with Godly Play guidelines.
In Godly Play, young children (ages 3-8) are invited into a sacred space (the Godly Play room) to engage with stories of God. These stories include sacred stories of the Old and New Testaments, parables and liturgical action stories. After listening to a story, the children are guided to work with the objects in the room, including art supplies and story pieces as a way of internalizing their experience, and they are served a “feast” before being given individual blessings at the end of each session.
Everyone Benefits
It is our desire that every child of every age in our community will find a place in Godly Play, as a participant, a helper, or a teacher’s assistant. Because we believe that our parents as well as our St Benedict community will benefit from what our children are experiencing, we offer opportunities throughout the year adult involvement, including story sampling, open houses, parent gatherings and printed information.
Potential leaders (storytellers) are encouraged to join the team and become trained. The Godly Play Foundation provides Core Training throughout the year at various sites. Funds are currently available to cover registration for training. In addition, St. Benedict Leaders offer training to adult assistants (door persons) who serve as partners to the storytellers. Children 9 to 13 are invited to serve as helpers and teens are welcome to serve as assistants.
Explore more about Godly Play at The Godly Play Foundation through Church Publishing.
Faith is caught . . . not taught
