Godly Play Spain on Facebook

I have just created a new Facebook page on behalf of our Godly Play España national association. You can visit the page here even if you are not personally a user of this social network. On the first day of its creation, over one hundred people visited and 'liked' the page!

The Facebook site, as well as the Godly Play Spain blog, has been adjusted to the new corporate image of our national association. I hope you like that, too!

New Godly Play Room

In a recent post I lamented the fact that we had lost our beautiful Godly Play rooms in our old chapel in Galicia (NW Spain). However, following months of moving around to hired halls, I am happy to report that we have finally been able to open a new classroom for the children at church which seems to be of a slightly more permanent nature -- at least for the remainder of this school year. It also means that I can once again programme training events on the same premises, so this is really good news for the development of Godly Play in this part of Spain.

Here are a couple of photos of the new classroom. The children are also very glad to be able to resume Godly Play in this new environment as they come together each week to engage with the stories.

Final day in Kuala Lumpur

The children at Breakthru Enrichment Station give a colourful performance 
at the end-of-year talent time and awards giving celebration

Following the Scripture Union Living Hope conference, the delegates from Latvia (Anita and Evgenia) and Spain (Paco, Toñi and myself) stayed on for a Godly Play workshop, which I led with Anita's help on Saturday, and worship at Bangsar Lutheran Church on Sunday.

The last day of our stay in Malaysia was quite intensive with a number of activities: Sunday worship and preaching, lunch with members of the church council, shopping, enjoying the end-of-year talent time and awards giving celebration, as guests of honour, at Breakthru Enrichment Station (a Christian-based school for children and young people who have learning difficulties and challenges), and finally a taxi to the airport. 

All in all, a wonderful finale to our trip!

You can see the pictures here

Godly Play workshop in Kuala Lumpur

This 8-hour introductory workshop, focusing on the Godly Play sacred stories, took place on Saturday 10th November 2012 at Bangsar Lutheran Church, Kuala Lumpur. Forty people, representing several different churches, denominations and organisations in KL, participated in the workshop. I was very happy to be able to lead the sessions with Anita Kazaka, an accredited GP teacher from Latvia. (We are both staff members of our respective Scripture Union movements in Latvia and Spain.) 

Following the workshop, the group of visitors from Spain and Latvia were invited to a meal at the Harvest Café run by the young people from the Dignity for Children Foundation, at their centre in Sentul. It was a joy to see Dignity's fully equipped Montessori classroom on the same premises, as well as their developing 'Bible Play' room, their particular version of Godly Play. Our conclusion was that there is so much potential for GP to take root in Malaysia and spread out to neighbouring countries in the Far East. They will undoubtedly need more ongoing training, which in the future could possibly be delivered by GP Australia.

More photos here

Scripture Union Living Hope Conference

Group photo of conference delegates

My recent visit to Malaysia came about through an invitation by Scripture Union International to help with the  Spanish translation at the Living Hope conference. Delegates would be arriving from Latin America and Spain, for whom translation would be required. It was a great joy to work together with Billy Clark, from SU Peru, who shared this task with me. There was also translation service for French and Russian speakers. 

Our work covered simultaneous translation of all the plenary sessions, preparing Power Point slides in Spanish, translating and collating discussion feedback from Spanish to English, voice over for the daily 90 minute video and audio broadcasts on internet, translation for one of the Latin American delegates at the children's ministry discussion group, a full day's translation at a meeting of the America's Region prior to the conference, etc.

The following is a report about the Scripture Union Living Hope conference from Janet Morgan (International Director of SU) and Colin Sinclair (Chair of International Council): 

«Living Hope Phase 2 brought together over 250 leaders from 108 SU National Movements, including Regional and International Council and staff, and 20 young leaders. This 5 day event took place in November 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

From the data collected through our Phase 1 Community listening project we heard the voices of children and young people as they expressed their hopes and despair. We explored the impact of our changing world on SU’s mission as part of the mission of God. We listened to God, and to one another. 

In the translation booth

We recommitted ourselves to our aims, belief statement, and working principles. We have been strengthened in our resolve to ensure that our ministry with children, young people, and families is an expression of God’s mission to restore all of creation. We have been challenged to help people engage with God’s word in ways that speak into their deep‐seated values and beliefs, so that transformation is possible. 

We felt God call us to extend our ministry so that it intentionally includes families, and children and young people at risk, and those who live in other faith cultures. We felt God call us to greater interdependence between our national movements, and a willingness to be bold and take risks.

We felt God call us to develop leadership in staff and volunteers and especially young leaders at all levels and in every aspect of SU. 

Immediately after the gathering the International Council met for two days to ensure that the momentum of the event was not lost. We responded with enthusiasm to all that was shared. 

Living Hope Phase 3 has now begun with the appointment of a group to carry forward the outcomes and to bring initial recommendations to the International Team and Executive in Bangkok next February. 

We believe that people will have returned to their national movements and are already thinking through and working out ways to respond. 

You can find all the resources from the Living Hope gathering on the website and many continue to join the discussion on the Facebook page. New resources are still being added. 

Please continue to pray that God will make clear to us the next steps and give us the courage to obey as we move towards the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of SU in 2017.» 

Translating for Silvia (SU Honduras)
in the children's workers discussion group

The pictures here illustrate general shots of the conference as well as the more particular involvement of the delegation from Spain (Francisco Mega, Toñi Nevado and myself) in translation, interaction with other Spanish-speaking delegates, sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur, discussion with children's workers, etc.

Godly Play practice in Kuala Lumpur

Wonderful circle of special children!

Saturday 3 November 2012 was an exciting and intensive day for me in Malaysia. I had arrived in Kuala Lumpur the evening before, made my way from KLIA, the international airport, by express train to the city's central station, where I was picked up by my hosts, Phoebe and Yu Chiet. We immediately made our way to a Chinese restaurant for supper, before continuing to the apartment they have for guests, just across the hall from their own residence.

However, Saturday was when the fun really began, starting off with an amazing breakfast at an Indian restaurantt! I was then taken to the Breakthru Enrichment Station (BEST), a school for children and young people with learning dificulties and challenges, where Phoebe and Yu Chiet are directors. This was where I was asked to present Godly Play to a group of the children, with staff, volunteers and family members observing! I was very conscious that this almost one-to-one ratio of adults to children was not at all the Godly Play way of doing things. So, while the children were looked after by some of the staff members in an adjacent play space, I briefed the adults on the background of Godly Play, explained to them that what was about to take place was not normal practice, and ernestly asked them to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible during the session with the children.

I needn't have worried too much... when the children arrived, we began to form the circle and they focused immediately on the story ('The Exodus') and remained so throughout the wondering, response time and feast. Only a couple of members of staff had to draw near to one or two of the children to help them re-focus from time to time. Altogether, the children, as well as mums, dads, grandmother, staff and volunteers, did amazingly well!

Sweeping up the desert sand!

During response time, many of the children drew and painted pictures. The 'desert bag' was also popular, of course. At clearing up time, I told the children that they were responsible for sweeping up the sand that had managed to escape from the bag, rather than the adult helpers. The children --mainly boys-- quickly found some tiny brushes and pans, and really enjoyed the game of getting all the sand back into the bag. In fact, laughter and fun was in the air from start to finish!

After the children had left with their family members, I was able to debrief the members of staff and volunteers, and listen to their own observations and reactions to the session. The comments were all very favourable. Here is a summary of what was later posted on the 'BEST' Facebook page: «It's amazing how the children were so engaged throughout the Godly Play session on 'Exodus'. Our team had a great time watching how the session was conducted for children who have various learning abilities, discussing our observation and learning after the session. We are thankful to the Lord for this wonderful opportunity»... «Thanks for your sharing in Malaysia especially with the children in Breakthru Enrichment Station.» 

BEST directors:
Yu Chiet, Lian Ai and Phoebe

Hopefully, Godly Play will continue to feature regularly at this school. A number of the dedicated staff and volunteers later took part in the Godly Play workshop I led the following Saturday at Bangsar Lutheran Church in Kuala Lumpur. So many of the principles of Godly Play seem to connect with the core values at Breakthru Enrichment Centre.

Following Godly Play with the special needs children, it was time for lunch at another restaurant -- this time Malay! (The range and variety of cuisine was amazing!) Then Phoebe and Lian Ai (the third director at 'BEST' and a former school teacher) drove me to another excellent Christian ministry centre that I had contacted before I left Spain. It was only a few kilometres away, but neither group were previously aware of the other's existence, which sadly is so often the case in big cities. After negotiating the heavy KL traffic and monsoon showers, we eventually arrived at the Harvest centre, run by the Dignity for Children Foundation in Malaysia, a ministry to the urban poor in Sentul, a district to the north of KL.

Revd. Elisha and Petrina,
 founders of Dignity for Children

The two adjacent and interconnecting apartment blocks house a church meeting hall, a Montessori infants' school, a primary and a secondary school, residential quarters, a 'Bible Play' space and the Harvest Cafe -- a restaurant and community space run by the young people themselves, as part of their vocational training. All this, and more (e.g. a sports ministry, called the Faisal Cup), is led by a highly dedicated pastor and his wife, Elisha and Petrina. They are passionate about the effects of quality education as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty. During their theological training in the States, they had come across Montessori education and later, whilst on a visit to the UK, were introduced to Godly Play. In just 12 years, they have been able to impact the lives of hundreds of immigrant children and young people from a variety of faith groups.

Petrina showed us the vast stock of wooden and rubber (!) figures she and her volunteers had made. As they had had no ongoing training or handbooks to guide them, they began to create stories in the style of Godly Play, especially adapted for Muslim children, which they call 'Bible Play'. The materials they have produced are intended not only for their centre in Sentul, but also for the 10 partner schools they have established in Sabah and Sarawak! Petrina and her team of young teachers were really thirsting for further training in Godly Play, and I was informed that a dozen of them had already signed up for the workshop the following Saturday.

Some of the 'Bible Play' materials
produced at Dignity

It was also amazing how the leaders from the two groups (Phoebe and Lian Ai, from Breakthru, and Petrina, from Dignity) were able to quickly appreciate the different but complementary ministries they each represented, and I felt really humbled that it needed someone from Spain to travel to the other side of the globe in order to become the catalyst that brought them together!

Later, Phoebe and Yu Chiet drove me south to the other side of the city, to the hotel where the Scripture Union Living Hope conference was to take place. But not before another meal at yet another restaurant - this time Thai. Evidently, in Kuala Lumpur, variety is the spice of life, in every sense of the word!

More photos here

The Sower, the Seed & the Sustainer of Kingdom Growth

A child's representation of the parable (9
years old). The rather diminished sower
in the bottom left-hand corner exclaims:
"Wow, that was my seed!"

When I did the 3-day Godly Play core training back in 2003, the Parable of the Mustard Seed was the very first story that I learnt and presented to the rest of the group at the retreat near Evesham, in England. Since then I have always felt a close affinity with that particular parable, and I have often drawn comfort from the belief that it is ultimately God who plants the true seed which in time will grow in surprising and unexpected ways. This belief has sustained me as I have travelled thousands of miles over the last 9 years, introducing Godly Play to churches and groups here in Spain, and indeed further afield. To be honest, travelling all that distance in order to sit down on the floor and mysteriously move little painted figures made of plywood over a piece of felt underlay, hardly appears on the surface to be high impact ministry, and it's easy to wonder what the point of it all might be... if in fact there is one!

At the moment my local church situation does not offer a great deal of encouragement. Because of major division in the congregation and property dispute (yes, it sounds awful and the situation is very sad), the trustees of the chapel temporarily closed it back in April, including the two beautiful Godly Play classrooms that had been prepared so lovingly and prayerfully. These classrooms, although small, were rapidly becoming a national focal point, as people visited from different parts of Spain (our local area is a summer holiday resort) to see what a model Godly Play environment was like. So, without further access to these rooms, for the last three months before the summer recess I was setting up a Godly Play space in a hired hall each Sunday and storing all the teaching materials in my shed at home. But now at the beginning of the new school year, it seems that even this hired space is no longer available to us and the future of Godly Play here in Galicia is looking more and more precarious. It would be a great pity if we were not able to continue delivering this imaginative method of engaging children with Bible stories. After 2 years, the children were responding wonderfully and there have also been recent signs of interest in Godly Play from members of other churches in the area, including our local Catholic parish.

So, I wonder how fast the mustard seed is really growing. How long before the invisible growth beneath the surface of our perceptions becomes evident and palpable? How long before the shrub grows up so big as to turn into a little tree? When will the birds of the air come to make their nests in its branches?

Yesterday, someone from Uruguay wrote to let me know about her own recent adventures with Godly Play. Toni and her husband Matt have been serving as missionaries in Montevideo for 15 years, chiefly with an international agency called Christian Associates. We also have missionaries linked to the same organisation in Spain. When we ran our very first official Godly Play introduction in Madrid back in 2004, Sarah and April, two ladies from Mountainview, a Christian Associate church plant in the western suburbs of the city, came and were immediately 'sold' on Godly Play. They invited me to repeat the presentation at a house belonging to one of their missionary families, and to go on to train the whole team in the method. This led to several weekend events in 2005.

Shortly after that, Sarah and April were invited to share about Godly Play and to demonstrate a story at one of Christian Associate's annual international team conferences held in Europe. Toni was there and immediately caught the vision for Godly Play. "I was fascinated and told God I would be honoured if He would let me take this to Uruguay", she wrote to me yesterday in an email.

Toni's dream came true and she began doing Godly Play at Christ Church, the international English-speaking Protestant community in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. A Godly Play environment was established by a team of artisans who, she says, "used heart and hand to develop the materials". Toni also received help from Caryl Menkhus, a Spanish-speaking trainer from the States.

Seven years later, they are still deepening their own understanding of the method. However, an exciting development has been that Toni has been asked to share Godly Play beyond the Protestant community in Montevideo. "I have been blessed to share this precious way of mentoring children with several of the Catholic churches in the area", she writes.

However, the most surprising of these recent developments is that the Colegio Seminario, the biggest Jesuit church school in the city, with close to 1,000 students in primary alone, asked Toni to train all their teachers in Godly Play. As Toni explains in her blog, the rationale of the Jesuits who run the school is that, although each teacher is responsible for teaching catechism to his or her class, "they doubt that some of them even know Jesus. Godly Play not only seemed like the best way of leading kids into God's presence, but it also gave them hope that their teachers might experience Christ and find faith in Him as well!"

So, on the 8th and 9th of June this year, Toni and her friend, María, led a weekend Godly Play retreat together in Spanish, using the facilities at Christ Church, with the first group of 23 teachers from the school as well as other pastoral care workers. Just last week, the school's official website reported that "we are thrilled to have begun bringing Godly Play stories to our students, confident that it will prove to be an instrument that will help them deepen their relationship with God and grow in the faith".

Another representation of the parable by a younger
child (7 years old)... a multi-textured collage which
in itself is a parable of the connected international
growth that I am referring to in this post!

Now I'm sure that stories like this are happening all around us. But much is taking place below the radar of our awareness. Thanks largely to social networking I have been able to trace this particular example of 'mustard seed' growth with its various connections and chain of events. From Madrid to Montevideo! It's really amazing how a single seed planted in the Spanish capital in April 2004 is now potentially allowing hundreds of children to join the Godly Play circle in the capital of Uruguay.

Well, that story stirred up in me again the deep belief that growth is ultimately in God's hands. In fact, the 'three-in-one' God is the Sower, the Seed and the Sustainer of kingdom growth.

It is certainly encouraging to know that and to hold on to that belief when at times the local circumstances appear rather bleak!

Losing control!

A short introductory article of mine to Godly Play has just been published in the Scripture Union Europe Region News and Prayer Bulletin (April-June 2012), pp. 5-6.

At the time of writing, I am recovering from a grim experience I suffered recently – the theft of several personal items from my car. Events like these cause us to wake up with a jolt to the fact that, no matter how well we plan or take necessary precautions, we are never fully in control of the outcomes. It’s a relief to know, of course, that God is in complete control.

But what about losing control deliberately and systematically in our ministry with children? What would happen if we willingly let go of fixed aims regarding how, for example, our children should interpret Bible stories or what their responses ought to be?

Many educators would be horrified at the thought! Surely good practice is all about planning for and ensuring clear, measurable outcomes that can then be used to evaluate our work? And as Christian teachers or evangelists, isn’t our job to tell children what the Bible passage means and what it says about God, human beings, sin and forgiveness? Wouldn’t it be irresponsible to do otherwise?

However, this is precisely the approach to Christian religious education taken in a number of Montessori-based methods such as Godly Play®, where children are granted more responsibility for their own spiritual growth than in most traditional methods, and where teachers willingly take on a mentoring role rather than being overly directive.

So what does a typical Godly Play session look like? When the children have entered the room and are settled, the storyteller presents a Bible story she has learnt by heart, using as few words as possible. The story is told with a hushed tone of voice and at a slow pace so that the child’s imagination is free to latch on to the narrative. At the same time, the storyteller places simple wooden figures on a felt underlay or moves them around deliberately in a sandbox.

Then the facilitator encourages the children to engage with the story personally through a series of ‘wondering questions’: I wonder what you liked most about the story… I wonder what is important in it… I wonder if you are in that story or if any part of it is in you… I wonder if we can take anything away from the story and still have all we need…

This is in no way like a ‘quiz’ to find out if the children can produce the right answers. Neither does the Godly Play teacher seek to explain what the point of the story really is. Rather than bringing closure to the process via premature conclusions, the wondering questions are designed to open up avenues of discovery, which may raise more questions than answers. The ongoing reflective process is often more valuable than any immediate product – especially the teacher’s own preconceived interpretation of the Bible passage!

Godly Play® allows children the freedom to engage with Bible stories on their own terms – and most usually that involves the universal language of play. So, following the ‘wondering time’, the children are then invited to choose their ‘work’ response, which is invariably playful.

One child may choose to return to the story materials she has just seen being used by the teacher and retell the same story for herself. Another may prefer to go back to a story that has been presented previously. Others may choose to respond creatively using art materials, like paints or clay. Some older children, for example, in one of my Godly Play classes have recently learnt how to ‘cross stitch’ patterns for book markers using needle and thread. Sometimes this deep play is quite intense (even serious!) as children get engrossed in their activities and work at them quietly in different parts of the room.

This doesn’t mean that ‘anything goes’ in a Godly Play classroom. Not at all! There is a clear structure to both the physical environment (the order in which the story materials are placed on shelves around the room, for example) and how time is marked by set routines: 1) gathering and getting ready; 2) hearing the story, wondering and responding; 3) sharing a ‘feast’ (juice & snacks), prayers and Bible reading; and 4) blessing and saying goodbye.

Both storyteller and ‘door person’ (a second teacher) work in tandem to model expected behaviour and attitudes, like getting ready, handling the materials, wondering, respecting one another’s opinion, enjoying silence, etc. The storyteller may deliberately encourage children to make connections between different stories (“I wonder what would happen if we placed these two stories side by side”) or between their ‘work’ and the stories (“I wonder where your picture belongs in the classroom. You might like to walk around and think about which shelf to put it on”). In one sense, the Godly Play teacher does seem to have quite a bit of control and hopefully a lot of positive influence too. But she would resist giving children the ‘right answers’ about God rather than allowing children to discover God for themselves.

The founder of Godly Play®, Jerome Berryman, uses the term ‘playful orthodoxy’ to express the essence of this approach. The teacher certainly controls the order and manner the stories are presented, and this suggests orthodoxy. The Bible is allowed to speak for itself; thus there is great economy in the language used without added interpretations or explanations. Then play completes the equation.

’Wondering’ introduces imaginative engagement and playful response. And one of the features of play is that it cannot be controlled or used to achieve predetermined outcomes. Indeed, play can take quite unexpected twists and turns!

But won’t children come out with heresies if they’re allowed to interpret the Bible for themselves? This hasn’t been my experience at all. More often than not they surprise us with the range of their insights and their ability to draw out meaning in fresh ways. It’s true that children sometimes playfully test established ideas.

For example, after I had presented the Christmas story once using a simple wooden set of Nativity figures, and then wondered if there was anything we could take away and still have all the story we needed, one little boy suggested we might take the baby Jesus away! “Oh, that’s interesting”, I replied.

“I wonder if we can really celebrate Christmas without the Christ child”. There followed a lively discussion in which some of the children pointed out that many families do celebrate the holidays without necessarily having faith in Jesus. Finally, another little voice said rather solemnly: “But if Jesus wasn’t there, then the wise men wouldn’t have brought their gifts. So there wouldn’t be presents at Christmas time!” “True!” said the others, faces aghast at the thought! End of discussion. The little figure of the baby was promptly put back into the manger… and surprisingly, Santa was never mentioned once!

--------
David Pritchard, SU Spain’s children’s worker, is also an accredited Godly Play trainer. SU Spain has been promoting Godly Play since 2004 and providing training for teachers and children’s workers in different parts of the country. Across Europe, a number of national Godly Play associations are being set up and there is a growing network of accredited trainers, who are available to lead courses and workshops on the theoretical framework as well as the practical ‘nuts & bolts’ of this method.

Photo credit: Godly Play on the cover of Notas Diarias, the Bible-reading material used in Spain. At the II National Godly Play Conference held last year, one of the participants presents the parable of the Good Shepherd to a mixed-age group.

Labyrinth

I was feeling pretty tired after taking part in a week-long children's programme at the beginning of July. Then I was one of the speakers at an all-age holiday weekend from 22nd to 25th. So when the third summer event took place at my church in Castiñeiras (Galicia) --a weekend for young adults, called RenovAcción (28th-31st July)-- I wasn't intending to actually DO anything! The coordinator of the event had invited me to attend "simply to observe".

Hmm! Well, it wasn't long before I was fully involved again in yet another project! One reason was that the pile of stones left over from the all-age weekend were very inviting... and soon I began designing and organizing for the first time in my life an open-air Prayer and Bible Labyrinth, as well as several prayer and meditation stations inside the church building.

I found some resources for this from www.labyrinth.org.uk. With help from a few volunteers, it took us a full day to set up.

Based on the three phases of devotional Bible engagement: (i) entering (getting ready, shedding, openness, confession...); (ii) centring (engagement with the Bible text, lectio divina, meditation...; (iii) leaving (response, commitment, intercession, witness, integration, incarnation...), the labyrinth invites participants to get deeply involved in a dynamic and creative experience of encountering God through the Bible and prayer.

Each of the 'pilgrims' walked the labyrinth at their own pace - most spent at least 20 minutes, some over an hour, in the process. Before leaving the labyrinth, they wrote their comments in the 'Pilgrim's Journal'. In the end, the labyrinth experience was rated very highly by the young people in their overall evaluation of the weekend. Here's a selection of their comments (translated from the original Spanish):
"How time flies when walking these paths... just like life itself!"
"My life is like a labyrinth, but God knows perfectly well where I am."
"I need to learn how to be in silence and to enjoy it. It's not a waste of time!"
"I ask the Lord to help me find God's peace."
"A necessary spiritual exercise... a 'way' to purify your soul."
"The labyrinth has been a haven of peace."
"A time and place of quietness and thought."
"Thanks for helping me to speak to God in such a dynamic way."
"The labyrinth is a precious moment to spend with the Lord."
"Peace for the soul comes from God alone, who is the only one that can cover you like soothing ointment. This is what I discovered in this labyrinth."
"The labyrinth has helped me realise that I do not listen to God like I really should. It has given me a chance to be still and to spend time with God."
"I know that God is here speaking to me."
"Thank you!"
"Being in the centre of the labyrinth is fixing your gaze on God."
"Thank you, God, for being with me each step of the way. Great is your faithfulness!"
"I need to come back to You... The labyrinth reminds me of the place where I should be, where I am meant to be... I'm so sorry!"
"God is the active principle in our lives... in my life. Thank you!"

More photos can be found HERE

The Holy Family in Valencia on Pentecost Sunday!

As I travel around Spain (and beyond) leading training sessions on Godly Play, invariably my Holy Family set of figures journeys with me.

I am particularly fond of these materials. They were given to me in compensation for all the hard work I had put in organising the second European Godly Play Conference three years ago in Madrid. The set can be purchased from GP Finland (http://www.godlyplay.fi).

This time the figures ended up on the focal shelf at a church in Valencia (the First Evangelical Baptist Church), where they are in the process of setting up a new Godly Play classroom, but have still to make or buy their own material for the Holy Family.

It coincided with Pentecost Sunday, and the liturgical colour changed from Easter white to the red-hot underlay used on this special Sunday. I think the wooden figures look wonderful against the red cloth and the sky blue wall of the classroom!

More pictures are displayed here.

Godly Play in Tres Cantos (Madrid)

Here are some of the comments received from participants at a recent Godly Play introduction:

• Thanks for your careful attention and time. I will surely incorporate several aspects of this method even if I am not able to use it in its entirety.
• Wonderful. I will certainly attend the next event. Yes, indeed. Amen!
• Thank you, it's been very enriching.
• It's an excellent method. I will do my best to start using it at my church with the children.
• It has been a blessing to me and I hope to be able to make good use of this method.
• Thank you for your work and the time devoted to teaching others.
• Fantastic!
• I loved the way the storyteller spoke in such a hushed voice - it really drew me into the story.
• I would like to sign up for the next workshop in Madrid.
• Thanks for your time and willingness. God bless you!
• As in everything we do, we need God's help to put this into practice. I liked the presentation very much - it was elegant and charming. Thanks for your hard work!
• Thank you for sharing with us, and for the good will, enthusiasm and effort which lay behind it all.
• There are many things which seem fantastic to me, but I still have doubts about some aspects. I need to see more.
• Thank you for a wonderful day with so much information. We felt really welcomed.
• Many thanks for this demonstration. It is edifying for both children and adults too.
• I feel fascinated and surprised by this kind of storytelling. I would like to be used in the same way - to really know God's word.
• I believe it's an incredible method that needs to be translated more and made available for Spanish speakers. Thanks for everything!

This unsolicited feedback comes from the evaluation sheets handed in by 36 people who attended the full-day Godly Play introduction at Tres Cantos, a town north of Madrid. The event took place on Saturday, 26 February. The participants came from a wide range of churches and represented at least 13 different church groups, organizations or schools in the Madrid region. Most of them were completely new to Godly Play, although we were blessed to have one church leader amongst us who had been brought up on this method in the States. He was able to share briefly how he felt about Godly Play as a child.

I was invited to lead the introduction day by the Tres Cantos Christian Community, which organized the event in partnership with Unión Bíblica / Scripture Union Spain.

More photos here

The implementation of Godly Play in my church in Galicia (Spain)

On Sunday 3 October 2010, Godly Play classes began for a group of 3 to 7 year-olds, at the Evangelical Church in Castiñeiras, a small fishing town in the Galician province of La Coruña. They have continued uninterrupted every morning Sunday since. Throughout the first term (Oct-Dec 2010), detailed monitoring of the classes was carried out, with special emphasis on observing the responses made by the children through their wondering, expressive art and play. Open-ended response is encouraged by this imaginative approach to engaging with Bible stories. This brief report provides only general information on a few of these observations. For a more detailed explanation on how Godly Play has been implemented in the Castiñeiras Sunday school, we hope that local inquirers, or indeed visitors to Galicia, will feel free to speak to one of our Godly Play teachers about it, ideally in our specially prepared classroom. Alternatively, they can contact me (David Pritchard) by email.

GODLY PLAY CLASSROOM, FURNITURE & TEACHING MATERIALS

The Godly Play sessions took place initially (from October to December 2010) on the 1st floor of the chapel in Castiñeiras, in one of the small classrooms. Following the pastor's recommendation, we later moved to a more spacious classroom (since January 2011). In both cases, careful analysis of the available space was made so that the furniture could be arranged and the teaching materials displayed in the most suitable way possible, taking into account the nature of Godly Play and its cyclical curriculum. It is important for its development that a safe and stimulating environment is created which is conducive to learning Bible stories and reflecting on existential matters. Furthermore, the teaching materials need to be attractive for children of all ages. They must also be sufficiently robust and durable, and their simple design should evoke the imagination of boys and girls as they use them in free play to draw meaning from the Biblical narratives.

Shelves were constructed before the summer of 2010 to house the teaching materials and art supplies. At around this time, too, the task of crafting our own resources was begun, and this is a work still in progress. Our do-it-yourself resourcing has advanced very rapidly thanks to the collaboration of a large group of volunteers, including church members, young people and other folk who are not themselves churchgoers, but offered to lend a hand. The result has been materials of excellent quality and beauty. The team of Sunday school teachers, who represent the children attending the class -- and these youngsters are surely the real beneficiaries of these resource materials! -- feel tremendously grateful for this collaboration.

As of today, most of the basic resource materials have been created. This is the stuff necessary for teaching the core lessons in the Godly Play curriculum. We reckon that the task of crafting the remaining basic materials will be completed by the end of this term (January-April 2011). Following that, it is hoped that materials for the enrichment lessons will be added bit by bit.

By making our own materials, a substantial amount of money has been saved. We reckon that, had we purchased the equivalent materials from one of the official Godly Play resource suppliers, the bill would have come to at least 1,600 euros, plus additional costs of post & packaging from abroad. Taking into account the stuff that is still being made, the amount needed to equip a Godly Play classroom with the essential materials for the core curriculum would come to around 2,700 euros, plus p&p. That is the overall amount that we would have saved. Obviously, money has been spent: the main expense was the shelving. However, thanks to the collaboration mentioned above, other expenditure has been limited to the purchase of supplies (wood, felt, paint...) needed to make the resources, as well as accessories such as trays, rugs, art materials, etc.

TEACHER TRAINING

A series of workshops have been organised in order to present the Godly Play method and to train teachers in its techniques, as well as to promote a deeper grasp of its theological and pedagogical underpinnings. These workshops have been run by Castiñeiras Evangelical Church in collaboration with Unión Bíblica (Scripture Union Spain). Registration has been open to anyone interested in attending from any church. The training events have taken place on Saturdays (8 hours each workshop):

• 8 May 2010… ‘How to Share Parables with Children Using the Godly Play Method’ - 13 members of churches in Castiñeiras-Ribeira, Ferrol and Santiago de Compostela attended this training event.
• 12 June 2010… ‘How to Tell Children Sacred Stories through Godly Play’ - There were 9 trainees from churches in Castiñeiras and Ferrol.
• 11 September 2010… ‘Godly Play Space and Materials’ - 7 trainees attended from Castiñeiras and Ferrol.
• 29 January 2011… ‘Children and Liturgical Action in the Godly Play method’ - There were 13 trainees from churches in Castiñeiras, Ferrol, Moaña and Ramallosa.

Besides these training days, the team members of the Godly Play class at Castiñeiras have benefitted from ongoing, hands-on learning, above all through supervised teaching experience with the children. Throughout the first term, three of the teachers gained experience in different roles: as 'storytellers', 'door persons' and 'observers'. Other teachers have joined the same process at the start of the 2nd term. This training is based on a discipleship-mentoring-coaching model, involving observation, trainer modelling & supervision, teaching experience with the children, and reflective analysis and evaluation of that same experience. This process will continue, for Godly Play employs the ancient art of storytelling and - as with any other creative process - 'practice makes perfect'. Likewise, the art of facilitating and supporting 'wondering' and the spiritual growth of children is continuously worked on and matured.

CHILDREN'S RESPONSE TO THE METHOD

Without a doubt, the most thrilling and satisfying aspect in this process of implementing Godly Play has been the entirely favourable response of the children. We have observed the following features, amongst others:

• Their eagerness and ease in learning the different routines and phases of a typical Godly Play lesson: (i) THRESHOLD – getting ready at the door; picking up their individual rug; quietly joining other children on the floor as together they form the Godly Play circle; greeting the storyteller…; (ii) BIBLE STORY – observing and listening to the storyteller as s/he presents the lesson; wondering out loud as the storyteller leads the group in active reflection; listening to and respecting the opinions of the other children in the group…; RESPONSE – though expressive art or by means of free play and interaction with the story materials; working individually or in small groups; finding a place for their work and respecting the space of others…; FEAST – taking turns in serving the rest of the group, bringing napkins, glasses, fruit, water, etc.; passing the offering; praying and hearing the Bible reading; watering the plant…; DISMISSAL – waiting their turn to approach the storyteller to say goodbye and receive their blessing; collecting their rug and depositing it in the rug box; leaving the room…

• Their progressive asimilation of the implicit values in a Godly Play session: silence and slowing down, active listening, wondering, respect shown to others and their work space, respect in taking turns, serving others, care for the environment and the materials, freedom/responsibility, sharing, blessing, awe at life's mysteries and the presence of God…
• The enthusiasm with which the children receive the Bible stories and their level of engagement with the stories; their curiosity and openess to ongoing discovery; their ability to draw connections between one story and another, and with their own life experiences…
• The gratitude that the children have displayed at the opportunity to freely choose their work and means of response, that they can engage playfully with the lesson materials without undue teacher interference, and for the attractive range and quality of the art materials.
• The creativity displayed in the children's expressive art and play.

The following is just one example of the children's ability to make connections and draw out meaning from them (i.e. how they link one story with another):

A 6 year-old girl was observed during the work time, as she began to take out several lessons and lay out the materials on the floor. First the green underlay of the Good Shepherd parable. Then, at its side, the brown felt cloth of the Parable of the Deep Well. She then placed the figures of each of these stories on their respective underlay. Then she began to move the Good Shepherd and the sheep through the green pastures towards a small piece of blue felt representing the quiet waters. She then broke with the 'normal' Good Shepherd parable as, instead of leading his sheep towards the 'dangerous places' on the green felt, the figure of the shepherd led his sheep over to the second story, across the 'desert' towards the deep well. The girl then asked the door person to help her tie together the 6 golden threads and miniature bucket. She then proceeded to lower the bucket into the well, draw out the refreshing water and hand it to the sheep to drink. Finally, she took out the Baptism lesson and proceeded to baptize a little wooden figure in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit... This 6-year-old had never witnessed a Godly Play 'side-by-side' presentation. However, she was already intuitively anticipating such presentations (normally reserved for older children) and playfully making hermeneutical connections through her project on water.

OTHER COMMENTS

• Our classroom has already served as a reference and a source of inspiration for visitors from other churches. They have expressed curiosity and interest in learning more about Godly Play, and some have attended workshop trainings as a result.
• There are already plans for extending the Godly Play classes to the groups of older children in our Sunday school. This will probably start in the 3rd term of this school year, as well as enjoy periodic sessions during the summer holidays.
• There are also plans for offering parents the chance to take part in a number of Godly Play sessions so that they can get a first-hand grasp of the type and style of teaching that their children are receiving on Sunday mornings.

David Pritchard - adapted from a report presented at the AGM of the Evangelical Church in Castiñeiras, Spain (January 2011)

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to anyone visiting this blog!

Photo: Adoración de los pastores (Adoration of the Shepherds), Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (c. 1657), Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Ministry update & personal finances

I very rarely blog or comment about my own financial situation or means of support. However, I realise that some of my readers may wish to be made aware of this subject - so, despite a fair degree of discomfort in doing just that in this post, here goes!

For over three decades now, my 'home' church near London (UK) has consistently been making monthly gifts to help cover my personal and family needs in Spain. However, this arrangement will come to an end in March 2012 due to the cutbacks the church feels it needs to make in its annual budget and other priorities in its ministry. The leaders are presently encouraging their members (and any others beyond the local congregation who wish to support me individually or as families) to take steps to make personal arrangements once the church payments cease. They will be reminding the members again shortly by means of a letter, and recently they asked me for a short note outlining my current ministry that could be enclosed with their letter - especially for those who do not have access to this blog. Here is what I wrote:

For over 25 years, I have been involved with Unión Bíblica (Scripture Union Spain) as their National Coordinator for Children’s Ministries. I continue to travel regularly as a Scripture Union worker to different parts of Spain (and sometimes further afield), responding to invitations for training, lecturing & consultation. Since 2004, my work as a trainer has particularly focused on Godly Play, an imaginative approach to encouraging children (and grown-ups) to engage personally with Bible stories. My other duties with Scripture Union Spain also include publishing projects, especially in the area of evangelistic and Bible-reading materials for children.

More recently, I have been encouraged by the leaders of my (other) local church in Galicia (north-west Spain) to take over as their new Children’s Minister. This involves general supervision of Sunday school classes, summer camps, all-age worship, prayer events for children, etc. At the time of writing, I am busy training Sunday school workers in Godly Play principles and practice, setting up a brand-new Godly Play environment in one of the church classrooms, organising a KidsGames seminar for children’s and youth workers in Galicia, and regularly preaching on key Bible texts which either refer directly to children or impact indirectly on ministry with children and young people.

None of these posts is salaried, so my work still depends on voluntary contributions from supporters. I continue to be extremely grateful to God who has supplied my personal needs and those of the ministry for more than 35 years by means of regular donations from faithful supporters. Thanks be to God for this practical fellowship in the gospel!

If you also wish to contribute financially, you can send designated gifts on my behalf via Independent Christian Workers Trust (ICWT). This is especially useful for UK tax payers, as ICWT are able to reclaim tax through the Gift Aid scheme and, thereby, substantially increase these contributions. I would be happy to give you further details on request.

I wonder if there is any part we can leave out...

One of the wondering questions often used in Godly Play after presenting a Bible story is the following: "I wonder if there is any part we can leave out and still have all the story we need".

The challenge in our storytelling is to grasp what is essential and to omit the superfluous. Scripture itself is selective and often the biblical narratives use the bare minimum of language to convey the essence of the story. Too often when we tell these stories to children (or adults) we tend to elaborate on them and fill in the gaps, instead of allowing the children to thoughtfully read between the lines themselves. Godly Play seeks to employ the same economy of language as Jesus did, for example, in his parables. But there may be even more that we can leave out - hence the question for the children to ponder with us as, together, we seek to grasp the essential.

A couple of volunteers from my church congregation in Galicia have offered to carve some of the wooden figures used in Godly Play as we prepare the new classroom for the coming school year. I guess sculptors continually ask themselves the same wondering question: what more can be chiselled away before getting to the imagined object they have in mind? So throughout the creative process, the craftsman who produced, say, the beautiful donkey in the Holy Family set of figures (see illustration) will be wondering what else that is NOT a donkey can be carved away before finally reaching that which is essentially the donkey we need! The art is leaving out the unessential in order to focus on what really counts.

My church is currently celebrating the centenary of the construction of the rural chapel where we meet. A hundred years of tradition is something to celebrate! However, the leaders of the congregation are also aware that changes need to be made as the church faces the challenges of the twenty-first century. They need wisdom to balance tradition and renewal. "I wonder if there is anything we can leave out (or, perhaps, even add) and still have everything we need" was essentially the question that was in the air during the Reformation!

In October, my wife and I are moving house (again!) to be closer to the church and thus enhance our process of integration. There will not be as much space for all my stuff in the new house. "I wonder what I need to leave out (throw or give away) and still have everything I need" will be the question on my mind as I prepare boxes and attempt to de-clutter. Hmmm!

Creating a safe and welcoming space

Here's an extract from a summary report on the work of the Coming Generations Track at last year's Scripture Engagement Forum at Melaka, Malaysia. The full report can be found here.

The Coming Generations track comprised about 40 people from every continent [...] The main themes of the track focused on how we can release the potential of young people’s interaction with God’s word [...]

Creating a safe and welcoming space

When young people perceive that we are listening and authentically sharing our own lives with them, a safe space is created where they can feel confident to explore Scripture. In such a space, we are affirming that no question or comment will be rejected and that no right/wrong response will be demanded.

Godly Play® models an approach that provides a safe sacred space for children to explore the Bible. Led by David Pritchard, we were - as children - invited slowly and thoughtfully into the story of the Old Testament patriarchs in ways that engaged our imagination and left us ‘wondering’ at the mystery of God, and at his invitation to be part of his story. This was a space characterised more by silence and simplicity than noise or clutter. As we became engrossed in the story, the storyteller (David Pritchard) became almost invisible: direct connection had been made between the story and the ‘children’. This is a deliberate intention in Godly Play®.

In a safe space, what is the role of the adult? We were challenged to take a step back and let God do what he wants to do in the group and among its individuals - to allow the Bible, his word, to speak for itself [...]

Godly Play classroom / 2

The creation of resource materials for the new Godly Play classroom in Castiñeiras (Coruña province, NW Spain) is well underway. Good progress is being made, with a team of volunteers from the congregation of Castiñeiras Evangelical Church working on the materials in their spare time during the summer with the intention of completely equipping the classroom for the start of the new school year.

It seems that we won't have to purchase any of the resources from Godly Play suppliers, as the volunteers are skilled and motivated enough to do the entire job themselves. This is quite remarkable and extremely beneficial: the volunteers will have the satisfaction that the fruit of their work will be used regularly in the Sunday school for many years to come - and it will certainly save the church some money!

The artefacts have been lovingly crafted to a high standard of excellence - really top quality! It will be wonderful to see how the children respond to them!

I hope you enjoy the pictures here of this part of the creative process. More photos will be added as other materials are produced.

Second Godly Play workshop in Castiñeiras

¡Godly Play is progressing in Galicia!

The second workshop took place on Saturday 12th June at my church in Castiñeiras (Coruña). There were 8 of us from that church and another participant from another church in Ferrol, a town in the north of La Coruña province, in NW Spain. This time, the workshop focused on Sacred Story, both the learning and practising of the narratives in Godly Play, as well as the creation of resource materials for telling them.

You can find more photos of the event here

World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk

For several years now, I have been translating, adapting and distributing resource materials relating to Viva's World Weekend of Prayer (WWP) for children at risk. I have been doing this as part of my work with Unión Bíblica (Scripture Union Spain), rather than through formal contact with Viva themselves.

Prayer is an integral part of Scripture Union's aim of "encouraging people of all ages to meet God daily through the Bible and prayer". Intercessory prayer is part and parcel of "meeting God", especially prayer on behalf of those who are closest to God's heart - i.e. vulnerable and needy children - and this in itself is a response to the reading of Bible passages such as "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in his holy habitation" (Psalm 68:5).

This year I translated Viva's WWP poster, PowerPoint presentation and 5 prayer sessions for children. I am happy that through Unión Bíblica's partnership with La Semilla de Trigo (the Spanish branch of Grain de Blé / Grain of Wheat) and the Asociación de Educadores Evangélicos de Madrid (Madrid Christian Educators' Association), we have been able to promote this material to a wider circle of contacts through e-mail distribution, Facebook posts, digital prayer bulletins, etc.

I have already received some feedback from churches who have used these prayer resources, including the following comment:

"I am using this wonderful material you attached with my children in Sunday School and we are really making the most of it. They actually keep quiet and show great interest in the stories displayed in it, and pray!!!! which is a great task for them. Thank you for sharing this material with all who love and teach children." Rosa

My own church at Castiñeiras (A Coruña), in NW Spain, decided to take part in WWP for the first time this year. The Sunday School children had already worked with some of the translated prayer materials on the Sundays leading up to the WWP and the 2-hour meeting I had with them on Saturday 5th June. Sixteen children, aged 6-13 years of age, attended this special meeting. They enjoyed expressing their feelings and reactions to the situations depicted in the prayer resources by means of half an hour of free art response. Then they rehearsed songs and Bible readings for a 30 minute presentation they would be taking part in during the morning service the next day at church. Finally, the children and their teachers engaged in a short time of prayer.

This gathering was also important for me, as it was the first real interaction I have been able to have with the children as a group since I joined the church earlier in the year.

Yesterday (Sunday 6th June), we celebrated WWP with the whole congregation. The church leaders had already decided to shift the normal morning service to the evening, and had announced that arrangement the Sunday before, so that the maximum amount of time could be devoted in the morning to prayer for children at risk. About 100 people attended the all-age morning service, which included a display of the children's art responses from the day before, the adapted WWP PowerPoint presentation, case studies from the translated lesson materials, Bible readings led by the children, songs, congregational responses and open prayer. Several of the church members approached me after the service with positive remarks expressing a desire to continue celebrating the WWP in future years.

It's vital to pray for children at risk in today's world. Even more strategic is when children themselves are involved in praying for other children - this is a powerful means of grace in God's hands. Viva estimate that around 3 million people may have taken part this year in WWP events around the globe - over half of which will have been children!

Weekend residential training for Christian educators

This past weekend (28-30 May), I have been leading some residential training near Madrid on working with children for a small group of Christian educators. This event forms part of the regular annual programme of the Asociación de Educadores Evangélicos de Madrid (Madrid Christian Educators Association), run in partnership with Unión Bíblica (Scripture Union Spain). The training is based on the course Working with Children Today, which I put together many years ago and continue to update regularly.

On this occasion, only four people took part in the course. They were from churches in Madrid and Aranjuez, and included school RE teachers, leaders of summer camp programmes, child minders and Sunday school teachers. Despite the low numbers, there was a good spirit in the group and plenty of motivation to learn and share. Here are a few of their comments on the closing feedback sheet:

• "I really liked this course!"
• "Just right! It's helped me a lot!"
• "Great! Many thanks!"
• "I am really grateful for everything I have learned. Thank you!"

The next training in this series is scheduled for the end of September.