August 17, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
First Presbyterian Church, Anaheim
Trevecca Okholm, Certified Christian Educator, is leading a Godly Play training at Anaheim First Presbyterian Church on Saturday, August 17 – 9:00-5:00 – and Anaheim First Pres is willing to open up space for other churches to attend.
The cost is only $25.00 per person and includes lunch. However, space is limited. If you are interested, contact Alissa, the CE Director at First Presbyterian Church, Anaheim, to register at [email protected] and feel welcome to pass this info along to others who might benefit from catching the Godly Play vision.
Also, Alissa at First Presbyterian Church Anaheim is still seeking to hire a couple of storytellers for their ministry – if you know of anyone who may be interested, connect her to them.
Godly Play is…
• A curriculum that engages the whole child in creativity and community fellowship
• An active version of “lectio divina” (biblical meditation) on stories of the Christian tradition
• A time of playful worship that invites relationship with God
• A creative and imaginative approach to Christian nurture.
• A non-coercive way to encourage children to move into larger dimensions of belief and faith through wondering questions and open-ended response time.
• A way of preparing children to join in the worship and life of their congregations as they develop a deeper understanding of stories, symbols and rites.
At the heart of a Godly Play session is the telling of the story, experienced in the contexts of both the chronology of scripture and the church calendar. The storyteller uses simple, beautiful materials to illustrate the story and to engage imagination. Children have the opportunity to relate Biblical stories to their own experience and to respond personally and creatively to God. Godly Play is based upon the recognition that children have an innate sense of the presence of God. All they lack is the appropriate language to help them identify and express it so it can be explored and strengthened. The Godly Play approach teaches classical Christian language in a way that enhances the child’s authentic experience of God so it can contribute to the creative life of the child and the world. The goal of Godly Play is to show how to be open to the Holy Spirit, The Creator, and the Redeemer all at once and all the time in every place. To achieve this goal is to help children become deeply rooted as Christians and yet at the same time use this powerful language and community to be open and creative.