Sunday School

After a special message early in worship, children are offered Sunday School classes:

Nursery Class targets infants, toddlers and young preschoolers, and meets in Room 2.

Younger Children’s Class targets Preschool through 1^st Grade, and meets in Room 1.

Older Children’s Class targets 2^nd through 5^th Grade, and meets in Room 3.

The children's classes are taught through Godly Play.

What is Godly Play?

Godly Play is an ecumenical approach to Christian Education and spiritual formation. The goal of Godly Play is to teach children the art of using religious language–parable, sacred story, liturgical action, and silence–to help them become more fully aware of the mystery of God’s presence in their lives. The vision behind this method is that children will know themselves as children of God and learn what it means to be a part of the Christian tradition, yet remain open to other traditions in creative ways.

This approach was developed and classroom tested for 30 years by Dr. Jerome Berryman, teacher, author, and priest. It is currently used in churches of many denominations throughout this country and in many different countries around the world.

What makes Godly Play distinctive?

In Godly Play we tell bible stories to encourage children to enter the stories and relate them to their personal experience. It is concerned with the spiritual development of each child as an individual and with modeling the appropriate moral behavior expected of people living within Christian community.

There are deep roots to Godly Play:

It draws on the tradition of the ancient practice of oral storytelling.
It is connected to the human need for deep play. This link to play is what has given us the creativity to survive and on which we are more dependent than any other species.
It is based on the educational model established by Maria Montessori (physician and educator, 1870-1952). This approach is used because at this time children need opportunities to develop the active listening skills necessary to use storytelling and play to create existential meaning.

In Godly Play, each session follows the pattern of a communion service, like the Last Supper, so children develop a deep understanding and enjoy fuller participation when they enter the older grades and attend corporate worship.

The sessions follow the order of worship:

Getting Ready, Listening and Responding to the Word (lesson), the Feast (Holy Communion), Prayers of Thanksgiving, and Blessing (saying goodbye).

When we arrive on Sunday what do we do?

There is childcare in the Nursery for infants and toddlers from 15 minutes before service, which begins at 10am, until 15 minutes after service. Children preschool age through fifth grade attends the first part of worship with the family and leave about 10:15 with their teachers after the Children’s Message is presented. They have approximately 45 minutes for lessons in their worship space in the education building. Following worship parents pick up their children before Fellowship Time. Children younger than third grade are always collected by parents/guardians.

We treat the Godly Play classrooms as “sacred space.” Our friendly Co-Teachers greet each child at the door and help them become ready to enter the room quietly. Children will be told a lesson through oral storytelling and given work time to ponder on that lesson. Then we gather for the Feast and Community Time when joys/concerns can be brought up. Children leave the space one at a time after receiving personal words of affirmation and a blessing is exchanged between the Teacher and each child.

Please do not interrupt their worship time until they are finished. We will do our best to end in a timely manner.

What kinds of projects will my child do in Godly Play?

After the lesson, the children and the storyteller wonder together about the story. This time of verbal wondering is followed by a Work Time based on the Montessori approach that offers choice amongst constructive alternatives. Children need space, quiet, and the opportunity to connect with God, the creator. When children are able to choose their own work they are able to achieve a kind of inner peace that comes from losing track of time and surroundings while immersed in that work. It may be listening to another story, creating an art response, working with lesson materials or looking at a book.

It is important for parents to understand that the goal of Work Time is not for children to necessarily produce anything, but rather to enter into a creative process and begin to make connections between the biblical story and their own creativity and experience–this is their work: play.

On the art shelves there is a selection of materials. Children bring different perspectives and responses to the stories they hear and so they choose the art medium they wish to use. Some projects may take more than one week, and that is okay. At the end of the quarter, children are invited to take their artwork home.

How will I know if my child is learning anything?

One of the most important things we teach in Godly Play is how Christian people work together in community. This is hard to measure. Keep in mind that young children will not always be able to tell you what they learned, because what they learned was how to learn about the powerful language of the Christian people. Often parents will find their children begin to retell bible stories and wonder about the meaning of these stories.

What are in the shelves in the classrooms (worship space)?

These objects are the lesson materials that make the images of religious language come alive for children. In Godly Play, the storyteller sits in the circle with the children on the floor literally surrounded by much of the religious language system of the Christian tradition. These materials help us tell the story of the day and are placed in the middle of the circle, symbolizing the fact that God is present and accessible to all, children and adults alike. The circle also helps us emphasize many aspects of being together in Christian community. These materials are well made and sturdy so that they can be explored with over and over again. During Work Time children are allowed the choice of working with any of the story materials. We try to show reverence for the materials by how we use them when telling a story so that they will see how to treat them themselves.

Will my child bring home craft projects or “take home sheets?”

On the art shelves there is a good selection of materials. Children bring different perspectives and responses to the stories they hear and so they choose the medium they wish to use, if it is through art at all. Some children might work on wondering about one story through a craft for several weeks, and many enjoy leaving their work in the room to return to work on week after week. At the end of the quarter children are invited to take their work home.

How does the Sunday School Calendar work?

Godly Play is the curriculum we use most. It is used throughout the regular school year from mid-August until the end of May. Summer Sunday School, and occasional Sundays throughout the year, allow for other ways of learning the stories of our faith.

If you have any questions please contact Hilary Stankiewicz, 530.677.4910, Children’s Education Leader.


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