July 15

Beloved families of Good Shepherd,

Peace be with you! I hope you and your children have been able to enjoy some down time this summer to simply be together and play together as a family. Years ago when I was in training to become a Montessori teacher, I learned about the essential nature of play for children of all ages. Dr. Maria Montessori famously said, “Play is the work of the child.” Dr. Montessori was passionate about creating an educational method which nurtured the spirit of the child through play. She observed that purposeful play is essential for the healthy development of the whole child—spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.

The Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman built upon Dr. Montessori’s insights about the child’s need for play and created a children’s spiritual formation method called “Godly Play” in the early 1970’s. Dr. Berryman discovered that children are born into the world already in deep relationship with God, but they do not yet have the language to express this beautiful reality. He realized that play was the way to help children learn and practice the language of God, so Dr. Berryman chose to name his spiritual formation method “Godly Play”.

Here at Good Shepherd we use Godly Play to share the stories of our faith with children and to encourage children to seek and find their own answers to their faith questions. We invite them to wonder about themselves, God, and the world in a way that is playful and meaningful to them. Our deepest invitation to children of all ages at Good Shepherd is:  Come Play with God!

We are delighted to be growing in our commitment to the practice of Godly Play here at Good Shepherd! The Rev. Cynthia Insko serves as our Godly Play Consultant/Godly Play Trainer and has thoughtfully guided Good Shepherd into a deeper practice of Godly Play. Cynthia has supported our children’s chapel content, the training of chapel volunteers, and the creation of a Godly Play format for Vacation Bible School. Cynthia has also guided our Godly Play Outreach Partnership with Common Good’s Afterschool Program and Summer Camp this past year. Cynthia periodically leads Godly Play Core Trainings locally and regionally for folks who are interested in going deeper with Godly Play. If you are interested in participating in Cynthia’s next training this September, go HERE or email Cynthia HERE.  

Last year we deepened our commitment to Godly Play through the hiring of our first Godly Play Facilitator, Aarilyn Waletich-Silverio, to support our growing Godly Play Program. We extend our gratitude and warmest wishes to Aarilyn as she moves on to college next month. Aarilyn has been accepted to the Honors College at the University of Louisville and we wish her all of God’s best!  We are delighted to welcome our new Godly Play Facilitator, Olivia Deep, who will serve on our Godly Play staff for the new program year.

Good Shepherd is now an official “Godly Play Parish” through our recent church membership with the Godly Play Foundation. This membership provides a variety of resources for parents, volunteers, and parishioners to grow in their knowledge and practice of Godly Play. Stay tuned for more information about these new resources.

A huge thank you is extended to our Director of Communications, Lamar Blankenship, for creating our new Godly Play webpage within our church website. Check out Lamar’s beautiful work HERE and learn more about Godly Play. If you would like to join our Godly Play team for the upcoming program year, email Cynthia HERE or Patty HERE.

We hope to see you this Sunday!

Many Blessings,

Patty