Monday, January 14, 2008
The Big Change Next Week
Beginning Jan. 20th, children of all ages, and parents who wish to accompany them, are invited to the gathering room during the 10AM service after the Collect of the Day. We will take kid friendly approaches to explore readings of the day or other relevant themes as well as prepare for participation in other parts of the service. We will rejoin the full congregation just before the prayers. Following the service art and craft materials will be available in the front of the church. Everyone is welcome to use them.
When Can We Hear the Story?
I was pleased that when my kids missed a session of the progressive Godly Play Advent/Christmas/Epiphany story, they asked when I would tell it to them! They even brought it up more than once!
I was also pleased to hear that another family liked the stories enough that they became a topic of conversation at their house Sunday evenings.
Something good was going on there.
I was also pleased to hear that another family liked the stories enough that they became a topic of conversation at their house Sunday evenings.
Something good was going on there.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
A Great Book for Next Year
"Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect"
by Richard H Sheneider
Illus by Elizabeth J Miles
Abingdon Press, Nashfield
An evergreen hoping to be chosen as the queen's Christmas tree gives shelter and food to animals in the forest, giving up its aspirations of perfection in the process. Unexpectedly the tree is honored as the queen's choice.
The story itself is much more compelling than my simple summary. It's interesting and rich with multiple points of meaning and metaphor.
It manages this without being either strained with complexity or overly simplistic, at least until the last line when the meaning of the story is stated. As good stories & metaphors often are, the meaning is too rich and the possibilities for application too many to be well served by a single statement.
I became aware of this book too late to use this season, but it's on my list for next year. I also want to check on the video version The Resource Center for Churches has.
Finally, thank you Patty for keeping children's ministry in mind, for lending me your book and for making me aware of such a delightful story.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Christmas: Birth, Death or Resurrection?
I recently asked a child what we celebrate at Christmas.
I thought by this point in their life they would be well enough exposed to have the concept of Christmas as celebrating Jesus birth down.
The answer started out accurately...
It made me think that as an adult I take a lot for granted. I wonder how often I fail to realize the impact of the fact that kids don't have the years of context and experience that adults have.
Kids (and all of us) need the stories told over and over.
Sometimes kids understand more than I expect, and sometimes less. I have to remember to be clear and not to assume too much in either direction.
As concerning as the child's lack of clarity about Christmas is, in some ways I feel quite encouraged by the responses. If you're going to be wrong about what we celebrate at Christmas, I'd say this child had great "wrong"(?) answers: Jesus' death and resurrection.
Even if we have some details to sort out, we're onto something here.
Come to think of it, that statement applies pretty well to a lot of us.
I thought by this point in their life they would be well enough exposed to have the concept of Christmas as celebrating Jesus birth down.
The answer started out accurately...
It has something to do with Jesus.
Yes, what about Jesus?
When he got on the cross?
No...
When he came back?
No...
When he was born.
Yes.
It made me think that as an adult I take a lot for granted. I wonder how often I fail to realize the impact of the fact that kids don't have the years of context and experience that adults have.
Kids (and all of us) need the stories told over and over.
Sometimes kids understand more than I expect, and sometimes less. I have to remember to be clear and not to assume too much in either direction.
As concerning as the child's lack of clarity about Christmas is, in some ways I feel quite encouraged by the responses. If you're going to be wrong about what we celebrate at Christmas, I'd say this child had great "wrong"(?) answers: Jesus' death and resurrection.
Even if we have some details to sort out, we're onto something here.
Come to think of it, that statement applies pretty well to a lot of us.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Godly Play Question
Note: I blog not just for the sake of talking, but for conversation. When I say question in the title of this post, I mean I'm interested in your response.
One of the things done in Godly Play is to snuff a candle in a way such that smoke builds up in a snuffer and can be seen wafting into the room. The language that goes with this action talks about the light being changed so that instead of being in just one place the light can be in every place. One is to notice the smoke getting thinner & thinner, filling the room, saying that even when the light can not be seen, it is there.
A lot of the concept behind that I understand and like.
But I can't come to terms with part of it that seems so contradictory as to be ineffective at best, with the potential to be damagingly counterproductive at worst.
As far as my common sense or admittedly limited scientific knowledge tells me, when you put the candle out, the light is NOT there, neither is it everywhere. The smoke is there and is dissipating through the room. But the smoke is not the light. The light is gone, done, dead, out. To claim that it is still there, only changed, and now everywhere, or filling the room seems just bogus. This seems so obvious to me, that I don't understand how we expect to claim otherwise and have people (mostly children in this case) believe it or use the image as an effective spiritual symbol.
What do you think? For those of you more experienced in Godly Play, what do you make of this? Am I misunderstanding something? Does this bother you? How have kids you've worked with responded to this?
I've taken the liberty to adapt what I say a bit. (I hope this doesn't leave experienced practitioners too aghast.) But I'm not fully satisfied with my adaptation either...I could explain why, but this post is a bit long already. Let me know if anyone is interested enough and I'll say more about that in another post.
Thanks for any insight.
One of the things done in Godly Play is to snuff a candle in a way such that smoke builds up in a snuffer and can be seen wafting into the room. The language that goes with this action talks about the light being changed so that instead of being in just one place the light can be in every place. One is to notice the smoke getting thinner & thinner, filling the room, saying that even when the light can not be seen, it is there.
A lot of the concept behind that I understand and like.
But I can't come to terms with part of it that seems so contradictory as to be ineffective at best, with the potential to be damagingly counterproductive at worst.
As far as my common sense or admittedly limited scientific knowledge tells me, when you put the candle out, the light is NOT there, neither is it everywhere. The smoke is there and is dissipating through the room. But the smoke is not the light. The light is gone, done, dead, out. To claim that it is still there, only changed, and now everywhere, or filling the room seems just bogus. This seems so obvious to me, that I don't understand how we expect to claim otherwise and have people (mostly children in this case) believe it or use the image as an effective spiritual symbol.
What do you think? For those of you more experienced in Godly Play, what do you make of this? Am I misunderstanding something? Does this bother you? How have kids you've worked with responded to this?
I've taken the liberty to adapt what I say a bit. (I hope this doesn't leave experienced practitioners too aghast.) But I'm not fully satisfied with my adaptation either...I could explain why, but this post is a bit long already. Let me know if anyone is interested enough and I'll say more about that in another post.
Thanks for any insight.
More on the King
Each week's Godly Play Advent story involves retelling part of the story from each previous week of Advent.
My training in Godly Play is quite limited. I'm not sure if I did it right or not, but in the 2nd week of Advent I didn't repeat the part from Advent I about the king.
The child who included the king in their drawing last week asked why I hadn't told about the king.
Obiously the part about the king made a significant impression. Wow. Interesting, again!
My training in Godly Play is quite limited. I'm not sure if I did it right or not, but in the 2nd week of Advent I didn't repeat the part from Advent I about the king.
The child who included the king in their drawing last week asked why I hadn't told about the king.
Obiously the part about the king made a significant impression. Wow. Interesting, again!
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Drawing the Story
I told the Godly Play story for Advent I on Sunday.
One child present made a drawing. It included representations of the materials used to tell the story and a picture of the king (with crown).
As I wrote that, I just put it together with the fact that this child had been a king for Halloween. Interesting.
Anyway, I was excited to see the evidence of engagement I think the picture represented.
One child present made a drawing. It included representations of the materials used to tell the story and a picture of the king (with crown).
As I wrote that, I just put it together with the fact that this child had been a king for Halloween. Interesting.
Anyway, I was excited to see the evidence of engagement I think the picture represented.
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