Tag Archives: Jerome Berryman

A World of Wonder

Children's Ministries, Parenting, Spirituality, , , , ,

Last week I took two days off to spend time with my just-turned-four-year-old granddaughter. The best I can describe it was two days of wild imagination. We decorated an Easter tree with tiny bunnies, eggs, and chicks that I got out of storage, spent an afternoon at a playground followed by ice cream, visited Grampa at work, read books, and pretended a whole lot. Tea parties, colorful scarves, hide and seek, and discussing all the Disney princesses filled our days.

While she had some quiet time (aka nap without sleeping), I also took a breather and opened the latest Christian Century. Jerome Berryman’s article “Holy story, sacred play: Helping children become fluent in faith” brought a smile to my face. Having had the privilege of sitting on the floor with Jerome going back 25+ years, his article about Godly Play spoke to my time with Mackenzie. And having worked with the Godly Play Foundation to bring the revised and expanded Complete Guide to Godly Play (Vol. 2, 3, 4) to publication as well as offering Godly Play at my parish, Jerome’s words:

“The leader does not offer answers but offers space for children to wonder”

resonated with me in a new way. He describes Godly Play as a

“face-to-face and intimate art”

and while we are

“all designed to create meaning, . . . the art of wondering is forgotten.”

As a grandmother (and editor of faith formation resources), I hope our churches (and families) continue to wonder with children. By giving children a safe space to explore creation, God, and our sacred stories, we are helping them enter the mystery of all that God intended for us – we are beloved children. By giving myself real time off to just “be” with Mackenzie, I too was renewed and reopened to the possibilities that only our imaginations and wonder can give.  

Note: This first appeared as “Mondays with the Editor” on the Church Publishing Incorporated Facebook page.

Memories of a Mentor

The Church, , , , ,

Several months ago I was asked to share some recollections of Dr. Amy Gearey Dyer for an article that was being written to be shared with the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) community upon her retirement. (The article was published in the June Seminary Journal – when a link goes up, I’ll post it here.) What follows is what I responded with, finding it difficult to contain my thoughts in a brief paragraph.

In the summer of 1988 I was a parish educator enrolled in “Teaching in the Church,” a weeklong event at VTS led by Amy Gearey and George Kroupa at the Center for the Ministry of Teaching (CMT), housed in the Packard Laird building. It was the first event of many in which our paths would cross, each encounter further influencing my future vocation and deepening my passion for Christian formation. Continue reading Memories of a Mentor →

Talking About Our Faith

Adult Formation, Books Worth Reading, Christianity, Discernment, Discipleship, , , , , , ,

“Knowing Jesus in a New Way” Photo by Karin Hamilton, Canon for Mission Communication & Media, Episcopal Church in Connecticut. Used with permission.

The Episcopal Church in Connecticut’s Mission Council, of which I am an elected member, held its annual “working day retreat” at Camp Washington, ECCT’s summer camp and conference center in January. Besides learning about one another more fully and getting newly elected members “on board” to our duties and responsibilities (we act as the governing body between diocesan conventions––like a parish Vestry or diocesan Executive Council), our gathering was to focus on what initiatives we desired our focus to be on in for the upcoming year.

I had been part of a small sub-group that had been exploring how we, as Mission Council members as well as all of ECCT, could be better equipped to be disciples in the post-Christian mission field. Part of our conversation has been to discern the differences (and similarities) of apostleship and discipleship. The two words are often used interchangeably, but in today’s world in which fewer individuals go to church each Sunday––if at all––each has taken on a new meaning. How we are called to be both apostle and disciple has been informed by these conversations, but also in two books that I happened to be bringing to publication from my editorial desk at the time. And both books are about how we tell our stories––our stories of family, stories of God, and stories of what we believe. Continue reading Talking About Our Faith →