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Jun 14, 2016 | Paulette E. Martin

Texas Diocese Hosts Bilingual Godly Play Training

 

                                                  Godly Play participants at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston.

 

More than two dozen people from different parts of the world and different religious backgrounds gathered at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston to participate in the bilingual Godly Play training sponsored by The Episcopal Diocese of Texas June 10 - 12.

 

Caryl Menkhus Creswell, Godly Play Foundation trainer, and David Pritchard, Godly Play España were the bilingual trainers for the three-day session.

 

Godly Play is a children’s curriculum that explores the mystery of God’s presence based on Montessori principles developed by theologian, author and educator the Rev. Dr. Jerome Berryman. The Godly Play approach helps children and even adults explore their faith through story, to gain religious language and to enhance their spiritual experience though wonder and play.

 

“We are deeply convinced that children already have a deep connection to God,” Creswell said. “They are born with that connection. [Godly Play] is about giving them a language to talk about what is already present in them.”

 

Speaking of Godly Play’s global reach, Pritchard said: “There is a deeper commonality that goes beyond culture and language, and that’s spirituality.”

 

It was the second time David Covarrubias and Karla Martinez, husband and wife from Ensenada, Baja California attended the training. The first time they attended the training in English was at an Episcopal church in California, and they did not hesitate to register for the bilingual training. The curriculum, they say, has benefitted the children at their nondenominational Christian church in Mexico in more ways they could have imagined.

 

“The kids discovered that they can think, that they can come up with their own beliefs without you telling them ‘you need to believe in this,’” Martinez said.

 

“It allowed us to have a new vision for the children’s ministry,” Covarrubias said. “[In] Godly Play, we found a new method to guide us more towards God.”

 

Both Covarrubias and Martinez are grateful to the Episcopal Church for hosting the trainings. “Our Episcopal brothers and sisters have enriched our lives and have opened an outlook on acceptance,” Martinez added.

 

Godly Play uses miniature versions of church settings and “wonder” questions to allow children to enter into the worship experience and their spirituality on a very personal level. View a video about Godly Play at: http://tinyurl.com/hkrmu5a