It seems strange to be promoting a program that is not entirely in place. Yet as I continue to plan Godly Play teacher training and gather storytelling materials, I am writing weekly notices for our Sunday bulletin and newsletter articles to introduce the new program to our congregation.

I will also set up a bulletin board with answers to frequently asked questions about Godly Play – and photos of children engaged in Godly Play. Finally, a display of Godly Play story materials that changes weekly will be set up in the Narthex with brochures available for passers-by who may be curious about the program.

See the Useful Godly Play Stuff page of this site for examples of my Sunday Bulletin articles. You will also find a document called "Keeping Godly Play Front and Center."  It is a version of an article in Volume 5 of The Complete Guide to Godly Play -- and  lists several ideas to use for promoting Godly Play year round.

Many churches -- especially in the South -- have something like a "Sunday School Round-Up" on Sunday morning the week before classes begin in the fall. There are displays for each class, brochures available, registration tables, small give-away items for the children, and refreshments for everyone.  A variation on this theme that has worked well for me is a kick-off picnic on the Friday or Saturday before class begins. A gathering at the home or in the back yard of one of the Sunday school parents seems more intimate. It creates a relaxed atmosphere for the parents and children to develop relationships that keep them coming to Sunday school during the year.  I send postcards on brightly colored card stock early in August to invite families to the event. I follow up with a poster on the bulletin board announcing the kick-off picnic. And of course, a newsletter and web site reminders are helpful to cover all the bases. I follow up with phone calls  week to ten days before the event because not many people RSVP, even by E-mail.  In the Useful Godly Play stuff section of this site you'll find a copy of the post card I'm sending out next week.

About 60% of my consulting clients who use Godly Play share their Sunday school classrooms with other groups -- usually a preschool that meets half days or more on Monday through Friday.  In  any Sunday school program sharing space can create tensions -- but it is especially challenging for Godly Play classes, since there are so many materials in use each week. It's not simply a matter of bringing in a few books, worksheets, and craft materials.

Shelving units that roll on wheels, fold together and lock are most commonly used in shared space for Godly Play. You can also use short bookcases and turn them toward the wall so that the contents are hidden from the Day School students on weekdays.

The most important part of sharing space with other groups is fostering a spirit of mutual respect. Finding the room the way you need it to be when you use it and leaving the room the way you would want to find it is the goal.  Otherwise a school year of sniping and complaining from both groups who use the space will result.

For an example of a tangible way to show your good faith to both Godly Play teachers and Day School teachers, see the Shared Space Checklist in the "Useful Godly Play Stuff" part of this site.

Last night I helped to lead a fund-raiser for a youth group in our congregation. See Starting a Junior Youth Group. The group, which is planning a pilgrimage in July of 2008, consists of seven young men and one young woman. I suddenly realized that our upper elementary Godly Play class is the fall will have much the same ratio of boys to girls. My class list shows and ten boys and one girl!

From experience, I know this will require some shifts in my planning. Stay tuned to the schedule page to see a slightly altered schedule for our “boys class.”

● Recruit 50% men as Godly Play teachers. Jerome Berryman has always stressed the importance of this. With a large percentage of boys in the  class, male teachers are a must.

● Speak with each parent to get a better idea of the learning styles of each boy in the class. This will help me know how many kinesthetic learners we will have, and which boys prefer puzzles, three dimensional work, or classificatory work.

● Include more movement-oriented options before getting ready, during response time, or  before the feast. I will mention these in my new lesson outline.

● Include supplies for woodworking and model-building on our art shelves.

● Plan for about one class a month to take place outside the classroom. We will allow for some adventure and discovery through field trips to different parts of the church , Christian symbol scavenger hunts, Labyrinth walks, etc.

I need to come up with a name for the older Godly Play class to post on our bulletin board and newsletter articles. I believe the older class needs a different name from the preschool class so the parents and students will know that the kind of work we do in Godly Play with older children is serious play. These elementary students are capable of deeper wondering – and ready to invest more of themselves in the open response time. Also, on some weeks in the older class, I do not plan to use the Godly Play routine. I will not be using “pure” Godly Play. (and my experience is that very few congregations use “pure” Godly Play – for a variety of reasons. More on that in another entry.) We will spend some weeks on outreach projects and perhaps do multi-media work from time to time. So I need to find an enticing name for what we’ll be doing with the elementary age children. My rector recently named the class “Sacred Squares” as a reference to the carpet squares on which the children sit. I may have to add a subtitle to that to emphasize the new direction our class will be taking. Common Threads, So What? ( from GP trainer Kim McPherson: Story, Outreach, Wondering, Art, and Theological Reflection), or Pathways are some ideas. Please let me know what you call your Godly Play classroom for older students.