Godly PLay, a Critical Review

Godly Play
A Critical Review
Paschal Baute
January 25, 2011

Synopsis
A vision stumbling, with many flaws
Uncritically accepted and naively endorsed.
Insufficient adult education in the Bible for volunteers
    Volunteer burn out predicted to be high as well as difficulty in recruiting adult volunteers. . No provision for ongoing development and nurture of volunteers
Author does not seem to respect scripture
Poorly focused foundation book
theology of childhood an empty phrase
Overpriced play materials.
Recommendations: Revise, implement changes and promote
Programs like this are widely needed
Godly Play trainers re-examine their teaching protocols
and enhance training for volunteers.

Note: in a review where the author is referred to many times, current protocol allows the use the first letter of his last name.  

Godly Play is an innovative approach to teaching the bible to childrens. It has been adopted and promoted by a number of churches, mainly Episcopal and Presbyterian. Training programs for volunteers are available. It has been on the scene for some 10-15 years.

What is stunning is despite widespread adoption by several denominations Godly Play appears to have received no critical review. None can be found anywhere. It needs comprehensive review and much improvement.

My credentials for this task are up front. I was invited to lend my art and craft as a Spellbinder storyteller to a Lexington, Kentucky, church that had been using Godly Play for some five years.  Studying the materials and taking one half day orientation to Godly Play, I began this past fall leading some of the lessons as te storyteller.  I wanted to learn about the program and its materials first hand. I have continued to study the program and be involved. .

I am a minister of the Gospel and a psychologist, interested in adult religious education. My first published articles in journals of religious education dates to 1964.  I continue now to be invited to lead workshops for Ohio psychologists on the Union of Psychology and Spirituality, now for last five years. I was twice elected to an Episcopal vestry and served as director of the Sunday school and led adult Sunday school program for a year. Therefore I have experience as a teacher, researcher and practitioner.

Godly Plan is a brilliant vision, but unfortunately flawed. I  find the vision stumbling on a number of aspects. Some are  serious both in its content, procedures and execution. Here I detail some of these flaws so this valuable visionary program may not be crimped, and its leaders, both trainers and parish coordinators, can improve it.  

1. Godly Play is promoted under the auspices of a “theology of Childhood.” As there is no adequate meaning definition of this concept, it does not offer any guidance.  Repeated attempts from the home web site and from practitioners have produced no response. B does not respect previous scholarship on his theology of childhood.  A theology of anything must start for a Christian with the revealed Word. In twenty pages, B. does not do so.. If B presented a clear workable definition for his “theology of childhood” this would provide a better framework for the lessons and protocols.  He strings together many quotations, but does not summarize the points he tries to make. The reader ends up being mostly impressed with the range of his ideas, but unclear of his points.

2.  In the lesson books, teachers, adult volunteers, door keepers and storytellers are assigned role, the latter as narrators of his text. B does not allow Godly Play “players” the creativity he talks  so much about in his book. For instance he does not present his narration of the story as a model but as the way it is to be done

This to me is one of the greatest flaws of the Godly Play program as I will explain elsewhere.  Godly Play adults can be living in the flat earth society and, supposedly, be ready to teach Godly Play lessons to children. They are not prepared to answer children’s questions, such as “Did that really happen?” 

3. Godly Play volunteers are not encouraged to read the Word of God that is the basis of each lesson. Then to be prayerful led by the Spirit, prayerfully into their own creative response.  Scriptural references are sometimes not even given for the lesson. B does not give to his teachers the same creativity that he takes for himself in developing his own narrative of the story. 

4).  Adults are not expected to read the bible in order to teach the bible.  More importantly, volunteers are not introduced to an adult understanding of the bible.  This would include its history, how it came to be the Bible, what inspiration is, and how the Bible is a library of books, of different literary forms and was never intended to be history of biography..(see my longer article on this subject, at link   )

There seems some lack of respect for scripture as the Inspired Word of God.  It is hard to find in his words, phrases to suggests that the Bible is God’s revealed word for us.  That is, he does not seem to hold the view of church as the preserving authority or church as faith community. 

Example: B. freely interprets the bible, leaving out important passages that are significant, then expects the Godly Play volunteers to follow his re-write of scripture literally.  He does not give permission to Godly Play volunteers to begin their story of that lesson with scripture.  His interpretation is a watering down of the word of God.

A). In the creation story, his story is that on the sixth day, God created four legged and two legged creatures. He omits the stunning revelation of Genesis 1:27, that we humans, male and female, are created in the image and likeness of God.
B). In his Abraham story, Abraham decides it is time to leave. This is a stunning omission that undermines the story. Abraham is great and to be revered as our father in faith, not because he decide and had the long journey at an advance age. Go to Genesis chapter 12 yourself to discover Berryman’s re-writing and watering down, dubbing down. The curious question is how so many have simply followed Berryman’s lessons without discovering serious omission. There is a simply answer, Berryman never sends his volunteers to the original source, the inspired Word of God.
C). The Sane omission occurs with his re-writing of the lesson of Noah and the ark. Berryman has Noah deciding it was time to build the Ark. Sorry, but this is not the actual story.
D).  In the lesson on the story of Johan, the Backward Prophet, B strangely omits the prayer and repentance of Johan while in the whale, the whole of Chapter 2. 
E). These are only a few examples because only a few chapters were examined. But, frankly, there seems to be a theme emerging. Does B have trouble with obedience to God’s commands?  His rewriting and watering down of the message seems to suggest so. There is a twofold reason why the assigned storyteller should begin her preparation with the actual biblical text.  Not merely to allow the inspired Word of God to speak to her own hear, but to determine what B. may have left out. 
F). I find little  evidence in any of Berryman’s discussions that shows respects the bible as the inspired word of God. He sees the Bible as stories to be rewritten for children.  Perhaps this can explain why he can so freely interpret and mis-interpret the stories while omitting what is the core truth of the lesson.

5.  Berryman’s materials expect the volunteers simply to memorize his materials and prescriptions as children.  He shows little respect for volunteers as learners, not allowing the storyteller to use his or her own initiative to learn the real story and to tell it from his or her perspective. In this way, Berryman does not understand the inherent power of oral storytelling, which to be effective cannot be a reading or slavishly following a given text.

6. Despite all his programmed instructions designed to keep the child in wonder, staring at the materials, avoiding eye contact after greeting, etc. Berryman does not understand the spirituality of the child and how to keep them in the wonder, awe and mystery of the story. The “I wonder” questions at the end of each lesson are rote for each lesson and do not follow from the lesson itself. Further, the questions take the child into left brain analysis rather than right brain wondering.  For example, I wonder what happened next (with one or several of the characters) is more likely to keep children inside the mystery of the story than asking them what was most important part of the story or what could be left out. By the way, I found very little use of the concept mystery in his writing. This is all about mystery, divine mystery, revealed to us in these inspired words, preserved by the church over many thousands of years.

7. Most urgently, Godly Play program is designed for “Burn out.”  What adults are prepared week after week basically to memorize four pages of narrative content and instructing, doing this each week. This is a lot of memory work fo any motivated adult.  And it is memory work, no incentive to study the assigned scripture and be led . Berryman does not say use this text as frame or model for your own telling . It is prescribed as the only Godly Play protocol. Godly play includes no adult understanding of the bible itself.  Burn out is predicted to be frequent.  On a church investment of thousands of dollars in the Godly Play materials, this is a real potential problem.

8. The large cost of the start up classroom materials needs some discussion, frankly.  The total cost of Godly Play material from Godly Play Resources in Ashland, KS, is (hold your breath) $10,235.72.  Excuse me, folks, I think that is outrageous. IN any normal size Episcopal or Presbyterian church that would leave nothing for training of the volunteers.

For example, the seven painted pieces of wood used in the Creation story costs $80.00 from Godly Play Resources.   I have located experienced crafts persons in Lexington who could produce that set for less than $25.00, (with improvements added after teaching the lesson several times) Churches could secure the entire set for less than $2,500.00 locally, about one fourth of the Godly Play cost. Further, why not give your business to your local crafts people? That ten thousand dollar cost is simply a prohibitive cost for any modern sized church. That cost aline is enough to discourage church leaders from consideration.  With local crafts people, this cost is unnecessary. The original Godly Play materials, while innovative, do not have a sacramental value.

9. In my opinion, Godly Play children, with all the nonverbal programmed designed to induce wonder, can too easily in our story crammed TV world , that these are like other stories. Personally, I would begin each lesson with my hand on the Bible, saying “These stories come from the Inspired Word of God preserved in the Bible by the church over thousand of years, and today we open our hears and minds to be led into the great mystery of today’s lesson.”

10.  Berryman’s instructions  tries to promote a sense of wonder even by avoiding eye contact in the telling of the story. More effective  would be storyteller who was enthusiastic and energized in telling of the sacred story with her own words. The storyteller should begin her preparation with reading of the original scripture for that lesson.  It will be noted that Berryman’s lessons, finally, break one rule of all educational lesson planning.  He never clearly states the purpose of the lesson.

In conclusion, I remain impressed with the vision and the promise of Godly Play, its dedicated trainers and generous volunteers. I regard them and their work with admiration and respect. We must find ways to recruit and keep more like them.

Let us take the metaphor of an automobile engine. Godly Play is coughing like an engine out of tune. Or maybe on one cylinder.  Godly Play could be purring like a 6 or 8 cylinder engine, with the changes and re-orientation suggested. 

In summary, with 1) proper education of adult volunteers in understanding the bible, 2) going to original resources preparing for each lesson, 3) understanding the art and craft of storytelling better, 4) seeing how to better keep children inside the mystery of the story lesson, and5)  more discussion by Godly Play participants among themselves and more ongoing nourishment by further learning.

Start up costs of materials could be a couple of hundred dollar if local crafts persons are employed. This alone should attract and make the program more feasible for more churches and in particular smaller churches.  I would like to see every church have a program for children like Godly Play, but with these changes made.

I do think that the secularization of our society is so strong, pervasive and seductive, that every church should undertake a program of bible stories for children similar to or using the Godly Play vision, but with the qualifications listed above. Adult volunteers should ideally know what they are doing, understand the bible as adults, and be led themselves deeper into the meaning of the word of God.  I would bless all such efforts and volunteers.

Right now, Godly Play adult volunteers are, frankly, clerks, slaves to his narratives,  assigned to carry out all the very explicit instructions of B.  AS I said before and it deserves repeating, B. does not give the same right to those who carry out the instructions that he give himself, namely to tell the story themselves following the text, hopefully, and their own inspiration.

Deep respect and reverence is shown to the individual child. An atmosphere of reverence and quiet and gentle anticipation is created. These nurture the spirituality of the child, and can help the child have a sense of wonder about the mystery of the lesson.  The “I wonder...”questions for discussion at the end of the lesson should flow from the mystery of the story.  Questions to encourage wonder and  spirituality should not address the left brain asking child what was important, what could be left out. B. uses same rote questions at the end of different lessons. This practice does not keep the child in the sense of wonder about the mystery being considered.

Participating in Godly Play should be an intriguing growth and development experience for adult volunteers, particularly if pastoral leaders want to recruit and keep them. They c an be  growing in love of and understanding of an adult knowledge of the Bible. They must be introduce to this and encouraged. B has no grasp of this need and possibility.

I am privileged to regard myself as a part of the Godly Play movement. I have been blessed by my participation and hope to continue. But it should be a movement for thinking Christians who bring a mature understanding of the Bible to their work, their life and love. There is far too much ignorance of the Bible and fanaticism to do otherwise.  To that end, this review is dedicated.  God bless Berryman for his brilliant vision. Now let us work and pray to perfect it.

This has been a COLD winter in Kentucky, but March is less than five weeks away.  Spring is around the corner.  Godly Play is immense with potentialities.  Let’s make it blossom more beautifully and everywhere. 

Sincerely, in God’s work among us,
Paschal Baute
www.paschalbaute.com
Lexington, Ky
email paschal.baute@insightbb.com
Cell (859) 293-5302