Nursery
St. Paul's welcomes and enjoys the participation of children in our worship. We know well, as former children ourselves, that "God put the wiggles and giggles in children." We recognize that infants and toddlers do not sit still or play quietly for one hour in church, or anywhere else.
We provide a nursery every Sunday for our 10:30 service upstairs next to the Godly Play classroom. We have also provided a rocker in the back of the Nave for mom's or dad's who want to feed or rock their little ones.
Godly Play
Goals | Instructors | Sample Lesson | Pictures
"In most religious education children are told who God is. In Godly Play children discover who God is."
Godly play is a method of telling Bible stories, or presenting parables as lessons about religious traditions. It invites the listener into the stories and encourages them to connect the stories with personal experience.
Godly Play is a non-coercive way to encourage children to move into larger dimensions of belief and faith, through wondering questions and open ended response time. It is a way of preparing children to join the worship and life of their congregation and they develop a deeper understanding of stories, symbols, and rites.
Godly Play is one of several variations of Montessori traditions of religious education and has been developed in the United States by Dr. Jerome Berryman.
Goals
Godly Play aims to:
Make religion come alive for children
Assist in their spiritual development
Help Christianity become part of daily life
Make the language of religion familiar
Godly Play Assumes that children are individuals with different needs. Children have a variety of ways of learning and play is an important means by which children learn.
Please feels free to bring your children ages 3-12 to our Godly Play room every Sunday at
10:15 AM and let them discover the wonders of God. The children will join the adults in the Nave for Holy Communion.
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Instructors
Andi Reiger
Andi is a nurse at a nursing/rehabilitation center. She has been a member of St. Paul's for 16 years. On the Godly play team Andi is a story teller, door person, and all around shopper and supplier of materials for the Godly Play stories and room.
Trudy Hunter
Trudy has been in education for 27 years. She presently Works with entry level teachers in the Vinton County Schools. Trudi brings fresh insights into Godly Play and thoroughly enjoys working with the children. She has become a woodworker using a scroll saw to make wooden figures for the Bible stories in the classroom.
Ginny Badger
Ginny is a retired second grade teacher with over thirty years in the Chillicothe City Schools. She is a grandmother and enjoys working with young people. Ginny's artistic talents have helped create our sacred place for Godly Play.
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Sample Lesson
1.Approach to God. Singing, prayer, giving our offerings. (Corresponds to the processional hymn and opening prayer)
2.Hearing God’s word. A story or lesson, told with hands-on materials (Corresponds to scripture readings and psalm)
3. Responding to scripture. "Wondering" together, individual or small-group work with the story materials or art media (Corresponds to the sermon)
4. Sharing a ritual feast. A hearty, healthy snack, eaten together, sometimes tying thematically with the lesson. (Corresponds to the Eucharist)
5. "Good Word" good-bye. (Corresponds to the benediction and dismissal)
Diocesan Youth Ministry
Vist www.dsoyouth.org for information about Diocesan Youth Ministry activities, including Procter Summer Camps, youth events, and more.
