FrühlingsAG / Spring Godly Play Club - Week 3

Die letzte Woche der FrühlingsAG kam fast zu schnell! Als Anfangsritual entzündete ein Kind die Christuskerze an und ein anderes Kind stellte unsere "Kirchenuhr" ein (unten im Foto). The last week of our Spring Godly Play Club came all too soon! As always we began with our ritual of having a child light the Christ Candle and another set our "church clock" to the right color. 

Zunächst hörten wir die Geschicht, "Der Gute Hirten und die weltweite Communion". Diese einfach Geschichte kombiniert das Gleichnis vom Guten Hirten und dem Abendmahlsakrament. Next we heard the story of "The Good Shepherd and the World Communion". This simple story combines the imagery of Jesus as the Good Shepherd with the sacrament of communion.

Der Gute Hirte kennt jedes seiner Schafe mit Namen und zeigt ihnen den Weg. The Good Shepherd knows each of his sheep by name and leads them to green pastures and fresh water. 

Er lädt sie zu seinem Tisch mit Brot und Wein ein. Manchmal kommen Menschen von all der Welt zu diesem Tisch. Und die Kinder kommen natürlich auch! He also leads them to his table with bread and wine. Sometimes people from all over the world come to his table. And the children as welcome as well!

Die Kinder waren von dieser Geschichte ziemlich angetan und spielte eine lange Zeit in der Kreativphase mit dem Material. Ein paar Jungs nahmen auch das Gleichnis vom Guten Hirten und erzählten mir eine Geschichte. Wie schön das war ihre Geschichte hören zu dürfen! This particular story seemed to spark the imagination of the children during our Response Time, and they took turns playing with the materials. A couple of boys pulled out the parable box with the Parable of the Good Shepherd in it and asked to tell me a story. What a delight that was to hear their story!

Hier sieht man, was wir noch gemacht haben:
Here are some glimpses of the other things we did:

Vielen Dank fürs Mitlesen!

Thank you for following along! 

If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, be sure to click on the links to catch up. 

Godly Play: The Good Shepherd and the Worldwide Communion

Well, I'm back after a short pause from blogging. Sometimes you just have to take a break every now and then to find fresh inspiration.: )

This week at our church's bi-weekly brunch, we heard the story, "The Good Shepherd and the World Communion". I actually like the German title better: "Der Gute Hirte und die weltweit Einheit der Christen", which translates to "The Good Shepherd and the Worldwide Unity of Christians". This story is from the liturgical genre and connects the Parable of the Good Shepherd to the Eucharist (Communion or Lord's Supper, depending on which tradition you come from). The Eucharist, like the Lord's Prayer, is something that almost all Christians with few exceptions (although there are some) observe. Hence, my tendency to favor the German title. 

This is a story with little text. As an inexperienced Storyteller, I used to rush it, because I was uneasy with the silence. If you can learn to be content with the silence, the children will be attentive as well and enjoy the silence. 

The Good Shepherd leads his sheep out of the stall. They know his voice and follow him.

He goes before them to show them the way.

He leads them to green pastures.

This is the Good Shepherd's table.

This is the bread and wine of the Good Shepherd.

Sometimes people from all over the world come to the Good Shepherd's table. And the children come, too.

The text above is, of course, not the actual text. It's just enough to give you a taste of what the story is like and show you what the movement in the story is like. 

The image of the Good Shepherd seems to be an image that children are naturally drawn to. Berryman based his Good Shepherd stories on the work of Sophia Cavaletti (who developed Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, the forerunner of Godly Play), who in her research repeatedly found that children were particularly interested in the idea of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. I have found this to be true in my work as well. 

All of the children who heard the story today had heard the Parable of the Good Shepherd at least once before. Some have actually participated in Communion before. But interestingly enough, the children did not seem to make a direct connection between communion in the church and the Good Shepherd's table. One child, however, wondered if there was a connection between the Good Shepherd's table and the Passover feast (which she had been learning about in religion class at school). 

One of the questions in the Wondering was whether or not the people at the Good Shepherd's table were happy. That led to a lively discussion about whether or not we are always happy when we come to the table or when we leave. 

Here is a look at some of the creative work that we did afterwards.

One child wanted to hear the Parable of the Sower, so I told it to her. Then she pulled out the Second Creation story and put it together with the Good Shepherd and the World Communion. I would love to know the story that she was going through her head. 

Another child made wool pictures. 

Other children painted.

I am thrilled to have a child who is developmentally young enough for Montessori Practical Life activities. She is practicing "dry pouring" with lentils, an activity that encourages fine motor skills. 

This was one of our more harmonious Godly Play Sundays, and one in which I pondered again how much I love my job! 

Linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

Change of Plans

Family Brunch unfortunately had to be cancelled at the last minute this week. Taking a cue from the old adage, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!",  I told the story I had worked on to my own children and husband in a small, intimate and impromptu worship service.

This story is called "The Good Shepherd and the World Communion" and combines the ideas of Jesus as the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23 and John 10 with the liturgical ritual of communion. It is a fairly short text, but loaded with things to think about.  It ends with people from all over the world and the children gathering around the Good Shepherd's table.

Here are the materials for this story. There are two "pastures", a literal one and one in the church.
The Good Shepherd leads the sheep out of the stall on the left to his table on the right.  

At the end of the story, the Good Shepherd and sheep
are joined by people from around the world and the children.
For info on how I made the materials, click here.

This was also the first time that I have ever told a Godly Play story in English. That was slightly amusing, because I was translating from the German in my thoughts the entire time.  I think it actually helped slow me down and make the whole story more meditative.

It was also a good opportunity to practice the language of silence with my own children. My kids sometimes have difficulty separating Mom from children's pastor and teacher (I am also my son's English teacher at his school!). And as anyone who has ever taught their own children in a group setting knows, your own children can often be the cause of the worst disruptions.   So this was a chance to explain again what I expect of them and why.: )

During the Wondering Phase, my children seemed more thoughtful than usual, perhaps because we were at home. I asked three questions:

"Have you ever been near the Good Shepherd's table?"
Here my children had specific memories of being near the Good Shepherd's table not only in our church, but in other churches as well and talked about the different types of bread that were at the Communion table.

"Do you think the people around the table are happy?"
This question about whether the people were happy or not led to a conversation about whether or not the people are always happy when they came to the table. I mentioned that sometimes people come to the table when they are sad and need comfort.  Then, one of my children said, "Sometimes people come when they are in trouble and need God to forgive them." What a beautiful thought, that we can come to the Good Shepherd's table anytime and in any state to find what we need . . .

"Have you ever heard the words of the Good Shepherd?"
Here both children said that they didn't hear God with their physical ears.  One said she heard Him with the ears of our her heart, and the other child said he saw God with his "third eye" or spiritual eye. We also talked about how we can hear the Good Shepherd through the Bible, other people and nature.

Then, we celebrated feast time with grape juice and spelt crackers.  Sometimes the unplanned things in life turn out to be the most fun!