stories of god at home

Creation: The Story of God’s Creating

The story of Creation is an important story for children. It is there (in the midst of God’s creation – at the ocean, in the mountain, or in their own backyard) that many children have their first encounters with something bigger than themselves. Jerome Berryman reminds us that, "Hints and whispers of God’s presence are everywhere in the environment, but children need safety, permission and a language by which to discuss and affirm such experiences. This is why the story of creation mixed with family stories can be so enriching."

The materials for this presentation are kept inside a box. The box contains seven, small wooden plaques and a piece of black felt that begins all rolled up. The black felt is the "underlay."

Christmas: the Story of God with us

Christmas is about children. Jerome Berryman says, “It celebrates you as a child, your children, your grandchildren (natural, adopted or befriended), and of course, God’s child. Christmas evokes the wonder of children and our wonder about them.”However, for children this time of year can be a kind of slow torture. The anticipation of the avalanche of presents on Christmas Day is just too much. And it starts earlier and earlier every year. What’s more, families who are over-scheduled at the best of times find these weeks before Christmas even harder.

Jerome Berryman offers all of us a way through….a way that gives wonder a chance to be experienced during this hectic time so, as he says, “it can ripen and produce a richness of Christmas never before realized…

In the Church there are four weeks to get ready for Christmas called the season of Advent. Therefore the Godly Play lesson to be used during this time has four parts. We suggest you tell one part each week leading up to Christmas Eve. The story is meant to be kept in a wooden box with a star on top, the star that led the Magi, the three kings, to the Christ Child. You might also use your Advent wreath as part of the storytelling (lighting one candle per week), and incorporate your nativity set if you own one.

Easter: The Story of God’s Re-Creative Love

The celebration of Easter in the Church is complex. The story of Jesus death on the cross followed by the one’s about his miraculous resurrection stir deep and complex feelings in even the most fervent of believers. And talking about death with children can be difficult for us…our first urge is to protect them from it.

Jerome Berryman offers us a way to help the whole family integrate the awful reality of Holy Week and the wonder of Easter Sunday to experience the deep joy that is ours on Easter morning. The lesson is really a series of lessons to be told over the entire season of Lent. A good time to present it might be at the dinner table each Sunday in Lent, and then on Easter Day. But really anytime during the season works well.

Pentecost: The Story of God Creating from Within 

The Good Shepherd: The Story of God's Caring & Creative Presence

There are times in the lives of families when there is a need to re-center. We need to pause and ask what is really important and how God’s nature is making itself known in our lives. Often these times are in the extremes of death, aloneness, the need for meaning, and the threat of freedom. These times of extremity carry us right to the edges of our being and knowing.

One way to cope with extreme times is to re-center by saying The Twenty-Third Psalm. Another way is to enter into The Parable of the Good Shepherd. Jerome Berryman says, “This gives us a little more room for living when life is almost squeezed out of us.”

Dr. Berryman also reminds us that it is good to live the Parable of the Good Shepherd with your family before trouble strikes, so it is a familiar and trusted resource. So share this story with your family often!

The Liturgical Circle of the Church Year: The Story of Our Wholeness with God

Sometimes the church keeps time in a line with a beginning and an ending, but it also keeps liturgical time in a circle, where for every beginning there is an ending and for every ending there is a beginning. This story emphasizes the circle of the church year and how it interacts with the circles of our families.

You will need to do some preparation before presenting this lesson. You need the material called the Circle of the Church Year, and the other stories recommended for use at home (Creation, the Faces of Easter, Knowing Jesus in a New Way, and the Good Shepherd). You can save money if you purchase all six stories at the same time (see the link below). You can also make the stories you need using our DIY Kits, Prints only, or coloring sheets. The links to purchase these are below. Finally, you need a collection of family photos going back as many generations as you can find.