Book Study
Godly Play: A Way of Religious Education by Dr. Jerome Berryman
In celebration of the 30th year since the publication of “Godly Play: A Way of Religious Education” we invited you to read, reflect, and go deeper in your work with children through this study guide and scholar interviews for each chapter.
Chapter 1: Playing and Reality
Study guide and interview with Dr. Holly Catterton Allen
Go deeper with Dr. Allen’s book “Forming Resilient Children: The Role of Spiritual Formation for Healthy Development”
Chapter 2: An Adult at Play
Study Guide and Interview with Dr. Andrew Sheldon
Chapter 3: Children at Play
Study guide and interview with Dr. Tanya Campen
Check out Dr. Campen’s book “Holy Work with Children”
Chapter 4: The Spoken Lesson
Study guide and interview with Dr. Brendan Hyde
Check out Dr. Hyde’s book “Children and Spirituality: Searching for Meaningfulness and Connectedness”
Chapter 5: The Unspoken Lesson
Study guide and interviews with Dr. Rebecca Nye and Dr. Henri Zonio
Go deeper with Dr. Nye’s “Children’s Spirituality: What it is and Why it Matters?” and
Dr. Zonio’s dissertation “It’s Not Just Sunday School: Young children, race/ethnicity, and gender in three homogeneous protestant Sunday schools”
Chapter 6: The Imagination and Godly Play
Study guide and interviews with Dr. Karen Crozier and Dr. Julian Stern
Go deeper with Dr. Krozier’s “Fannie Lou Hamer’s Revolutionary Practical Theology” and
Dr. Stern’s edited “The Bloomsbury Handbook of Solitude, Silence and Loneliness”
Chapter 7: The Theology of Childhood
Study guide and interviews with Dr. Marcia Bunge and Dr. Martin Steinhäuser
Go deeper with Dr. Bunge’s book “Child Theology: Diverse Methods and Global Perspectives” and
Dr. Steinhäuser’s edited volume “Godly Play: European Perspectives on Practice and Research”