God is in this Place too

God is in this place, too!

Thinking back on my experience of online Godly Play these past couple of years, I realize that the  journey began … well, before the beginning, in 2017 with a small group of trainers who explored the possibilities of online training as a way of widening the Godly Play circle.  I enjoyed working with the team, but even understanding the purpose – to offer training opportunities to those who, for a variety of reasons, do not have access to in-person training – I remained skeptical and did not see myself ever involved in such an endeavor.

Then came 2020, and everything changed. Our interim pastor at Burke Presbyterian Church had previously brought up a strange idea that we might want to offer some church meetings via Zoom – and many wondered, what in the world is Zoom? and why would we want to meet that way?  But within just a few days that first week of March 2020, he organized a team and, sure enough, our church community gathered on computer screens for worship.  As clunky and awkward as it was that first time, being together, in this new and strange way, was simply wonderful – we could still be the church, it truly wasn’t about the building, and God was with us!  I remember the moment during that service when it became crystal clear that we could do Godly Play this way.  Within two weeks I gathered a small team who would serve as “doorperson/Zoom hosts,” and we offered our first Godly Play session via Zoom.

Godly Play Trainer, Arlene Decina, from Christmas Eve service (Advent lesson interspersed with Lesson in Carols), via Zoom, in December 2020.

Over the past two years, I’ve led weekly Godly Play sessions that have included mixed-age groups, and the wondering and response has been delightful, silly, and profound.  I’ve also had the joy of working with trainer Kay Flores – each of us from “Washington,” but on opposite coasts!  And in our workshops and trainings we have welcomed Godly Players from across the country and around the world. We’ve learned a lot along the way and have found this experience an opportunity to reflect deeply on what’s most essential to Godly Play as we endeavor to bring those practices and principles into an online space.

At the close of each of our weekly sessions, we “change the light” with the reminder that God is not just here or there, but in all places and all times,  so wherever we go, whatever we do, we are in the light of Christ … and we carry that light, even within each of us.

Arelene Decina is a Godly Play Trainer from Burke, Virginia