The journey is now. Deep words. For the past 14 years I have been blessed to be on this journey at a home for children who have been through severe abuse and trauma. It is called Thompson, located in North Carolina.

Godly Play claims to be a method for the spiritual development of children, but when Godly Play found me, it was my adult need for spiritual development that it met. I was in my early 30’s and skeptical of organized religion. Most of what I saw and heard in mainstream Christianity seemed to value rigid ideas of right and wrong over the kind of complexity and ambiguity that can lead to a deeper encounter with the numinous. The goal, it seemed to me, was to pin down the Mystery and tie it up with a neat bow so we’d all know exactly what the rules were and how to play the game.

One of the joys of my first year as the Executive Director for the Godly Play Foundation was meeting so many of you and hearing your stories. Every week I get to hear stories of children making profound connections and of circles of children inspiring deep wonder with one another.

If I’m being honest, the story of The Ark & the Tent used to be one of my least-favorite Godly Play stories. I just didn’t get it. I could appreciate the epic narrative of The Great Family, or the metaphors in the Parables, but I didn’t really care about the ancient building structures and tools for worship. Maybe it’s because we’re not a liturgical church, or maybe I just wasn’t ready to enter into this particular story – not yet, anyway. Not until this summer.

In July 2020, the Godly Play Board President made a commitment that the Godly Play Foundation would engage in a process to examine how our organization “reflects the structures of oppression that plague our nation” and “confront the realities of racism that exist even in our most sacred spaces.”

In June of 2021, over 300 Godly Players, from all over the globe, gathered in a way that has become all too familiar during this last year – virtually. We wondered.....will people come? Are they tired of Zoom? Will it feel artificial? Amazingly, it worked!

While the novel coronavirus had been in the country for at least a month, in March of 2020 cases began to jump at alarming rates, as did the hospitalizations and deaths. At that point many churches suspended all in-person activities, including Christian Formation.