Faith & Play Stories

Spiritual Formation Through Storytelling

Stories of Quaker faith, practice, and witness for Friends using the Godly Play method of storytelling

Faith & Play™ is a set of stories for Friends to use as a vehicle for learning about Quaker faith and practice, and to explore our identity as Friends. Because the format is experiential, listeners can find meaning in the story drawing on their own life experience. Stories provide an opportunity to explore faith both as an individual and as part of a spiritual community.

Following the Godly Play® model, a Faith & Play story is told both verbally and visually, using simple materials, with participants gathered in a circle. It is characterized by:

Reverently-paced storytelling
Periods of reflective silence
Gentle gestures and movements of story materials
Invitations to wonder out loud together
Affirmation of each person’s sharing
Individual work and creative expression using art or story materials
An ongoing rhythm of communal listening, worship, and sharing.

Faith & Play stories were originally intended for children 3-12 years old, and this remains our primary focus. At the same time, the stories are also used with older youth, multigenerational groups, and with adults new to Quakerism.

By creating space to experience our living faith, Faith & Play Stories have become a valuable resource for Quaker meetings and churches, Friends schools, multigenerational events, and home use. Read More…

Nurturing Childhood Spirituality

Deep respect for children and their spiritual lives is at the heart of Faith & Play. Each story session might be called a “meeting for worship with attention to story” and attends to the Spirit’s ongoing activity in children’s lives.

Adults do not need to give children a spiritual life; each child already has one. The method used with Faith & Play and Godly Play stories helps children access their spiritual lives and it gives them words and images for expressing what they experience of the Divine in each day. Adult mentors create and maintain an open, safe, and welcoming classroom environment that nurtures wonder and loving community.

Children are drawn deeply into their own individual experience of Spirit and corporate experience of spiritual community. Through their responses to experiential wondering questions, children have opportunities to express where they find themselves in the stories.

Find out more about the connection between Godly Play® and Faith & Play™

Reflecting on Woolman, Papunehung, and Big Feelings

The power of story. This morning, I headed over to the Friends school were once a month I spend a morning sharing Faith & Play stories with PreK-5th grade classes. The story this month was about John Woolman visiting the Lenape people at Wyalusing. It's gone...