Communities

Since the publication of Faith & Play™ Stories in 2008, Quaker meetings and churches across the US, in both unprogrammed and programmed branches, have woven stories into their religious formation programs, worship, and community life. Hundreds of Friends in more than a dozen US yearly meetings have attended trainings and joined the worldwide community of practitioners using Godly Play®, along with the Faith & Play stories unique to our Quaker tradition.

Stories are for all of us, and the language and images in them are shared across generations in faith communities. Meetings and churches may find new ways for adults to participate with the circle of children in their religious formation program; Friends might help to make materials for the Faith & Play/Godly Play story shelves, or support trained storytellers in the other adult-mentor role of the “doorperson.” Faith & Play stories can also be used to anchor all-ages community worship and as a curriculum resource for adults in “Quakerism 101” courses.

At the heart of all these experiences: a deep respect for the spiritual lives of children as part of the whole faith community, and the shared experience of wondering questions asked and continuing revelation discovered.

Faith & Play is currently used in 20+ Friends schools in the US, particularly for Kindergarten through 8th grade.

• Faith & Play story experiences are a vehicle for exploring Quaker faith, practice, and historical witness.
• The experience of “meeting for worship with attention to story” or “meeting for wonder” can help connect children to the experience of meeting for worship and build spiritual community.
• The experiential method makes space for students from all backgrounds to explore where they “find themselves in the story.”
• “Learning in the Light” training is for teachers and administrators interested in Faith & Play stories. Trainings have been hosted by Friends Council on Education and by Friends schools for their faculty. Contact us to learn more and explore bringing a workshop to your school!

Faith & Play and Godly Play stories experienced in a meeting or church setting may find their way home. With these resources, families have a way to nurture the Spirit and their family community using story.

Using Faith & Play and Godly Play in the home provides a unique opportunity for parents and children to connect with one another by sharing wonder, Spirit, and the power of not knowing answers. We can wonder together and be on the journey together. Creating a space where silence is welcomed, care and responsibility for belongings is valued, and uncertainty is accepted, is a gift to our families in the midst of complex, busy lives.

Having a child invite you into the circle they’ve created on the living room floor, listening to the wonder in their voice as they tell or create a story, watching the reverent way they handle the materials they’ve chosen or made, and observing siblings or friends drawn into their circle are evidence of how these stories provide tools for both spiritual growth and lessons for life.

Workshops about Faith & Play have been shared in several Latin American countries, and in the United Kingdom, Kenya, and Canada. Selected Faith & Play stories have been translated into German and are used in schools in Germany alongside Godly Play stories.

In 2014, New England Yearly Meeting answered a call from Friends in Cuba to translate Quaker religious education materials into Spanish. Jugar llenos de fe (“to play full of faith”) is the result of a collaboration between Faith & Play Stories, the Puente de Amigos Committee (Bridge of Friends) between New England Yearly Meeting and Cuba Yearly Meeting, and the Friends World Committee for Consultation, with generous funding from Obadiah Brown’s Benevolent Fund. The translation project led to travel and training to share Faith & Play and Godly Play among Friends in several Latin American countries.