Are you ready?
As we stand at the threshold of a new year, we’re wondering about getting ready. “Are you ready?” is a powerful question that invites self-reflection alongside anticipation. When we greet a child with this question before a story, our welcome is a moment to acknowledge both where they are coming from and what’s ahead of them. The pause at any threshold is a moment to look back, and look forward.
To share the 2024 story of Faith & Play Stories, we need to go back to the previous summer, when Faith & Play traveled widely and it became clear that this ministry was ready to expand. (See photos below!) Working together on both long-range planning and a proposal to the Shoemaker Fund, the Faith & Play Stories Trustees articulated a vision that acknowledges the broad ways stories bring people together in community — from circles of children in Quaker religious education programs and Friends school classrooms, to newcomers programs and intergenerational worship in Meetings.
We are deeply grateful to the Shoemaker Fund for a generous grant to support a two-year project, Finding Ourselves in the Story: Growing Faith & Play for Friends, that began in September 2024. This project seeks to address the need for rebuilding intergenerational faith communities through relationships, accompaniment, nurturing inclusion, and networks of community and resource sharing. With staff time for administration and communication, the project will expand training oppotunities and work on new stories, alongside ways to nurture newcomers and families in meetings. Melinda Wenner Bradley, Faith & Play Stories Director of Communication and Training, is leading the project and looks forward to the collaborations ahead.
In the reflections below, we’re celebrating the work of the last 18 months as we also look ahead to what’s next and new. Thank you for being part of our community of practice and on this journey with Faith & Play!
Looking Back: June 2023-December 2024
Albuquerque Meeting hosted a training in their beautiful space, November 2023.
Trainings for 73 participants from 32 Quaker Meetings and 7 Friends schools in California, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington in the US; Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Online programs included a “Fall Refresher” workshop, being the topic of a Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC) Conversation Circle, several “Introduction to Godly Play/Faith & Play for Friends” programs, and the “Advent Family Devotionals” series.
Stories shared by our community of practice in their meetings, churches, and Friends schools; at Friends General Conference (FGC) Gatherings; in youth programs and during annual sessions of Intermountain Yearly Meeting, New York Yearly Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and others; at a Quaker Spring gathering, the QREC Annual Conference, and the North American Godly Play Conference.
This training was one of the most rewarding experiences I had last year and really shaped my teaching practice while guiding my Light as well.” – Learning in the Light participant, Friends school educator and Haverford Meeting member Meredith Woods
Looking Forward to 2025! 
Winter/Spring Workshop series focused on support for Faith & Play practitioners, families, and others who support children and all-ages spiritual formation in faith communities. Registration is open for all workshops on Zoom from 7-8:30 PM ET.
Playing in the Light trainings include these two and several more “in the works” — Stay tuned and watch the website for registrations to open!
- February 7-9: Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting hosted at Yellow Springs Meeting (OH). Please register by January 20!
- August 29-September 1, 2025 at Ben Lomond Quaker Center (CA)
Project Update: Finding Ourselves in the Story — Please watch for surveys for practitioners and families in the new year!
Some of the places Faith & Play has gone!
Faith & Play was invited to Quaker House at the Chautauqua Institute, June 2023. Melinda Wenner Bradley was the second member of the Faith & Play Trustees to be invited to be the “Friend of the Week” at Quaker House, after David Wakeley was there in 2022. She shared programs with stories and reflection on the importance of play in nurturing children’s spiritual lives.
Stories were shared by two storytellers at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s “Fox 400” Birthday, July 2024.
Faith & Play and Godly Play stories told side-by-side in a workshop offered during FGC Gathering, July 2024.
“Listening for God” told BIG at the North American Godly Play Conference in June 2023. Prayer stations were also set up at the conference using the story’s language and images. Faith & Play is grateful for ongoing collaboration with Godly Play colleagues!