Three new stories have been added to the Faith & Play Stories collection!
You can download and print the stories here.
These new stories represent years of writing, testing, revision, and collaboration between the Faith & Play creators and the Friends who were originating authors. They are their own PDF publication at this time, and will be added to the current published stories in a future third edition publication. The “notes for storytellers” at the end of each story include sources and resources, including picture book pairing suggestions and ways to share the stories in community. We look forward to hearing from you about how children and adults in your circles and meetings respond to the new stories, and where your wondering about them goes!
Bayard Rustin Speaks Truth to Power – A story about being your whole self
Faith & Play stories is deeply grateful to Shannon Hughes (Weare Meeting, NEYM) for bringing forward this story and her generous collaboration in Spirit with us. We are also delighted that Walter Naegle, Rustin’s partner and the executive director of the Bayard Rustin Fund, shared this response to the story:
“I think the story is delightful, historically accurate, and great for helping young people think about what it means to be themselves, and how they can go about living their values.”
Four Doors to Meeting for Worship – A story about experiencing meeting for worship and feeling close to God
This Faith & Play story is based on the writing of William Taber in Pendle Hill Pamphlet #306, “Four Doors to Meeting for Worship.” We are grateful to Pendle Hill for permission to adapt that work for this format. Pendle Hill Pamphlet #306 is available at www.pendlehill.org. The pamphlet is also now available as an audiobook! We are also grateful to Joy Duncan who created the first version of this story and shared it with us, and Friends at Evanston Meeting who continued to develop it. In addition to being a story shared in a religious education program, and a companion story to “Prayer and Friends Meeting for Worship” in the 2017 edition of Faith & Play Stories, it might be used in a workshop for adults focused on worship, or during an intergenerational worship experience.
Sarah Mapps Douglass and the Truth of the Back Bench – A story about making choices for yourself and for change
Adapted by Faith & Play Stories with gratitude to Elizabeth Freyman (Albuquerque Meeting, IMYM) for her original work and generous collaboration in Spirit with us. Sarah Mapps Douglass’ story challenges us to explore a disconnect between intention and experience that was grounded in racism among Friends. Today, Sarah’s spiritual home, Arch Street Meeting House, is still the home of a worship community, Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, and is a historic site in Philadelphia. A virtual tour on the website discusses “the back bench” and shares from a letter Sarah wrote about the discrimination.
Descriptions of all the published stories in the collection can be found here on the website.
These are helpful if you’re leading a program and want to describe the story you’re sharing!
More stories are on the way . . .