I wonder …

By Lani Gunn

I wonder: Can Godly Play be used in adult faith formation online?

 Creative ways of using Godly Play in worship and online small group faith formation

At Pilgrim Uniting Church in Launceston we have been using Godly Play resources in various ways.

In worship we often use Godly Play in our “intergenerational” first word section on a Sunday morning.

We noticed that using material on the floor at the front excluded adults from participating, so we made the material more accessible to the WHOLE of the church in a number of different ways –  by enlarging the images/silhouettes onto felt and placing them onto a vertical display board (that was wheeled out to the front of the church at the start of the story to maintain some of the drama or theatre that goes with the storytelling).

Or we have enlarged images onto the PowerPoint screen (for example, Mystery of Easter), and we have acted out the scene with the children and some adults (for example, Palm Sunday).

We sometimes invite responses from the whole group to the wondering questions, or sometimes just stick with the scripted wonderings and ponder silently together.

We have formed a small online Zoom group that meets fortnightly for the purpose of exploring bible stories and for faith formation.

This was at the request of a newer Christian who had not grown up with a Sunday school or church background, and was keen to learn more, but always felt self-conscious (and ‘judged’) for her lack of knowledge and questions about the bible readings.

We intentionally honour this online Zoom as a safe space where we are all comfortable to ask whatever questions come up for us.

In our Zooms we have been working our way through the parables.

We have used a short Godly Play video of one of the parable stories each week.

There are many to choose from online – you just have to choose one that is relatively short.

After the video we then wonder together – often referring back to the script, but also asking our own questions. We are a culturally diverse group of women, and each brings their own insight.

We love the questions and wonderings that challenge us, whether we have grown up with the story all our lives, or whether we have heard it for the first time.

We go back to the bible, google other questions and research as we go, and it has become a place of deep sharing, faith formation and connection.

Lani Gunn, Pilgrim Uniting Church, Launceston