In God's playground

Hannah Medland has been awarded ‘Children’s Worker of the Year’ for her passion and pursuit of ‘godly play’—helping children explore the relationship with God they experience in their everyday lives.

It’s Sunday morning and there’s something strange happening at The Salvation Army in Miramar. Children are getting ready to go into kids’ church, but in a way that distinctly lacks chaos, rioting, and—dare I say it—could even be described as serene.

Hannah Medland is The Salvation Army’s Children’s Mission Director. Today, she is bending down and greeting each child at the door, asking: ‘Are you ready to meet with God?’ When they are ready, each child enters the ‘sacred space’ of the classroom, and joins the circle of friends.

I am witnessing a new way of teaching children about the Bible, known as ‘godly play’. It has been widely adopted in Th e Salvation Army UK with the Republic of Ireland Territory, and is gaining momentum among our children’s ministries here.

Entirely different from the loud, proud, party atmosphere of most modern children’s ministries, the godly play format is steeped in reflection and ritual, borrowed from liturgical church traditions.

The emphasis is not on teaching children about God, but giving them the language to express their relationship with God, who they already experience in their everyday lives. ‘We usually treat children as empty vessels we need to fill. But, instead, godly play looks at children as spiritual beings who know God, and who encounter God regularly. We are there to help them connect the God we talk about in church, with the God they already know,’ explains Hannah.

Back in the godly play circle, the only other adult helper says a prayer and lights a candle—encouraging the children to focus on the sacred time they are entering. ‘We only have one other adult in the room because we want to dispel the myth that adults know everything and that adults are there to give them the answers,’ explains Hannah. ‘In the godly play room, everything is at child height and it’s a really safe place where children don’t feel like they might get an answer wrong, but that their wondering is totally valid.’

The wonder of wonder …

Wonder is a big part of godly play. Hannah begins story time by getting out a golden lidded box, and even this becomes something mysterious and wonderful.

‘Look, this box is the colour gold. Something inside must be precious like gold,’ says Hannah. ‘The box looks like a present. Parables were given long ago as presents.’ She opens the box to reveal a large piece of brown felt fabric. ‘I wonder what this could really be ... I wonder if it could be a giant chocolate bar … ’

The children enjoy taking guesses at what it might mean. Hannah fl attens out the fabric and begins to tell the ‘Parable of the Sower’, using painted wooden figures.

Every godly play Bible story is told in the middle of the circle, with tactile props—echoing how children play with toys. The story of the Israelites wandering in the desert uses a miniature sandpit, which children can run their fingers through. There are even Salvation Army-specific props, such as a miniature flag and mercy seat, as well as William and Catherine Booth  figurines.

The story of the sower begins to unfold, and Hannah asks: ‘I wonder who the sower could really be?’ ‘Mr Snail!’ says one boy.

Hannah smiles, ‘The sower could be Mr Snail.’ She simply reflects back what the children say to ‘show they have been heard’. They enjoy giving their thoughts on why the sower might
have planted in rocky soil and how he felt. One child asks, ‘But why is he planting yarn in the ground, how is it going to grow?’

Through the conversation, the children discover there are two types of sowing (spelt differently)—one with fabric, and one with plants. I can’t help wondering to myself: if the story was told in a more traditional way, would that child have left the classroom still baffled?

‘I wonder what the person was doing when the little seeds were choked by the thorns?’ continues Hannah. And so the conversation unfolds. ‘I’m trying to move things a bit closer to this idea of helping kids discover God for themselves, because when you discover a spiritual truth in a Bible story for yourself, that is much more powerful than being told. That’s why Jesus spoke in parables,’ says Hannah.

After the story, the children are given a ‘response time’, where they can play, explore, draw and reflect on the story in their own way. ‘One kid decided he was going to draw what he thinks the Kingdom of Heaven looks like,’ Hannah recalls. ‘He had a gate that had a sign saying, “Pure souls only”. There were these banks of hearts with a sign saying, “Good souls for bad people,” and there were angels, and God was there.

‘So we got to have a really awesome conversation about, “Well what is a pure soul then?” It was such a great discussion point. If I had told the kids what activity to do, we would never have seen what that child was wondering about, understanding and absorbing

Little heretics?

Godly play was developed from Montessori principles, which encourages children to direct their own learning. Dr Maria Montessori was herself a Catholic Christian, and believed the method should be used for teaching the Bible. Part of her philosophy was that we should not assume we know what children need, and observe them instead.

‘The godly play method is much more than a clever way to tell Bible stories,’ explains theologian and educator Rev Dr Jerome Berryman, who developed the Godly Play Foundation.  ‘Godly play answers the cry the child has: “Let me experience God myself”. It is more like worship than like school. It emphasises a relationship with God.’

But something is bothering me. Are we in danger of turning out little heretics if we don’t teach children the ‘right answers’? Afterall, as Christians, are we not truth bearers?

The aim is still to tell the truth, explains Hannah, but it’s about how we help children get there. ‘We just need space to hear the questions. Children’s spirituality is integrated into their everyday lives, so one day they’ll be hanging upside down on the couch watching Paw Patrol and then the next second they’re asking if God has a brother. They haven’t learnt to compartmentalise yet—and I would hope they never learn that.

‘I would try and brainstorm with them, “What do you think? Why do you think he has a brother?” I would try to understand their thinking. I want kids to know there is a truth, but I want
them to know that they can explore it for themselves.’

The one million

Hannah’s passion for children was recently recognised by the ‘One Million Children’ organisation, which aims to give all one million kids in New Zealand the opportunity to explore a relationship with God. At their annual conference, Hannah was honoured with the national ‘Children’s Worker of the Year’ award.

Trained as an early childhood educator, there’s no doubt Hannah is passionate about kids—‘I just think children are the best human beings!’ she exclaims. But she is even more  passionate about seeing children as equal disciples within the wider church.

‘For example, I would love to see the day when our divisional business leaders would go to corps and say, “Children are our priority so we need to see that reflected in our budgets”. Because discipleship begins at childhood so crucial, and I may not have a faith now if it hadn’t begun in childhood.

‘Even at pre-school age, I don’t think we should just see ourselves as just babysitters. I have a picture of kids coming into church and throwing their arms around their pre-school teacher, and then thanking that teacher at their 21st for being such a signifi cant part of their lives.’

Surprising the World

Children’s ministry is equally crucial because children are part of our communities, says Hannah. ‘I think, generally, we’re quite good at looking after ourselves, but that is not our mission.  We are Th e Salvation Army and we need to live as if it’s our job to make disciples.’

At Miramar Corps, Hannah has begun what she calls a ‘Surprise the World lifestyle’. ‘It’s about living these “questionable lives” that propel us into the world, lives that look so radical that
people can’t help but ask questions. That’s so biblical, because obviously that’s who Jesus was,’ explains Hannah, who based the initiative on Michael Frost’s book Surprise the World.

People at Miramar Corps have committed to habits that include deliberately blessing three people a week, and eating with three people a week: one person has to be inside the church,
one has to be outside the church, and one can be either.

Hannah says it can be as simple as taking a few minutes to write a card, or meeting someone new for coffee. ‘It sounds intense, but we eat 21 meals a week, plus coffees, so it’s just
maximising what you do.’

She gives the example of her sister Summer, who struck up a conversation with a neighbour she had never met. The neighbour mentioned something needed fixing in their house. Later, Summer went back with cookies. Then, she was able to find someone at church who could fix the neighbour’s property.

‘Imagine if we did that every week until Jesus comes? That’s who the early church was, and that’s why they had a huge impact,’ sums up Hannah. ‘We are sent as missionaries to
where we are now.

‘All this doesn’t look intensely like children’s ministries, but children are in our communities, and if we became The Salvation Army that is known for salvation again, that would
have a tremendous impact.’

FIND OUT MORE |
Contact Hannah.Medland@salvationarmy.org.nz or check out the offi cial Godly Play Foundation channel on YouTube to watch godly play stories.

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(c) by Ingrid Barratt - 'War Cry' magazine, 9 March 2019 p6-9. You can read 'War Cry' at your nearest Salvation Army chur  h or centre, or subscribe through Salvationist Resources.