Read an Excerpt
The Complete Guide to Godly Play
Volume 2, Revised and Expanded
By Jerome W. Berryman Church Publishing Incorporated
Copyright © 2017 Jerome W. Berryman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8192-3359-2
CHAPTER 1
Lesson 1
Circle of the Church Year
How the Church Tells Its Story
How to Use This Lesson
Core Presentation
Liturgical Action Lesson: lessons about sacraments or traditions of the church, which primarily use ritual and symbol to make meaning
As the first lesson in Volume 2 of The Complete Guide to Godly Play, it is usually presented at the beginning of the program year, or alternative at the beginning of the liturgical year (the first Sunday in Advent).
It is part of a comprehensive approach to Christian formation that consists of eight volumes. Together the lessons form a spiral curriculum that enables children to move into adolescence with an inner working knowledge of the classical Christian language system to sustain them all their lives.
The Material
Location: Focal shelves
Pieces: Circle of the Church Year Wall Hanging and Circle of the Church Year Presentation Set
Underlay for Presentation Set: A neutral-colored three foot by two foot (about one meter by half a meter) rug or piece of felt.
Background
This lesson sets the context for the whole year. Each year, the Christian people move through a circle of memory and expectation to open themselves to the elusive presence of God. Moving through this circle is how the Church tells its story. In the Godly Play room, we pay attention to this circle of movement each week and therefore it is recommended that you begin each program year with this lesson.
This lesson uses the Circle of the Church Year Presentation Set, which includes a circular frame, fifty-two removable colored blocks, and a gold cord or ribbon.
You will also use the Circle of the Church Year Wall Hanging, which has colored cloth "blocks" for the Sundays of the year plus Christmas Day and a golden arrow that moves from Sunday to Sunday (block to block). From now on, begin each class by inviting a child to go to this wall hanging and move the golden arrow to the current Sunday (check the wall hanging before class to make sure that when the child moves the arrow to the next block, it will point to the right Sunday). This invites children to move through the Church's special kind of time, marked not by numbers but by blocks of color. The wall hanging should be hung low enough on the wall so the children can move the arrow as suggested.
Notes on the Material
In the Circle of the Church Year Presentation Set is a circle, about one foot (about thirty centimeters) in diameter, made from wood. Colored wooden blocks fit in a ring to mark each Sunday of the liturgical year, as well as the day of Christmas. Three arrow-shaped hands of this "clock" point to the three great times of the Church year. If you buy only one ready-made material from Godly Play Resources, we recommend that it be this one. Accurately cutting out these blocks is a difficult job.
You will use the gold cord or ribbon (about three feet [or approximately one meter] long) to show how time can be "in a line." This cord needs to be flexible and small enough to curl up inside your fist.
You will use a small neutral colored rug or piece of felt as an underlay. This helps the children focus on the lesson. In most Godly Play rooms, there is a basket of "work rugs" that the children use during response time. These can work well if they are neutral colors. If not, you should have a piece of felt cut for this purpose.
Traditions about the use of color for feast days or liturgical seasons vary greatly, even within denominations. As you order the material or prepare this lesson, please adjust as needed to match the colors actually used in your church.
Special Notes
Adapting the lesson to your setting
Godly Play stories were first written in the Northern Hemisphere. The Circle of the Church Year lesson is linked with the seasonal weather, movements of the sun, and the school year. For those who live in the Southern Hemisphere or near the Equator in tropical climates, it is necessary to adjust the script to your environment. Judyth Roberts, a Godly Play Trainer in Australia, uses these guidelines in training sessions for Godly Play Australia:
Think about where you live and what is happening at that time of the year. A sense of place is important. Are there signals in nature that can be noted? Do rains come or stop? Does it become lighter and the days get longer? Are there trees or flowers that are striking? Is it harvest time? Or summer school holidays? Using three or four sentences, summarize the changes that happen as Advent approaches.
Here is an example of how Roberts adapts the lesson:
Here are the rest of the green and growing Sundays. Winter comes and the days are shorter and colder. Then, as spring comes, the days grow longer, there is more light, and it gets warmer. The cicadas are noisy. The jacarandas drop flowers, making a purple carpet under the trees. It is holiday time, and it's time to get ready for the mystery of Christmas.
MovementsWords
Now watch carefully.
Here is the rug we
need for this lesson.
Get up from your
position in the circle and
carefully cross the room to
get a rug or to get the felt
underlay you will use for the
lesson. Pick up a rug with
attentive care.
Bring the rug to the
circle, and roll it out just as
carefully and lovingly as you
would like the children to do.
This is especially important
for children younger than
eight years old.
Watch where I go now to get the
lesson.
Get up and walk around
the room in search of the
lesson. Reaching back and
pulling it off the shelf isn't
dramatic enough to catch the
children's attention. Help
them remember where to find
this story.
Hm. It's not where the Sacred
Stories are. It's not where
the Parables are. Ah,
here it is! This is the
lesson about the
Circle of the Church Year.
Sit down in the circle
with the rug in front of you.
Place the material to your
side. As you do so, pick up the
gold cord and enclose it in
your right hand so that you
can pull it out through a
space between two fingers
from right to left. Keep eye
contact with the children as
you hide the cord in your
hand and begin the story.
Time, time, time ...
there are all kinds of
time. There is a time
to get up in the
morning. There is a
time to go to bed.
There is a time to go
to school and a time
to come home. There
is a time to work, and
there is a time to
play. But what is time?
Until now, the gold cord
has been hidden, but now you
show a small end of the cord
extending between your
fingers, and you suddenly
notice it.
Some people say that
time is in a line. But
I wonder what that
would look like? Ah
... wait a minute!
What is this? Time.
Time in a line. This
is time in a line.
Look at this. Here is
the beginning. It is
the newest part. It is
just being born. It is
brand new. Now look.
Moving from right to left,
pull out the cord slowly as
you speak. Pull it all the way
out from your fist slowly as
you talk until it drops to the
rug.
Look. It is getting
older. The part that
was new is now
getting old. I wonder
how long time goes.
Does it go forever?
Could there ever be
an ending?
The end of the cord
drops. Pick up the cord and
look at it.
It ended. Look at the
ending.
Hold the two ends and
look at them.
The beginning that
was so new at the
beginning now is
old. The ending is
the new part now.
We have a beginning
that is like an ending
and an ending that is
like a beginning.
Tie the two ends
(beginnings) together. Then
put the circle of wooden
blocks on the rug or underlay
to your left so that there is
room for the blocks as you
remove them on the right side.
Place the golden cord around
the wooden circle.
Do you know what
the church did? They
tied the ending that is
like a beginning and
the beginning that is
like an ending
together, so we
would always
remember that for
every ending there is
a beginning and for
every beginning
there is an ending.
Leave the golden cord on
the material and begin to
remove the blocks. Place them
to the right of the presentation
set on the underlay. Begin
with the "three great times"
(a white Christmas block, a
white Easter block, and a red
Pentecost block). When you
pick up the red Pentecost
block, drop it quickly; it's so
hot! Remember to speak of the
"three great times," because
Christmas is not always on a
Sunday.
Here are the three
great times. This is
Christmas. This is
Easter. This is
— ouch!
That's hot! This is
Pentecost.
Sit back for a moment,
and look at the blocks for the
three great times. Point to
each of the blocks as you
say:
Each one of these is
a great mystery.
Sometimes, people
miss these mysteries.
They walk right
through them and
don't even know
they're there. We
need to get ready to
come close to them
every year.
Place the four purple (or
blue) blocks of Advent in a
line to the right (your right) of
the white block for Christmas,
starting with the farthest right
so that each block moves
closer to Christmas. Place the
six purple blocks for Lent in a
line to the right (your right) of
the white block for Easter in
the same way.
Here are the times
for getting ready.
The time for getting
ready to come close
to the mystery of
Christmas is called
"Advent." The time
for getting ready to
come close to the
mystery of Easter is
called "Lent."
Touch first the four
blocks of Advent, then the six
blocks of Lent.
Look. The time for
getting ready to
come close to the
mystery of Easter is
longer than the time
for getting ready to
come close to the
mystery of
Christmas. I wonder?
Put the second white
block to the right of the
Christmas block. (Note: We
know that in some places the
white days of Christmas
continue for even longer than
twelve days. Please adjust as
necessary.)
But of course
Christmas is so
wonderful a mystery
that we don't just
celebrate on one day,
but rather we keep
celebrating for
twelve days —
right up until
Epiphany. This
means it has two
Sundays.
Count out six more white
Sunday blocks for the season
of Easter, and place them to
the right (your right) of the
red block for Pentecost.
Easter is also
wonderful, so you
can't keep it on one
Sunday. It overflows
and goes on for six
more Sundays. It
makes a whole
season!
Touch Pentecost again,
but snatch your hand away
because it's still hot.
he season of Easter
s also a time for
etting ready to
ome close to the
ystery of Pentecost.
uch! It's still hot.
Now only green blocks
are left in the circle. Begin to
remove them in groups of
three, and place them on the
rug in groups of three. Refer
to the diagram for correct
placement. Pace yourself; you
don't want to rush, but you do
want to get the blocks out
before the children lose
interest. After all the blocks
are removed, take away the
gold cord.
Here are all of the
great, green, growing
Sundays of the year.
Now let's see if we
can build the circle
of the year again.
Watch carefully,
because the Church
tells time by colors
as well as by clocks.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Complete Guide to Godly Play by Jerome W. Berryman. Copyright © 2017 Jerome W. Berryman. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
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