THANK YOU FROM SYLVIA HALL
This year I had the privilege of being the recipient of the ECW Women’s Education Scholarship. This scholarship was created to support all women aspiring to complete training and/or academic training of their choosing. The ECW Scholarship allowed me to attend the 2023 Godly Play Conference (June 15 thru 17) in Kansas City MO.
The conference was held at the gorgeous and majestic Grace and Holy Cathedral, and all participants gathered in their meeting rooms, their nave and their Godly classrooms in person and online to tell stories and share our passion for the nurture of childhood spirituality and to deepen our practice. We heard keynote addresses from Dr. Rode Molla, Dr. Henry Zonio and Dr. Karen Crozier, and we sat together in circles and around tables to participate in workshops, story circles, and panel discussions led by Godly Players around the globe.
I presented a story in Spanish: “La Parabola del Pozo Profundo” (The Parable of the Deep Well). It was my first time telling a story in Spanish. This parable is very special to me because it was the story Anna chose to introduce our congregation and our Sunday School teachers to the Godly Play curriculum in January of 2018. This parable is not a parable of Jesus. However, if you have ever wondered what a parable is… well this is a parable about that, among other things. We all wondered together after the presentation…. I was really touched when one of the participants started crying while I was tying the golden threads together as she was reflecting on her life and how each thread represented something to her.
During the opening time of worship, the Faith & Play Story “Listening to God” was presented—this is a story from the Quaker Community focused on building spiritual community… ‘sometimes God touches us in that deep, deep place we call heart, a place where God is at home in us and where we are at home with God…” the storyteller started; and God can touch us through the heart, through the of gift of Creation, through the Sacred Story and through Community Gathering. Four stations representing Heart, Creation, Sacred Story and Community gathering were set up around the Nave for us to practice listening and to add something meaningful to the work.
I wonder what my favorite part of the Convention was. I don’t have a favorite part: maybe it was meeting the Godly Play practitioners from around the country? Maybe it was the workshops I attended to better understand Sacred Stories and Parables, an example of what Jerome Berryman called Playful Orthodoxy. I do know one thing: the Conference gave me ideas to incorporate in our Sunday School teaching and our community.
Thank you for making this experience possible,
Silvia Hall
Godly Play Practitioner and Summer Sunday School Coordinator
About The Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral:
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral is an Episcopal cathedral in the Quality Hill neighborhood of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri.
Ref. Wikipedia
Address: 415 W 13th St, Kansas City, MO 64105
Opened: 1895
Capacity: 600–800 persons