| Spirit Play: A Manual For Liberal Religious Education Programs cover art: copyright, Jan Morgan Wood by Dr. Nita Penfold $24.95 Now Available through link, accepts credit cards Link to Manual Sales Page Table of Contents Your church may purchase a license to copy the manual for your Spirit Play program only. You will receive a coded PDF file for payment of $100 and may make as many copies as you wish for your church after signing a license contract. This will save churches you wish to have more than one copy. Please make two copies of the license agreement, sign both and mail to Dr. Nita Penfold, 5 Walnut Street, Melrose MA 02176 along with your $100 check. . Spirit Play is a way of thinking about religious education, and inviting children and adults into an exploration of their own needs and "existential" limits. It provides for the modeling of authentic religious questioning, the freedom to search for one's own meaning, and perhaps most importantly, is emotionally provocative. I often tell the children that faith is not really something you think, but something you feel. Spirit Play storytelling and wondering can bring to the surface many feelings and allows for the processing of those feelings. There is not so much of an "aha" quality as there is an "aaaah" quality to the program, a comfort and connection. That, I believe, is how connections are made, and it's how our children can bond to their UU faith. Kerrie Lirosi Interim Director of Religious Education Old Ship Church Hingham MA The teachers are very enthusiastic about the Spirit Play class. They have joyfully contributed hours and hours in making the manipulatives needed to tell the stories. The children love the class. One parent told me that on a Sunday when they thought they couldn’t make it to class her child started to cry because she wanted so much to come to class. Of course they hurried up and made it that Sunday and every other Sunday after that. Word is being spread beyond the church about what a great program it is. The only problem is that once the parents come to pick up the kids, no one wants to leave and the parents end up working with the stories and the art projects. Rev. Rosie Rimrodt Minister of Lifespan Religious Education Tennessee Valley UU Church Knoxville, TN We now have two classes of 3-6 year olds using Spirit Play and it has been going amazingly well. The children quickly step into the routine of being greeted by the doorkeeper and entering the classroom in anticipation of their time together. The sacred space that has been created allows for creative wondering and an opportunity to explore the stories personally through re-telling or through art materials provided. The manipulative materials allow the children to remember and connect to the stories and to independently work with them. It is exciting to see a four year take his mat and the story basket of the morning and tell the story in his own way or to see a five year old interpret the story through painting or clay work. The children are learning about our Unitarian Universalist principles and values at an age-appropriate level. Their own ideas are encouraged and valued at the same time. They are learning that asking the big questions about life and death is natural and important. The children are engaged and the parents are happy that they are so enthused about going to their morning classes. We have had no problem getting people to volunteer as storytellers and doorkeepers because it has been so rewarding. Lynn Sabourin DRE North Shore Unitarian Church West Vancouver, B.C. |
