Our Vision
Godly Play UK’s vision is for childhood spirituality to be taken seriously.
What does Godly Play offer?
“where people would seldom read and almost never listen to sermons, Godly Play and the imagination it inspired became my principal form of preaching”
— The Rev’d Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields
“In the beginning …” Well, it all depends where you start.
Our Aims
Godly Play UK aims to make Godly Play available to people who work with children and with other groups where questions about the meaning and purpose of life might arise. The Trust works indirectly with those who might benefit from its services by supporting those who work directly with children and other groups.
It is hoped that these aims will result in:
- more people having completed an accredited three-day Godly Play UK training course, such that their understanding of Godly Play’s principles and capacity to implement its methods can inspire and transform the communities in which they work;
- the spread of an increasingly open, non-coercive pedagogical style in which the value of sacred space and play are recognised as keys to spiritual engagement. Thus Godly Play’s influence will become evident in other methods and practices, as well as become the method and practice of choice;
- wider public understanding of childhood spirituality as an instinctive and profound capacity, that includes a natural, untaught sense of God’s mystery and presence;
- reframing the task of Christian spiritual nurture and accompaniment, acknowledging that adults and children are not empty vessels to be filled with knowledge, and that Godly Play provides a way for people to use Christian language to make meaning in their lives.
Trustees review the aims at least annually.
The Trust works to achieve its aims by:
- working with others to achieve the greatest impact, predominantly through training adults to understand and work with the spirituality of childhood;
- influencing church, educational and social practice and raising awareness of the importance of taking the spirituality of childhood seriously;
- attending to the spiritual nourishment of all by applying Godly Play process and principles to the work of the organisation, its courses, events and support for trustees, trainers, administrators, advocates and practitioners.