Mission and ministry

Spiritual well being - belonging to a community in which we can be ourselves and our story is valued - where our feelings and emotions, our search for meaning and purpose, our sense of awe and wonder, our creativity, our beliefs and our relationships are supported.
— Stories for the Soul 2018
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Community

Relationships are at the heart. The community values everyone and each person can be themselves.

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Story

The stories are presented so that we can connect our life experiences with Christian stories.

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Creativity

Creative activities give opportunities for personal response, expression and play. The present moment matters.

A way of sharing and exploring faith as Christian communities

Stories for the Soul uses the Godly Play method which offers an alternative and innovative way of mission and ministry for older people.
Godly Play:

  • is a creative and imaginative approach to Christian formation and spiritual guidance

  • is based on long established, tried and tested approaches

  • models the worship life, stories, symbols and rituals of Christian faith communities

  • values process, openness, discovery, community and relationships

  • allows people to make make relevant and personal theological meaning

  • nurtures participants to larger dimensions of belief and faith through wondering and play

A familiar liturgical pattern is used as the process for every Godly Play session:

(1) Gathering: each person is individually welcomed as they join a physical circle, overseen by a storyteller and doorperson;

(2) Preparation: the community is built both by the storyteller and doorperson and also peer-to-peer, and people are helped to get ready with a song or prayer;

(3) Word: the storyteller presents a story—often biblical or about the Christian tradition— using sensorial and kinaesthetic materials;

(4) Wondering: the story is reflected upon as a group;

(5) Response Time: the participants are invited to a time to express meaning, for example, by painting, reading, writing, playing, talking, praying;

(6) Feast: food and drink is enjoyed together—with prayers and perhaps songs—before a final blessing.

Contribution to Ministry

The ‘wondering’ and ‘responding’ to the Bible’s stories is, in fact, a contemporary expression of the ancient spiritual practice of lectio divina. Instead of meditating abstractly on Christian scriptures, there is opportunity for play (in the true sense of the word)  in a creative (perhaps artistic) and kinaesthetic way. The creative process is a means for people to explore—verbally and non-verbally—questions that include: existential meaning, spiritual identity, how to belong to the church, life-skills and acquisition of language that helps relate the religious and secular aspects of a person's identity.

how is this inclusive for people living with dementia?

The method affirms and honours elements in our Christian tradition which have been less evident in recent centuries: non-verbal communications, quietness, receptivity, awe and wonder. The practice models kindness and mutuality by how it organises space, materials, and the community of people, and seeks to embody the biblical ethic of how the people of God are to live together.

You can download this digital book by US Godly Play Trainer The Rev. Lois Howard: Using Godly Play with Alzheimer’s and Dementia Patients. It is based on Lois’ years of experience with the Godly Play method and practice in facilities with people living with dementia.