Leaning forward from her knees and speaking with soft smiling reverence, Godly Play storyteller Debbie Campbell welcomes her kindergartners one at a time to join her, kneeling in a circle on the rug. Just moments before, these children had thundered up the grand stairway from church to Sunday School.

The kids begin by sitting outside the door leafing through Christian picture books and preparing to enter into the Worship Center—the big corner classroom at the top of the stairs furnished only by a low table, with a Bible and a candle on a sacred-green brocade. Two assistants, called Doorkeepers, watch for a quiet to descend and then begin inviting one child at a time to enter.

As the children step slowly into the Worship Center, a Doorkeeper presents the child by name and whispers encouragements like,

“I hope you can hear the Lord speaking to you today.”

“This program is unique,” Debbie explains. “It's an honoring and a welcoming, a sense of calm and a sense of rhythm that allows children to explore how they can come close to God and how God can come close to them.”

Debbie holds up a page of handwritten notes,

"I made a list—all words starting with “s.”

• Sacred
• Slow
• Structured
• Stories\Scriptures
• Safe
• Silence
• Simpleness

“I was a Doorkeeper in my first year and just told one story,” Debbie remembers. “Being a doorkeeper was a wonderful experience—so meaningful, just hearing the stories.”

Julia Sensenbrenner coordinates Children & Worship for 4- to 7-year-olds, using Godly Play stories.

“When we think of storytelling,” observes Julia, “we often think of a person up front amusing an audience. During Godly Play storytelling, the focus is on the materials—a felt background smoothed out on the floor and hand-made wooden figures brought out one at a time as the story unfolds. The focus is really on the story, and the kids attention is all there during that time.”

Julia learned about Godly Play several years ago at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., where Dianne Ross was Director of Children’s Ministries. Julia’s older son was in the program and Julia began training to become a storyteller. She remembers:

“During the training one of the woman told the story of Abram and Sarai—God asks them to go places where they didn't really want to go, and yet they listened to God's voice and they followed Him. As I was listening to the trainer, I started crying. The story really spoke to me, at that point in my life when I was in a real transition.”

A year later, Julia felt the Lord guiding her to move to Seattle where her sister and brother live. At the same time, Dianne was considering the Children’s Ministries position at Bethany.

"What really became apparent to us,” says Julia, “was that the Lord was sending us out together, to be able to start this program at Bethany.”

Stephanie Jones coordinates the Gateways worship program for 2nd-5th graders, and three of her own children are involved.

“The first time I saw this worship program, I remember feeling, It's great that my child is going to have it—but I want it too!”

A midweek Godly Play for Moms group resulted from Stephanie's wish.

“It didn't last terribly long, but it was a wonderful experience, hearing familiar bible stories but seeing them with new eyes.”

Though the Godly Play stories are created with children in mind, they can speak powerfully to adults.

“We have used the stories in a lot of different places,” recalls Julia. “I have used them in Bible studies. We have told them on retreats and in Session for devotional time. I have used them at holidays with my family.”

“I did it with the Deacons,” reports Debbie. “I wish that more adults could experience it.”

“I look at my children,” says Stephanie, “I think of the tools they are being given, and I am constantly thinking, 'What have we forgotten? What else should they have?' I'd like them to learn to journal, so let's add journaling to the older children's worship. I'd like them to have the idea that they can light a candle and create reverence wherever they are. Let's add lighting the candle to the older children's roles.”

These adult leaders have heard about children using these worship elements to conduct worship services for their own families.

“One child conducted a funeral for a pet that passed away using the elements of this,” Julia conveys enthusiastically.

“Godly Play is very wonderful,” Debbie says, and then looks off distantly. Then she leans forward and says with passion,

“I think that the Worship Center becomes a place where the children know that that's their place—and their place with God.” She whispers reverently, “It's sort of like a belonging in there.”