Stories of God at Home

"Stories of God at Home illustrates over and over again what I know in my heart to be true: stories save us. Jerome Berryman has written a beautiful book for parents and grandparents that is both practical and inspiring, to help us connect family stories and sacred stories using "the language of love," the Christian language he knows and teaches so well from his deep and long work in Godly Play. With wisdom and insight, he shares what is most essential for a foundation of faith for families to build upon, nurturing creativity, ethics, and strong communication so that we can find and honor the image of God in one another." Wendy Claire Barrie, Program Manager for Children & Youth at Trinity Church Wall Street and author of Faith at Home "In Stories of God at Home Jerome Berryman gives parents and caregivers the theological understanding, tools, and encouragement to bring play, wonder, and our sacred stories into our homes. Dive deep into this book, and your family's spiritual life will be enlivened and enriched." The Reverend Anna Ostenso Moore, Associate for Family Ministries at St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota "Just as the gospel writers told stories and then told stories about these stories to invite God's people to enter into the divine narrative, Jerome Berryman's life's work has been devoted to inviting God's children to enter into God's gracious narrative for God's people and find their own narrative in it. In Stories of God at Home: A Godly Play Approach, Berryman in his trademark plebeian manner rehearses the profound function of the interwoven biblical stories. Creation, Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and the Good Shepherd can not only sustain the family in the face of life's challenges, but also transform it to be more like the household of God. Hermeneutically integrative, autobiographically reflective, and winsomely conative, Stories of God at Home, when taken seriously and enacted habitually, promises to usher the reader and her family into the "strange new world within the Bible" and their lives will never be the same." S. Steve Kang, Professor or Interdisciplinary Studies, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and co-author of Teaching the Faith, Forming the Faithful "Jerome Berryman's Godly Play has transformed the way children experience God in congregations around the world. With this book, 'storying' brings that same transformation into homes. He incorporates the latest studies about family spirituality into this approach and as a result this book is theologically grounded and as well as hands-on useful! The power of Jerome Berryman's work in Godly Play happens when children and adults hear the Bible stories together, wonder together, and both the children and the adults grow spiritually together. Stories of God at Home equips parents, grandparents, and caregivers to share the wonder, joy, and blessings of Bible stories in the comfort of home with the children in their lives." The Reverend Dr. Leanne Hadley, Christ Church United Methodist Church in Louisville, Kentucky and founder of First Steps Spirituality Center "With clarity and charm, Jerome Berryman offers religious educators, parents, and anyone who cares about spiritual formation the wisdom of Godly Play to open up fruitful discussions with children (and Christians of all ages). Stories at Home is exceptional in its focus on bringing the stories of Godly Play to other contexts besides the congregation, and above all the home. Such stories include not only the Godly Play biblical narratives and parables, but also classic "children's" stories like Wind in the Willows and Charlotte's Web, stories that Berryman ties to biblical themes such as creation and redemption. Berryman helps us see that children need stories and creativity for their development, not merely i

JEROME W. BERRYMAN is the founder of Godly Play and has a wide experience working with children ages 218. Priest, writer, lecturer, and workshop leader, Berryman is Senior Fellow of the Center for the Theology of Childhood. He is the author of The Complete Guide to Godly Play, Teaching Godly Play, Children and the Theologians, The Spiritual Guidance of Children, and Stories of God at Home.

introduction

1. The Story of God’s Creating: The Creation


2. The Story of God with Us: Christmas


3. The Story of God’s Re-Creative Love: Easter


4. The Story of God Creating from Within: Pentecost


5. The Story of God’s Caring and Creative Presence: The Good Shepherd


6. The Story of Our Wholeness with God: The Liturgical Circle of the Church Year


7. Stories about the Stories of God

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  • Home and a Sense of Place (Creation): The Wind in the Willows
  
  
  
  

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  • The Sense of Wonder (Christmas): Frederick
  
  
  • Re-Creative Love (Easter): Charlotte’s Web
  
  
  
  

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  • Becoming Real (Pentecost): The Velveteen Rabbit
  
  
  • Caring and Generosity (The Good Shepherd): A Christmas Carol
  
  
  • Balance and Wholeness (Circle of the Church Year): The Clown of God
  
  
  
  

     8.what to do when you don’t know what to do: being ready for family challenges