Godly Play Ministers
It takes a lot of help for our Godly Play program run smoothly. Please consider which activity would work well for you.
Using our gifts to help children grow in faith
Click to volunteer for Godly Play and join the mailing list, StTimsGodlyPlay
Door Monitors
The door monitor plays a critical role in the program, but the job is not difficult. The door monitor does no work outside of class.
During the final song of the 9:00 service, the door monitor heads to the classroom and prepares to greet the students. He or she lays out rugs in a circle (if they were not laid out previously by the teacher) and waits for the students to arrive. As each child enters the classroom, the monitor greets the child, asks them to take a deep breath and prepare themselves for the lesson, gives them a squirt of hand sanitizer, and checks their name on the attendance list. During the lesson, the door monitor helps quietly remind louder students to be ready, distributes clay or other fidget toys as needed, and returns students to their parents if necessary.
At work time, the door monitor listens as each child tells the teacher what work would help them best respond to the story, and facilitates distribution of materials. (Clay, paper, story pieces.)
After cleanup and the feast, the door monitor assists children with reconnecting with their parents.
Door monitors typically work every other week 9:40am-10:25am. If we have enough, a class may have one for 1st/3rd Sundays, one for 2nd/4th Sundays, and one for 5th/substitute Sundays.
Feast Preparation
Preparing the feast can be done any time following the 7:45am service and before Godly Play begins (around 9:45am). It requires preparing and distributing a tray with juice, water, crackers, and napkins for each classroom. Feast preparation does not interfere with hearing the adult sermon.
Feast preparers typically work every other week and frequently volunteer for clean-up as well. If we have enough you might work 1st/3rd Sundays, 2nd/4th Sundays, or 5th/substitute Sundays.
Feast Clean-up
After Godly Play, the feast clean-up volunteer returns the trays to the kitchen, washes the pitchers, and puts the material away.
Material Preparation
This work occurs outside of church time and the work load is heaviest in the fall. The Godly Play story materials require maintenance. The stories sometimes get mixed up. In the fall the maintenance team gets together and checks that every story has all its pieces and builds/makes/improvises missing pieces. It takes about 2-3 three-hour sessions (you may not attend all sessions if they don't all work for your schedule.) If you like to work with wood or build little things, this is a good job.
This job does not interfere with hearing the adult sermon.
Materials Preparation Coordinator
This individual contacts the others interested in materials preparation, and sets a date and time to make it happen. On a quarterly basis, this person refills the clay and art supplies and adds new hand sanitizer to the dispensers.
This job does not interfere with hearing the adult sermon.
Smooth Sundays Coordinator(s)
This job requires little or no work outside of church, but this person should be able to check e-mail Sunday mornings for notices of sick teachers. This person shows up every Sunday to the 9am service (or coordinates the job with another person on alternating Sundays.) During the service, this person makes a mental note of which classrooms have teachers and door monitors present, and taps substitutes on the shoulder during the peace or prepares to tell students which classes will be combined as needed if a classroom is short instructors on a given morning. This way children are greeted with "Sorry kids, your teacher is out this morning, 1st grade will be combined with 2nd today" instead of left to mill about wondering what to do or if the door will ever open.
This is a critical job for the success of the program. If you are good with names and faces and can show up to church regularly, please consider taking it. This job should not interfere with hearing the adult sermon, but you may sometimes get your coffee late.
Godly Play Teacher/Story Teller
This job is perhaps the most frightening to volunteer for, but also one of the most rewarding. At a short training in the fall, the Godly Play teacher learns the process for teaching the stories of our faith to the children. Each story is scripted and comes with carefully prepared materials to engage the children and their sense of wonder. The Godly Play teacher is responsible for reading the story (provided on CD) before arriving at church on Sunday. Ideally the teacher would memorize it, but the reality is you can just print it out and read it as-is and the words and materials will capture the attention of the children. The teacher makes sure he or she is familiar with the materials Sunday morning before church, and asks another story teller or the materials coordinator for help if needed.
The door monitor is always available to help the teacher with classroom issues. Frequently an individual volunteers to be a door monitor for a year or two before becoming a story teller.
Story tellers typically work every other week 9:40am-10:25am plus half an hour of prep time at home. If we have enough, a class may have one for 1st/3rd Sundays, one for 2nd/4th Sundays, and one for 5th/substitute Sundays.
Godly Play Coordinator
The job of the overall coordinator is to keep an eye on the overall program and to enable others to do their jobs effectively. The coordinator selects the stories for the year and communicates this information to the teachers and door monitors. Plans from previous years may be used. The coordinator serves as the public face of the Godly Play program and dispatches offers and requests to the correct locations.
Requirements
Any adult working directly with children should be willing to submit to a background check.
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