Jerome Berryman's Godly Play Theory in Religious Education

Introduction to Godly Play

Jerome Berryman's theory of Godly Play is a variation on the Maria Montessori method of education (Allen, n.d.). Berryman conceptualized Godly Play as "more like spiritual guidance than what is typically thought of in the church as children's education. It involves children and adults, as guides, moving together toward fluency in the art of knowing how to use Christian language to nourish their moral and spiritual development" (Allen, n.d.). The foundation for this view on children's education was, ultimately, in the Montessori tradition, for Berryman considered "himself to be a Montessorian" (Hyde, 2011a, p. 342). Central to Berryman's conception of the education of children was Christian language: he believed children should be fluent in Christian language before they reach adolescence, so that their religion is internalized, becomes second nature to them, and contextualizes and frames their thoughts, words, and actions (Berryman, 2019).

Berryman's Background and Biography

Berryman was born in 1937 in Ashland, Kansas, a ranch and wheat farming community. He has been a lifelong Christian who married his wife Thea in 1961; together they had two daughters born five years apart. His youngest daughter was born with spina bifida, which likely contributed to Berryman's sensitivity to the topic of children with special needs—a subject he frequently addressed in his writings (Allen, n.d.). Berryman received a Bachelor of Arts in 1959, a Master of Divinity in 1962, a doctoral degree in law in 1969, and a doctoral degree in ministry in 1996, just before his sixtieth birthday. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 1984, he went on to have an accomplished career, though he is best known for his theory of Godly Play. He has held many workshops and conferences and has consulted widely among various schools and hospitals.

Play, Imagination, and Christian Language

His main interests lay in associating the teaching methods of Maria Montessori with children's play, learning, imagination, and the Christian religion. He wanted the education of the child to be something organic that develops naturally, rather than something forced upon the child that the child might resist or push away because they are not yet ready for it or comfortable with it. A child is a developing human being with a free will, an imagination (often expressed through creative play), and a desire to learn (often expressed through watching others at play and in interaction). Berryman saw the role of adults in the education of children as simply to serve as guides and supports, keeping children safe during this learning, searching, and playful development.

Central to Berryman's approach—which he called Godly Play—was the idea of Christian language as the support for developing the Christian spirit in children. No matter what game children played, it should be surrounded by and immersed in Christian language. As Hyde (2011b) points out, "in religious education, the Christian language system itself, along with the prepared environment of the religious education classroom, which itself ought to be infused with this language system, provide the rules and structures which guide the play" (p. 22). The context of play and creativity is thus one that immerses the child in the Christian religion, just as a seed is immersed in moist soil: both will grow, sprout, and bring forth good fruit. The surrounding of play in Christian language is like the surrounding of a seed in good soil.