Godly Play National Annual Lecture & AGM

Parable, poetry... and Godly Play

University College 'Archbishop Fonseca'

"The exegesis of the Gospel parables has passed through five easily recognized stages. Throughout these stages these parables have been interpreted in different ways: at times as allegories and symbols, at other times as metaphors or as moral tales. In more recent times, the methods of modern literary critique have been applied to the study of the parables, and from this application have arisen new readings and interpretations. This latter line of analysis includes the hermeneutical approach of affirming the aesthetic value of the parables and their autonomy as literary works." (translation of A. J. Levoratti http://www.revistabiblica.org.ar/articulos/rb59_45.pdf)

This latter approach is the one that has been adopted by Charles W. Hedrick (Parables as Poetic Fictions. The Creative Voice of Jesus, Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishers: 1994), where he analyses the parables as 'poetic fictions'. He highlights their languaje as 'aesthetic objects' and thus the figures of speech that are found in them: assonance, consonance, euphony, etc.

Alfredo Pérez Alencart

What's the relationship between parable and poetry? Godly Play Spain's annual lecture for 2013 is by ALFREDO PÉREZ ALENCART, a Peruvian-Salamancan poet, a lecturer at Salamanca University, and a member of the Castilian-Leonese Academy of Poetry. His poems have been translated into German, English, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Rumanian, Indonesian, Bulgarian, Estonian, Hebrew, Serbian, Korean and Vietnamese.

DATE: Saturday 2 March 2013

PLACE: Evangelical Church in Salamanca, Paseo de la Estación 32 (http://www.iglesiaevangelica.net/) + Auditorium at the Salamanca University College of Archbishop Fonseca (http://campus.usal.es/~residen/Fonseca/index4.html).

PRICES:
-- The lecture 'Parable and Poetry' is free and open to the public.
-- For the whole day's programme (registration, conference folder, workshops, Godly Play session, coffee/tea, lunch and afternoon snack all included), there is a fee of 30 euro.

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME: (all sessions will be in Spanish!)
10:00 Welcome & Godly Play session (Evangelical Church, Paseo de la Estación)
11:30 Guided walk through the Medieval heart of Salamanca (Plaza Mayor, etc.)
12:30 Public lecture + discussion (Auditorium, University College of Archbishop Fonseca)
13:30 Display of Godly Play books & materials + information about the Godly Play Spain national association (Auditorium, 'Fonseca')
14:00 Lunch (Restaurant, 'Fonseca')
15:00 Guided visit to a Godly Play classroom (Evangelical Church, Paseo de la Estación)
16:00 Workshops (options):
(a) 'The poetic language of Godly Play' (the verbal language, scripts and translation issues)
(b) 'Beginning Godly Play' (for those who are new to the method)
(c) 'Godly Play materials' (how to create your own materials)
17:30 Farewell ceremony + afternoon snack
18:00 AGM of the Godly Play Spain national association (1st call)
18:30 AGM (2nd call)
20:00 Farewell

ACCOMMODATION:
For participants visiting Salamanca and who need accommodation (and who may wish to extend their visit in order to explore the city), we recommend thel Hotel Emperatriz (http://www.emperatrizhotel.com/) for its centrality and economic rates.

REGISTRATION:
Please contact...
--Dori Alonso Santamaría... teléfono: 653683021; correo-e: joseydori [at] hotmail.com, or...
-- Arantxa Urrue Anttila... teléfono: 600417470; correo-e: atxanttila [at] hotmail.com

Programme about Godly Play on Spanish TV

Here's a link to a video about Godly Play, broadcast on Sunday, 18 March 2012, on channel 2 of the national Spanish television network, TVE. It was produced by the Protestant programme 'Buenas Noticias TV'. Focusing on the experience of the 'El Shaddai' Evangelical Church, in Madrid, this particular presentation contains scenes from a Godly Play class, comments by teachers and church leaders, and also testimonies from young people who used to take part in Godly Play classes when they were children.

National Godly Play Day

Speaker, Ulrike Labuhn (Photo: Jacqueline Alencar)

Our National Godly Play Day took place last Saturday, March 3, in Castiñeiras (La Coruña). It was attended by a couple of dozen Godly Play teachers and people interested in the method, plus a small group of children and young people. They came from different regions in Spain, such as Aragon, Catalonia, Castille-Leon, Galicia and Madrid.

This year, the gathering took place at the Evangelical Church in Castiñeiras, where there are two Godly Play classrooms as well as the space usually dedicated to services.

The main speaker was Ulrike Labuhn, a Godly Play trainer from Germany and a teacher & specialist in early years education. Ulrike spoke on the subject of 'Opening up spaces for young children's curiosity' and challenged us to take the spirituality of under 3s seriously and to use some of the Godly Play stories with them from such a tender age. Basing her main points on her own experience and research with young children in Protestant kindergartens in Potsdam and Berlin, she declared that even (or specially!) tinies are able to wonder philosophically and theologically on existential matters. "The aim of theological reflection with very young children is not to produce a final result", she stated, "but to help them practise an attitude of ongoing seeking after God. The roots of this are in early infancy and accompany us throughout the rest of our lives," 

The day's programme also included a full Godly Play session, lunch together, the AGM for the Godly Play España association and two practical afternoon workshops ('The importance of the Godly Play environment' and 'When children draw near to God'). Aditionally, there were times for worship, music, meditation and discussion.

An important aspect of the members' meeting of the association was to appoint the first Board of Directors for Godly Play España. The elected board members were: David Pritchard (president), Laura Rísquez (secretary), Maribel Flores (treasurer), Celia Paterson (member) y Raquel Souto (member).

More photos HERE