We’re playful
Pioneering Parishes is convinced that God is inviting us to join the Holy Trinity at play in the world today
Image by Sophie Killingley
A church where I served in the early 2010s runs an event at this time of year called Star Trail.
by Rev Tina Hodgett
The 13th century civic parish church of St Peter’s in Portishead is turned into a Middle Eastern landscape, starry skies are projected onto the vaulted ceiling, adults dressed as the Lord of Time, navigators, magi, Mary… school children travel the star trail to meet the wise men to hear their individual stories in elaborately decorated gazebos. It’s magical… there’s no shortage of adults to dress up and rock a baby Jesus on a bale of straw, or dress themselves as an alchemist trading in myrrh.
It’s a playful, embodied, interactive and relational way of telling the ancient story. It’s immersive and engages the whole person. As infant nativities do, they draw us in to the moment body mind and soul. Of course, with infant nativities there is risk and mistakes, laughter and the unpredictable rogue child. Families attend to watch their child go through pre-school ritual, but also to enter into the jeopardy of the story again.
I’ve always seen the story of the birth of Jesus as the story of God at play. After all, here is the Son of God appearing on the human stage dressed in flesh and blood, heart and spirit, acting out the drama of God’s design in the world while the angels look on. It’s a breath-taking event, full of twists and turns, surprises and overturnings. The Holy Spirit directs the play – the drama – and creates the space for spontaneous improvisation by the human actors – the unpredictable rogue adult.
In Pioneering Parishes we are convinced that God is inviting us to join the Holy Trinity at play in the world today, like little children confident in the love and welcoming gaze of their adoring parent. We try to be playful in all we do… beyond Christmas and in the training space, in the parish, in our newsletter. How are you incorporating play into your practice as a priest or minister? Let us know!
If you would like to gift your church the opportunity to be playful in training why not buy a gift voucher for your church? Drop us a message here.
