Last week I was away on study leave, attending the spring convocation of the ministerial study group to which I belong. Our topic this time was about the theology of joy, pleasure, and play. It was three days of exploring that topic in lots of ways, most of which were embodied, but still grounded in theology and rich discussion.

There are two ideas that really stuck with me from what we studied in advance of the meeting; both come from a video by Stuart Brown, who has studied and written about play.

First: that we should not only set aside special times for play and joy in our lives, but weave them throughout our lives. Play isn’t just for children, and joy isn’t something to prioritize only on vacation or the weekend.

Second: that the opposite of play is not work, but depression. Many of us have been conditioned to believe that if something is fun, it’s not work, or not serious, or not grown up.

My study group proved in our gathering that we could do the serious work of theology in a playful way.

This is also true in congregational worship, and something I hope to explore more deeply next year, as Macey and I experiment with one service each month being not only a “multigenerational” service, but also a more embodied, more playful exploration of the month’s worship theme. That’s not just good for kids, it’s good for all of us.

On June 30, my worship plan is a spiritual practice sampler—a service with more embodiment than our average service, and perhaps more playfulness. I hope you’ll come with a spirit of curiosity and exploration!

In gratitude,
Rev. Diana