Remembering Jerome W. Berryman as a Chaplain: The Untold Clinical Origins of Godly Play

This article invites readers to engage with the often-forgotten clinical origins and spread of Godly Play through Jerome W. Berryman’s (1937-2024) reflections from his time as a chaplain. Godly Play®, best known in the world of religious education, began in an adolescent behavioral health facility in Texas in the early 1970s. Within the coming decades, Godly Play became well known in religious education circles, yet it progressed with quiet dignity among spiritual care providers. Today, Godly Play is still used as an intervention by chaplains across the United States. In fact, several studies have even attempted to measure the efficacy of Godly Play in spiritual care settings. This article posits that Godly Play, though not routinely advertised to chaplains, remains popular in spiritual care circles because of its ability to meet the specific needs of spiritual care, such as an understanding of human spirituality that allows for plurality, creating spaces to discuss ultimate concerns like death and freedom, and offering evidence-based care balanced by mystery.