Education chief encourages adults to learn ‘spiritual lessons’ from children

An Education chief from Nottingham has explored the spirituality of children in a new book published this month called ‘A Child Sees God’.

The Revd Dr Howard Worsley, Director of Education for the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham, believes adults can learn spiritual lessons from children’s views of the world. Following some in-depth research with children and adults, he shows how a child’s eye view of the Bible reveals many interesting ideas about ethics and morality and provides new ways of understanding ancient stories.

“Children see what grown-ups miss. That is one reason why we should go on telling Bible stories to them,” writes Dr Worsley. The book suggests that the church needs ‘the original version’ of ‘childhood’ to renew its understanding of Biblical texts and help people ask the right questions.

Dr Worsley asked families to read Bible stories to their children and discuss the stories with them – recording the conversations. The book proposes that all stories fall into one of seven categories and shows the themes of the Bible are no different containing texts of wonder, adventure and leadership, terror, justice and judgement, comfort and hope, comedy and mercy and forgiveness.

Howard Worsley is currently Diocesan Director of Education for Southwell & Nottingham and is chair of the National Association of Church Directors of Education. He is a researcher, a teacher and a priest. He gained a BA in English at Manchester University and followed this with an MA in Technology at Nottingham University and a PhD in Education at Birmingham University.  His long-term research interest is to uncover the original vision seen by children in encouraging adults call ‘spiritual reality’. He is married to Ruth, who is Priest-in-Charge at St Christopher’s Sneinton and they have three sons.

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