There are three genres of Godly Play stories — Sacred Stories, Parables, and Liturgical Actions (Silence, which is an important part of religious language, is also incorporated into the class).  The Sacred Stories are narratives in which God is the main character and the children trace the encounters of the people of God with the mystery of the Presence of God.  The Sacred Stories help us to discover our own story within the Master Story.

The Parables are part of a Hebrew literary form which includes riddles, sayings, and even taunts and tend to stretch language to its limits.  The beauty of the Parable is that it is constantly open to new meaning.  Thus, Parables stimulate the creative process since they can't be forgotten or thrown away once the "correct" answer is figured out.

Liturgical Actions are those actions that mark life, time, and space so that children know the holy ("liturgy" means "the work of the people").  This genre of Godly Play story is not the liturgy itself (which takes place in the community of the church) nor is it merely talking about liturgy.  This genre is something that is in between -- a balance between being "in" the liturgy and learning "about" liturgy.  The Liturgical Action Stories seek to demonstrate the parts of a particular Christian act (e.g. baptism) to hlep the children notice it when they encounter it in church.

Unfortunately, many modern children lack the active listening skills required to actively enter into the sotry of God's people.  It is only through storytelling and play that we become capable of creating existential meaning in our lives.  Godly Play affords such an opportunity.  By participating in deep play and storytelling, children become capable of discovering for themselves God's gracious presence not only in the language and concepts of Christian people, but more importantly, in their individual lives.