Jerome W. Berryman (1937-2024) was a scholar, a priest, a practitioner, a teacher, a poet, a fierce advocate for children, and, most importantly, a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. He was also a lover of sports and was known in his hometown of Ashland, Kansas, as a champion hurdle jumper.
Jerome was born June 4, 1937 in Ashland, Kansas. He was educated at the University of Kansas (BA, 1959), Princeton Theological Seminary (M Div, 1962 and D Min, 1996), and the University of Tulsa Law School (JD, 1969). In addition, he read theology at Oxford University’s Mansfield College during the summer of 1966, graduated from the year-long program at the Center for Advanced Montessori Studies in Bergamo, Italy, and was awarded three post-doctoral Residencies in Theology and Medical Ethics at the Institute of Religion in Texas Medical Center in Houston (1973–1976). In 2009, he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity by the General Theological Seminary in New York City, and in May 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. He authored over eighteen books and countless articles in academic journals and books.
Jerome met his wife, Thea Schoonyoung, when he was at Princeton, and they were married in 1961. Together, they raised two daughters and a global community of Godly Players. It was at Princeton that the seeds of Godly Play were planted. As Jerome sat in a Christian education course, he became deeply disturbed about the way children were viewed. He began to ask many questions, disrupting the class so much that he was eventually thrown out of the course! Instead, he did an independent study with the professor, during which a vision for the Godly Play method was born. When he encountered Montessori education for the first time, he knew he had found a way.
Over thirty years later, the Center for the Theology of Childhood, part of the Godly Play Foundation, supports research on the theology of childhood, in addition to supporting Godly Play around the globe. But Jerome’s influence goes beyond a curriculum or method. Jerome’s efforts to center children in faith communities and in the academy continue to inspire all who want the best for children – scholars, teachers, parents, and more!
Those who knew Jerome will always remember his playful spirit, that infectious laugh, and his never-ending curiosity about the human spirit.