Religious Educator's Memo by Sierra-Marie Gerfao

Tue Jan 15 15:54:19 EST 2008

R E L I G I O U S   E D U C A T O R’ S   M E M O
In my sermon on Sunday, I referenced the work of James Fowler, Thomas Groome
and the Rev. Eugene Navias, each of whom identified a framework of “human
faith development.” The Rev. Peg Boyle Morgan has suggested a synthesized
version of the work of Fowler, Groome, and Navias. I give you a brief
summary here, using a metaphor of birds that was introduced to me by the
Religious Educator Kate Tweedie Erslev. I also make some very basic
suggestions about how we can minister to one another in various stages of
faith development. I hope this will be just the beginning of a very fruitful
conversation among all of us.

*   Pre-Stage: In our early years of life, children build a relational
foundation. Babies begin to understand the world as a good (secure) or bad
(insecure) place. They learn on a tangible level that they are worthy of
loving care, or not. The implications of these worldviews on faith
development are critical throughout our lives.
*     We minister to these children in the context of their families. The
focus is on supporting parents as they help their children to see themselves
as worthy and the world as good.
*     We minister to these children in part by the creation of a warm,
welcoming, and loving first church experience that meets their relational
needs, often within the family context.
*   Stage I: The first stage, which typically lasts through the early
elementary years, can be called “faith imitated.” It is the stage of eggs in
the nest. Everything is contained within the nest, contained within the
child’s small world. The child in this stage is focused on ritual, and is
developmentally driven to imitate the faith behaviors of the family.
*     We minister to these children largely in the context of their
families. One powerful element of this ministry is supporting families in
developing meaningful rituals.
*     The child’s experience of church should be one focused less on (1)
encouraging the child’s natural sense of reverence and (2) sharing
meaningful ritual with the child.
*   Stage II: The second stage, “faith learned,” Erslev says, is like the
little nestling, mouth wide open, needing and wanting to be fed by their
parents and community. Their primary faith-based developmental need is to
learn their faith community’s stories, rituals, lore, and practices. This
stage often occurs in the middle or latter elementary years.
*     We minister to these children when we help them to explore our faith
tradition, and the stories that have meaning to us, in slowly increasing
layers of complexity.
*     We minister to these children when we invite them in active ways into
the life of the congregation, into our congregational practices.
*   Stage III: Around middle school, many shift into a stage called “faith
by assent.” Think of a little flock of Starlings or Pigeons. The birds in
the flock move together. Those within this stage are focused on the
selection of authorities they trust, and generally follow the faith
behaviors and attitudes of those authorities. Many folks continue in this
stage through adulthood, and have fulfilling faith lives. Some Unitarian
Universalist youth abandon their faith at this time, preferring a more
popular faith tradition or none at all.
*   We minister to these individuals by helping them find a sense of
belonging in a community of peers here. Many faith traditions recognize this
stage as a rite of passage, and take the opportunity to affirm folks as a
part of a larger community.
*     Folks benefit greatly from opportunities to explore the complexities
of our faith tradition, and the stories that have meaning to us.
*   Stage IV: Some people move into “faith self constructed” (in high school
or often later). Most Unitarian Universalists are in Stage IV. This stage is
“the bird.” The bird looks very much like other birds, but the bird may
individuate from the group. In this stage of self authority, the individual
focuses on their selection or rejection of beliefs or actions. These
individuals are “searching, questioning, doubting, exploring, defining,
debating,” Morgan says.
*     We minister to these individuals by providing support and resources in
their search for truth and meaning, and in assisting them with a balance
between individual and community, self fulfillment and service to others,
relative and absolute truth, etc.
*     Ministering to folks in this stage should involve opportunities to
explore a wide variety of beliefs and values. “Neighboring Faiths,” for
example, is a curriculum that very much meets the ministry needs of folks in
stage IV.
*   Stage V: A few adults traverse into still another arena, called “faith
expansive.” Here, Erslev says, is the mother bird feeding her chicks. Some
seek connections with traditions they previously disavowed. Morgan says,
“Without rejecting rationality and individual responsibility, [this] person
will often find new meaning in myths, symbols, rituals
and paradox. It can
be a poetic time, marked by tolerance of ambiguity and mystery.” The person
within this stage, Morgan says, “recognizes integrity and truth in positions
other than [their] own
without denying [their] own truths.” The authority
here is creative interchange.
*     We minister to these individuals by providing opportunities for
dialogue, communal process, and community context for individual meaning
making.
*   Stage VI: Very rarely, few individuals continue into what is known as
“faith universal,” or what Erslev calls “the bird in flight” which involves
immediate and direct participation in “the ultimate.”

Warmly in faith,

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