I’ve just finished writing up a brief for a church considering how to encourage the ‘Mature Growing Believer’. I’d be interested in anyone’s feedback. It’s in the context of a discipleship pathway, engaging with cynics, sceptics, spectators, seekers, new followers of Jesus, growing disciples, and mature followers.
Characteristics
These people have a high level of maturity of faith in Jesus. As such they are models of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. At the same time they are conscious of their need to grow further in their relationship with God and will take initiative to keep doing so. The mature follower of Jesus is expected to take responsibility for themselves and to act in the interests of family, church and wider community. Mature Christians are developing a capacity for non-defensive conversation with those who are different to them, largely based on confidence in the Christian gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit.
God’s action 2 Corinthians 3:18
God is at work in us, growing us further into the likeness of Christ.
Knowledge/Understanding
Nature of God, Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit
Understanding of faith in Jesus Christ deepening
Growing depth of engagement in Bible reading
Relational understanding of prayer
Continuing awareness and use of spiritual gifts, passion, abilities, personality, experience
Understanding of participation in mission
Awareness of strengths and weaknesses - dealing with sin
Capacity to deal with complexity of issues of faith and life
Understanding of wider Church tradition and of other faiths
Skills/Application
Bible study
Prayer - personal and group - along with other spiritual disciplines
Sharing faith
Discerning gifts and using them in and with support of a local congregation
Learning from teaching in church and small groups
Appreciation of other traditions
Capacity for dialogue with people outside Christian faith
Continuing engagement with people outside Church environment
Our actions
Continue to support through prayer and fellowship and encouragement of growing integration of life, thought and faith. High level of permission giving encourages mature Christians to take initiative and responsibility in sustainable patterns of life.
Biblical Models
Timothy was a young leader in the early Church and was strong in his faith. At the same time Paul continued to mentor and encourage him in his faith and the way in which he lived out his faith.
Group activities
Mature Christians will be taking responsibility for leadership in groups in ways that resonate with their spiritual gifts and personal skills. They may be involved in the mentoring and support of people at other points of The Pathway. However they may also be involved in group discussion that encourages engagement with complex issues of faith and life. It is important that mature Christians continue to receive spiritual and physical nurture and growth themselves. These people will be seeking out opportunities to grow in specific areas of life. Opportunities for extension may be provided by involvement in Christian or non-Christian organisations.
Courses
Papers on Biblical studies, Church history, theology, pastoral care and mission through Coolamon College, Bible College of Queensland, Trinity College, Christian Heritage College
Experiencing the Heart of Christianity - engaging again with the heart and practice of faith
Practicing Our Faith - integrating faith with everyday life
Celebration of Discipline - focusing on spiritual disciplines
Soul Whisperers - designed to develop a missional spirituality and lifestyle
Companions in Christ - designed to develop a lifestyle of connecting with God
The Churches Advertising Network in the UK have come out with another poster campaign based on the revolutionary Jesus image. Around the UK people will be seeing red posters with the image of a baby’s face superimposed on the Che Guevara portrait.
The text at the bottom: “Dec 25th. Revolution Begins. Celebrate the Birth of a Hero. Jesus? Txt Hero or Zero to 81025 or visit www.rejesus.co.uk”
The Jesus/Che Guevara poster from Easter 1999 was CAN’s most celebrated image. Now the revolutionary Jesus appears as an infant.
CAN’s explanation:
“We proclaim the saviour who would change the world.
Just as in the “meek mild as if” campaign, we declare that Jesus was not “a wimp in a white nighty”. This campaign shows the potential of the infant son of God.”
When people text their response (hero or zero) to 81025, they receive a text back thanking them for taking part and pointing to the hellojesus website for more information.
[eminimall products="Che Guevara"]
And why is the poster modelled on Che Guevara?
“A challenging face, a hero, a real revolutionary. It’s Jesus who changed the world, not Che. And it’s not “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” - it’s modelled on the unmistakable image of Jesus with the crown of thorns”.
David Kunzle, art historian at UCLA and author of “Che Guevara - Icon Myth and Message“, describes the child as a two or three year-old as in Renaissance art. He says the child shows a wisdom and insight beyond his years.
The Churches’ Advertising Network describes themselves as an independent ecumenical group of Christian communicators which exists to provide high quality national Christian advertising campaigns, especially around major festivals, and to provide the means for local churches to share in and receive the benefit of such national campaigns. They don’t consult widely before coming out with their advertising campaigns - which usually means that there’s plenty of discussion among church leaders in the weeks after the campaign begins.
Since last Monday, I’ve posted the following at Duncan’s TV Adland:
Boots Skin Care
‘Translucent Baby’, ‘Human Plant’ and ‘Tear Drop’: three amazing feats of visual effects, inspiring us with the research being done by Boots the pharmaceutical company.
Boots The Chemists has about 30 stores in the Republic of Ireland. Thailand has around 70 Boots stores and Taiwan 5 but in other parts of the world, such as the Far East and on a very small scale in America, Boots largely operates out of implants, where other retailers sell Boots products. Anybody been to a Boots store recently?
Playstation 2 ‘Mountain’
That ad from 2003 in which a crowd goes ‘troppo’ and races to the top of an apartment building in Rio de Janeiro. I’m still not sure if I’m inspired by the ad or slightly turned off by the sheer competitive nature of the scenario. The ad’s meant to get us on board with the international community made possible through online play.
Typhoo ‘Better Way to Wake Up’
I’d never heard of Typhoo despite the fact that it’s the third most popular brand of tea in Britain after PG Tips and Tetley. I had someone do a search of Duncan’s TV Adland in the Google Search Bar, with the phrase, “Better Way to Wake Up”. Probably a marketer. Anyway I had to find it and post the story of the family who compare waking up with a cup of Typhoo tea with being woken up by a drill sergeant, a bucket of water, and a cockerel.
Levis ‘Odyssey’
This was one of the first TV ads I ever saw as a quicktime video. It’s a dramatic race of a man and woman through the walls of an empty apartment building, out into a forest and into a sky - all to show the freedom of Levi’s Engineered Jeans. I’ve included the Lilt spoof that uses the same soundtrack, Handel’s Sarabande from his suite in D minor.
Coca Cola ‘Polar Bears’ There have been ten polar bear coke ads since 1993. This year Coca Cola have used partying Emperor penguins to introduce coca cola to the polar bear family. Geographically speaking, either the polar bears are visiting the Antarctic or the penguins are visiting the Arctic. Does it matter?
Virgin Mobile Chrismahanukwanzakah
This is the sequel to last year’s irreverent hat tip to religious pluralism and political correctness. The ads include a singing Hindu Santa and a couple of old Jewish men singing ‘Dreidel’ at the door.
Kleenex Monk This morning’s ad introduces the Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissues through the conscience of a Franciscan monk who thanks goodness for forgiveness when he realises that he has killed a virus. Interesting to note that some people assume he’s a Buddhist.
Over at PostKiwi’s Generational Posts I’ve just posted a summary of James Fowler’s 2001 article on faith development theory, thirty years on. I found it an excellent approach to the topic, with plenty of personal background and honest reflection on how it might apply now and in the future.
While sitting in the queue for U2 tickets this morning I manage to get through half of Sharon Daloz Parks’ book, Big Questions, Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Young Adults in Their Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Faith, published in 2000 as a re-write of her 1986 book, “The Critical Years: The Young Adult Search for a Faith to Live By”. The review is coming up at PostKiwi’s Generations in Conversation this week.
After talking through James Fowler’s theories on faith development last month, I undertook to explore the literature that’s been written in response.
One very helpful source I’ve found is an article written by Fowler himself in Religious Education, volume 99, no. 4, Fall 2004. The article is available as a pdf (80k) from Religious Education’s archive of featured articles. This is a follow up to the first article on faith development theory, entitled, Agenda Toward a Developmental Perspective on Faith, published in Religious Education in volume LXIX, March - April 1974, pp. 209 - 219.
Influences James starts with an account of the early influences on his life. He talks about the effect of his father, a Methodist preacher. At the ages of five, eleven and sixteen he had experiences of emotional awakening and of dedicating his life to God in Christ.
His theological formation was tied together with experience in youth ministry and Christian education. His thoughts on faith development were being formed as his first child was growing up at the same time as his engagement with the work of Richard Niebuhr’s Faith On Earth: An Inquiry into the Structure of Human Faith and Paul Tillich’s Dynamics of Faith.
He spent weeks in intensive seminars at Interpreter’s House, participating and leading in a process of deepening personal, vocational and spiritual lives. As part of that process Fowler invited participants to engage with the eight ages of the life cycle laid out in Erik Erikson’s Childhood and Society.
Fowler’s students introduced him to Lawrence Kohlberg who was etablishing the Center for Moral Development, using Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Fowler was inspired to commission his students to conduct ‘faith development interviews’. James talks about the influence of Jesuit students who challenged his focus on cognitive development alone, introducing him to spiritual exercises of Ignatius. He talks also of the influence of colleagues Carol Gilligan, Robert Selman, Robert Kegan and Sharon Parks. Eventually in 1981, while teaching at Emory University, Fowler published “Stages of Faith: the Psychology of Human Development“.
Since the publication of Stages of Faith, there have been four other books by Fowler that extend faith development research and its implications for practical theology:
Recommended Reading Developing a Public Faith: New Directions in Practical Theology, Chalice Press, 2003
a thoughtful collection of essays by international authors honoring and critically engaging this author’s work in faith development and practical theology appeared in 2003. Edited by Richard R. Osmer and Friedrich L. Schweitzer.
Responses from religious educators
Now what is fascinating is Fowler’s outline of the responses of religious groups to faith development theory.
James writes about the adoption of the model by Catholic religious educators, made possible by a Thomistic trust in the power of reason, informed by faith, to help discipline and offest the corrosive effects of the Fall.
Protestants were certainly mixed in their response. Positive responses came from traditions that emphasise the rational potential of human persons and communities, such as Unitarian Universalists, United Methodists, liberal Baptists, Episcopalians, Disciples of Christ and Reform Jews. Fowler found a more cautious response from Lutherans, Presbyterians and Orthodox Jews who were the least likely to entertain hopes of responsible selfhood associated with development in faith.
Fowler graciously doesn’t mention the people who rejected his work outright because of the word “psychology”. I’ve mixed in some circles where Fowler was held in deep suspicion because of what was perceived to be worldliness. No doubt this was matched by a Calvinist belief in total depravity in which any attempts at human improvement were regarded as almost blasphemous.
Some affirmations
1. Characterization of faith that combines phenomenological account of what faith does with a conceptual model of waht faith is.
2. Extension of structural development traditions in the research of Piaget, Kohlberg and others - beyond a dominantly cognitive perspective.
3. Offering of implications and pointing to methods that resonate with what we think we have learned about religious nurture and formation.
a. Need for a relational nurture that receives the child as God’s blessed creation.
b. Need for ways of engaging children and youth that include sacred practices and texts (including images) as sustaining resources in their imaginations, will, knowledge and moral development.
Critical Issue of Inclusiveness James names the most central divider between critics and fans of faith development theory: the inclusive generic nature of the model which allows for a variety of traditions, Christian and other. Fowler responds by saying that it should never be the primary goal of religious education simply to precipitate and encourage stage advancement. Movement in stage development, properly understood, is a byproduct of teaching the substance and the practices of faith.
Faith Development Present and Future
James reflects on the context of higher education in which he first developed his model of faith development. He recognises that higher education is giving way to technical and occupational learning associated with economic survival. Charismatic and mega-style churches are thriving in many cases because their members are not hungering for complexity. He points to the success of Rick Warren’s book and program, “Purpose Driven Life”. James describes this trend as a “new and more sophisticated version of the synthetic-conventional stage of faith.”
Fowler says that we may need to evaluate faith development less in terms of how it addresses cognitive and emotional structures, and “more by its intelligence and commitment in practical engagement with the life issues that threaten to overwhelm so many among us”.
Interesting to me is James’ naming of prison as a place where faith development is needed desperately.
“Faith development, with many of them (prisoners), will have to begin at the very early stages and be accompanied by medical care, group therapy, and spiritual development, including treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. Most of all, the healing power of human love, and of the Holy Spirit’s presence are required for opening hearts hardened through abuse, and throughand the wrongful influences and actions that have shaped their lives.”
Fowler finishes with what he’d like to focus on next - meeting the moral and spiritual demands of postmodern life. His suggested title: “In With All Our Hearts: Joining Systems Understandings with Practical Faith, Justice and Hope“.
This afternoon I listened to Martin Robinson’s presentation on revival at the recent Generous Orthodoxy conference. I downloaded the podcast from Conversatio Fide. It’s a 29 mb file that has a bit of airconditioning hum in it - but I managed to hear everything Martin says.
Martin challenges the hope held out by many speakers that if we pray we’ll cross a threshold and that evangelism and discipleship will be much easier. He unpacks the ‘revival myth’ by looking at the impact (or lack of impact) of the 18th Century revival in Britain. He points out that the diaries of Wesley indicate a continual struggle to connect with the people of Britain. In terms of numbers the Wesleyan revival was actually quite small. Christian leaders in England continued to struggle with declining church attendance and anational lawmakers that paid little attention to matters of faith or morality. The reality faced by people in the middle of a revival was continued hard slog.
The architecture of a revival (as outlined by Martin):
1. Weird and wonderful behaviour - as in Toronto Blessing. I thought of the review of revivals written up in John White’s book, “When the Spirit Came in Power“.
2. The development of new denominations designed to cater for the new fervour and behaviour.
3. The impact of fervour on mainstream churches and leaders.
4. The development of partnership between churches as they engage in community transformation.
Martin finishes his presentation with two alternative scenarios for the year 2050:
1. Christians have continued to become so separated from the world that they have become something of the past that people want to leave behind, along the lines of Zoroastrianism.
2. Christians have engaged in their communities as ‘future makers’ in ways that have inspired others to follow suit.
The presentation continued with dialogue with members of the conference.
Martin was born in India of missionary parents. His father became a church planter, initially in Scotland and then later in England. Martin trained for the ministry in his late teens and early twenties, with the Associated Churches of Christ, I believe. His first church was in inner city Birmingham. That congregation helped to plant a number of congregations and Martin became the minister of one of those church plants in suburban Birmingham. In 1987 he went to work for the Bible Society, initially as Church Growth Consultant and more recently as Director of Mission and Theology. Martin left the Bible Society in August 2002 to become the National Director for Together in Mission.
After realising that there was no chance of logging into Ticketmaster.com, I headed down to the local AFL club to join the queue. I think I would have been about number 50 in the queue at 9.30 am. It was a hot morning and some were more prepared than others. Fortunately I had an umbrella to keep the sun off, a chair, a water bottle, and a Sharon Daloz Parks book on faith development to read through.
We heard that Sydney had sold out in an hour and that scalpers were already getting high prices for tickets on eBay. Melbourne sold out shortly after. It turned out that the Ticketmaster.com website was down due to the high online demand. The phone lines were likely to be overloaded as well. Staying in the queue was our best chance.
I only had to wait 40 minutes after sales opened at 12 noon. It seemed like each person was taking 5 minutes. I managed to get five reasonably close seats for the family.
The New Zealand concert was booked out within 15 minutes if all reports are to be believed. I understand that a second concert is being organised with tickets going on sale next Monday. And maybe there’ll be extra concerts in Sydney and Melbourne.
Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvellously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be.
Romans 13:5
What you are is God’s gift to you.
What you do with yourself is your gift to God.
Danish proverb.
In today’s chapter Rick pulls together the SHAPE: spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experience, providing helpful and healthy evaluative questions. I’ve found this approach helpful over the last month as I’ve re-evaluated where I’m heading in vocation and involvement with my local congregation. Should I apply for that job? How best can I be used at a local level?
The difficulty is that sometimes there are so many things I could do - giftedly. Choices have to be made - boundaries set, limitations accepted.
Begin by assessing your gifts and abilities.
Where have I seen fruit in my life that other people confirmed?
Experiment with different areas of service.
Consider your heart and your personality
What do I really enjoy doing the most?
When do I feel the most fully alive?
What am I doing when I lose track of time?
Do I like routine or variety?
Do I prefer serving with a team or by myself?
Am I more introverted or extroverted?
Am I more a thinker or a feeler?
Which do I enjoy more - competing or cooperating?
Working through this list helped me realise how much I enjoy online journalism. I can see it as potentially a God-given vocation rather than a distracting hobby.
Examine your experiences and extract the lessons you have learned.
Rick recommends taking an entire weekend for a life review retreat.
Accept and Enjoy Your Shape
Recognize your limitations
Don’t overextend yourself beyond the boundaries in which you best live and work.
Don’t compare yourself with others.
This last section is so helpful. The times I have despaired of myself have been when I have compared myself with somebody else. I’m learning time and time again that such comparison is a pointless exercise.
I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Thursday night. As I wandered down the hallway towards theatre 9 with two members of the family I commented on how few people were walking in. I would have thought the place would be packed. I soon found out why. Everyone was already there. I ended up with a seat three from the front - not good for the neck I tell you. Apart from the awkward seating angles required to see the screen, it was well worth going.
The movie opens with Harry, Hermoine and the Weasleys heading off to the Quidditch World Cup with two members of the Diggory family.
The first thing I noticed was the long hair. These are teenagers as I remember them in the mid 1970s. The visual effects were sheer magic. The director Mike Newell managed to convey a the sense of panic and destruction that ensues on the night of the match.
Mike Newell was also the director of Mona Lisa Smile, Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil. He’s quoted as saying, “”I was very anxious to break the franchise out of this goody-two-shoes feel. It’s my view that children are violent, dirty, corrupt anarchists. Just adults-in-waiting basically.”
The movie, and even more so the book, brings out the ambiguity of life. Harry’s discovering that it’s not so easy to distinguish between good and evil. The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione goes through the throes of jealousy, mistrust and sheer bad communication - the plight of fourteen year olds. And then there’s the sheer frustration of fourteen year old girls struggle with the inability of their peers to rise to the challenge of romance.
[eminimall products="Harry Potter Goblet of Fire"]
Roger Lloyd-Pack, best known for his work as Owen Newitt in Vicar of Dibley, does an excellent job as Barty Crouch. Eric Sykes, famous English comedian, plays the part of the murdered caretaker right at the beginning. Reporter Rita Skeeter is played by Miranda Richardson, best known in our house as Queenie (Queen Elizabeth I) in Blackadder. Madame Olympe Maxime is played by Frances de la Tour, known for her role in British sitcom, Rising Damp.
I note on Brian McLaren’s blog that he’s going to be in Australia and New Zealand between February 15 and March 6 next year.
February 15 - Sydney, Australia
February 20 - Melbourne, Australia
February 24 - Auckland, New Zealand
March 2 - Christchurch, New Zealand
March 6 - Sydney, Australia
It looks as though there’s a bit of movement…
Sydney
Brian will be speaking at an all day conference for the Converse Network, supported by the NSW Board of Mission, Uniting Church in Australia, on Saturday 18th Feb at Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club. In addition, he will speak at a dinner for denominational leaders on Friday 17th February.
Melbourne
Brian will also be visiting Melbourne and speaking at events on Tues 21st, Wed 22nd and Thurs 23rd February. Anyone know where?
Postkiwi Duncan Macleod posts on life, faith and culture in Australia, drawing from his involvement in the creative industry, the Uniting Church, the blogosphere, generational research, the emerging church and life on the Gold Coast.
The Churches Advertising Network in the UK have come out with another poster campaign based on the revolutionary Jesus image. Around the UK people will be seeing red posters with the image of a baby’s face superimposed on the Che Guevara portrait.
“, describes the child as a two or three year-old as in Renaissance art. He says the child shows a wisdom and insight beyond his years.
Over at 
James starts with an account of the early influences on his life. He talks about the effect of his father, a Methodist preacher. At the ages of five, eleven and sixteen he had experiences of emotional awakening and of dedicating his life to God in Christ.
Martin challenges the hope held out by many speakers that if we pray we’ll cross a threshold and that evangelism and discipleship will be much easier. He unpacks the ‘revival myth’ by looking at the impact (or lack of impact) of the 18th Century revival in Britain. He points out that the diaries of Wesley indicate a continual struggle to connect with the people of Britain. In terms of numbers the Wesleyan revival was actually quite small. Christian leaders in England continued to struggle with declining church attendance and anational lawmakers that paid little attention to matters of faith or morality. The reality faced by people in the middle of a revival was continued hard slog.
February 15 - Sydney, Australia
Postkiwi Duncan Macleod posts on life, faith and culture in Australia, drawing from his involvement in the creative industry, the Uniting Church, the blogosphere, generational research, the emerging church and life on the Gold Coast.
