A PLACE OF WHOLENESS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Youth
WORKSHOP 2: A JOURNEY OF FAITH
BY BETH DANA AND JESSE JAEGER
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 7:05:48 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
I was humbled, I was confounded, I saw clearly, that I had been all my life expecting good fruit from corrupt trees, grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles, I suspected myself, I had lost my standing, I was unsettled, perturbed and wretched. — John Murray (founder of American Universalism) on first listening to a sermon about universal salvation
Workshop 1: Beginning Together looked in general terms at journeys and their beginnings. This workshop focuses on faith. Participants explore faith journeys in three ways: they explore the concept of faith development; hear the faith journey story of one of our Universalist ancestors; and reflect on their own faith journeys. By moving from the abstract to the specific to the personal, youth will see their own faith journeys in the context of human and Unitarian Universalist history.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: What is Faith? | 10 |
Activity 2: Faith as a Process | 30 |
Activity 3: Story — Challenged in Belief | 25 |
Activity 4: I Believe, I Feel, I Act | 5 |
Faith in Action: Present Challenged in Belief to the Congregation | |
Closing | 10 |
Alternate Activity 1: Spiritual Autobiography | 45 |
Alternate Activity 2: Faith Development Interview | 30 |
Alternate Activity 3: Walking Meditation | 15 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
This workshop explores multiple models of faith development. Look at the developmental models presented in Handouts 1 and 2. What stage do you think you occupied during your high school years? Do you see yourself clearly in one of the stages now, or, are you more of an amalgamation of different stages? Think about the events in your life that carried you from one stage to the next. What precipitated those changes?
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The Welcome Words are meant to set the stage for the workshop and spark conversation before the workshop begins. The Welcome Words for today include a quote and two questions.
I was humbled, I was confounded, I saw clearly, that I had been all my life expecting good fruit from corrupt trees, grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles, I suspected myself, I had lost my standing, I was unsettled, perturbed and wretched. —John Murray (founder of American Universalism) on first listening to a sermon about universal salvation
Questions: When have you been humbled or confounded in your faith or belief system? When have you seen clearly in your faith or belief system?
As participants arrive, invite them to make a journal, review and/or add to their journal based on the Welcome Words posted, or informally discuss the Welcome Words. Spend some time with visitors and first-time participants orienting them to the program and getting a sense of what brought them today.
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Handout 1, Responsive Reading — Five Smooth Stones. Lead participants in the responsive reading or ask for a volunteer to lead. Encourage participants to take turns leading the responsive reading in each workshop.
At the conclusion of the responsive reading, ask for a volunteer to light the chalice.
Including All Participants
Assist youth who need help with words in the responsive reading. Remember to allow participants to pass on reading.
ACTIVITY 1: WHAT IS FAITH? (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
One's faith qualifies and gives tone to one's entire way of interpreting, reacting to, and taking initiatives in the world. It is the awareness, the intuition, the conviction of relatedness to something or someone more than the mundane. — James Fowler
Description of Activity
In this activity, participants begin to explore the meaning of faith.
Ask participants: "What is faith?" Write their responses on the newsprint. Remember, brainstorming is about getting ideas on newsprint and not about evaluating the ideas. Spend about eight minutes, or until the energy winds down.
When the brainstorm is complete, flip to the page with the Fowler quote and ask one of the participants to read it aloud. First, ask participants if there are any words that they do not recognize or concepts that do not make sense to them. Then ask if they see any similarities or differences between what Fowler said and their own ideas.
Tell them that James Fowler is a developmental psychologist who has studied how peoples' faith is formed and has developed a model to help us understand that development. Let them know that you will be talking more about that model and other faith development models in the next activity.
ACTIVITY 2: FAITH AS A PROCESS (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that this activity looks at two faith development models. One was created by the developmental psychologist James Fowler. The other is a model developed by Unitarian Universalist minister and religious educator Reverend Dan Harper. Then read the following script:
Any model that makes generalizations like these faith development models have strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are that they can help us better understand common experiences. They help us describe where we have been, where we are now, and where we might go. Their weakness comes from the fact that they do make generalizations. They are models and not perfect descriptors of individual experience. So as you learn about these models you should think about how each stage resonates or doesn't resonate with your personal experience. It is possible to be in multiple places on any one of these models at one time. Each one of us has our own path, which is likely to have similarities to others, but in the end, it is our own.
Start with Fowler's model. Distribute Handout 1, Stages of Faith Development, and read through the handout. If you have a personal story about yourself, your children, friends, or friends' children going through one of these stages, you might reference it as you describe that stage. If you do not have a personal story, do not worry. Reading through the handout will be enough to give participants a basic understanding.
Next, introduce the activity that uses Reverend Dan Harper's model, which is more specific to Unitarian Universalism. Hand out the ten case statements to ten different participants. If you do not have ten participants, workshop leaders can participate. (Note: There are eight pieces of paper for eight stages, but there are ten case statements because stage six has three case statements.)
Ask the participant with the first case statement to stand near the corresponding number on the floor and read the case statement. Have the following nine participants follow suit. Once everyone has read their case statements, have them flip over the piece of paper on the floor to show Harper called the stage that their case statement represents. Stage 6 has three options, so have them read the name of each option.
Now, starting with the person who read the "Young Children" case statement, ask the following reflection questions:
After the person who read the case statement answers these questions, take a minute to allow other participants respond as well. Repeat this process through all ten case statements.
Distribute Handout 2, Faith Development Tasks. Explain that Reverend Harper believes that we all go through at least some of these faith development tasks as we grow and deepen our faith.
Read each of the tasks on the handout. After each task, ask participants to raise their hands if they think the person in their case statement is going through that particular task. Make sure to point out the less obvious people that might be doing a particular task. For example, it is pretty obvious that Anne (at the Young Children Stage) is doing the first task. However, Mary (the New Youth) and all the people who are New Adults are doing that task as well.
Conclude by asking the group to reflect in silence for a minute about the stages that apply to their own faith journeys. Participants might want to make notes in their journals.
Including All Participants
Someone with mobility issues should be welcomed to read one of the case statements. They might need to have a chair placed at their location instead of standing.
ACTIVITY 3: STORY — CHALLENGED IN BELIEF (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Ask if anyone knows the story of John Murray. If they do not, tell them that he is considered to have preached the first Universalist sermon in the United States, bringing the idea of Universal Salvation to this country. Tell them that in his life, he went on both a long literal journey, emigrating from England to the United States, as well as a long spiritual journey, converting from Methodism to Universalism.
If you have not already recruited actors, ask for three volunteers now. Give them several minutes to read the script. While they are preparing, bring the table, chairs, teapot and teacups to the center of the room.
Have the volunteers act out the short play.
Then, ask the following reflection questions:
ACTIVITY 4: I BELIEVE, I FEEL, I ACT (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that participants will now have the opportunity to reflect on, then write or draw in response to what they have experienced and discussed in the workshop. The following is a framework for reflecting, but they are free to reflect in any way that is helpful for them.
Ask them to make three columns in their journals:
I BELIEVE I FEEL I ACT
(world view) (loyalty of my heart) (way of life)
Invite them to consider their faith journey up to this point in time in these terms.
An example might be:
1) I believe that my faith is an ever-changing journey.
2) I feel challenged by my faith community.
3) I act by sharing my journey with others.
Explain that they can make as many statements as they have time for now and they can always continue during the reflection time in future workshops. Invite them to draw or represent their reflections visually if they prefer.
Offer the following reflection questions related to the theme of the day: What stage of faith development am I at right now? Where do I hope to be in ten years?
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the group in a circle and re-light the chalice. Invite participants to share brief reflections from the journaling exercise about their beliefs, feelings, and actions in response to today's workshop. After five minutes, introduce the hymn, "My Life Flows On in Endless Song." This is an early Quaker song with an American gospel tune. The third verse was written by Doris Plenn in the McCarthy era, when those who refused to sign loyalty oaths often lost their jobs. Invite participants to rise in body or spirit and sing "My Life Flows On in Endless Song," Hymn 108 in Singing the Living Tradition. Invite a participant to extinguish the chalice and distribute Taking It Home.
Including All Participants
An invitation to "rise in body or spirit" accommodates participants of all physical abilities.
FAITH IN ACTION: PRESENT CHALLENGED IN BELIEF TO THE CONGREGATION
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants share the John Murray play (Activity 3) with the congregation.
Decide on the best time for the production. One option is to talk with the minister about doing a worship service with faith development as the theme. You could then do the play as part of the service. If your congregation has a regular talent show or cabaret, another option is to present the play as part of that event. The last option would be to do it as a stand-alone event.
Decide who is going to do what parts. If you are doing the full play, you will need more than actors. Other participants could work on costumes and props, while others could work on organizing discussion questions for afterward.
Create a production schedule so that everyone knows when their tasks need to be completed. This should include times for the actors to rehearse.
When all of the preparation is done, present the play and have fun.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Talk with your co-leader about the workshop. What do you think went well? What might you have done differently? Did you learn anything about your working relationship or how you lead an activity that would be important to note for future workshops?
Thinking about the content of the workshop, what did you find most surprising about what you learned? What would you like to learn more about? Did the participants have any interesting reactions to the content?
If you are doing this curriculum as a series, go over the workshop plan for the next workshop with your co-leader. Who will do what preparatory tasks? Is there any research you will need to do? If you have more or less time than the 90 minutes planned for the workshop which activities will you add or cut? Note that one of the activities in Workshop 3 includes an optional video clip. Obtain the technology needed if you choose to show the clip.
TAKING IT HOME
I was humbled, I was confounded, I saw clearly, that I had been all my life expecting good fruit from corrupt trees, grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles, I suspected myself, I had lost my standing, I was unsettled, perturbed and wretched. — John Murray (founder of American Universalism) on first listening to a sermon about universal salvation
In Today's Workshop...
We explored faith as a developmental process that we all engage in. We did this by looking at two developmental models and acting out a scene from the life of John Murray.
Explore the topic further with family and friends...
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (45 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
In this activity, participants explore their spiritual autobiography. This activity is adapted with permission from "Write and Share your Spiritual Autobiography", Search Institute, 615 First Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413. To see the original, visit http://www.spiritualdevelopmentcenter.org/Display.asp?Page=autobio.
Tell participants they have two options. The first is to draw or describe their spiritual metaphor, and the second is to write their spiritual autobiography. Explain that they will have a chance to share what they create if they choose to do so. Distribute Handout 3, Spiritual Metaphor-Spiritual Autobiography and direct them to the supplies.
After about 20 minutes, call them back together. If you have a large group you might break them into smaller groups so people have more time to share. For the next 20 minutes let them share their creations. Gather the whole group together to consider the following questions:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: FAITH DEVELOPMENT INTERVIEW (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Congregants share some of their faith journey with youth.
Invite participants to interview members of the church about their faith journey. If you have not already distributed Handouts 1, 2 and 3 in previous activities do so now. Tell participants that these handouts will give them some inspiration for crafting good interview questions. Give them a few minutes to review the handouts and think of questions. Brainstorm questions for ten minutes. Then ask each participant to pick one or two questions they would like to ask. Make sure to mark the questions that have been selected so that the same question is not used twice.
Invite the church members into the room. Introduce them to the participants and let them talk for a few minutes each about their faith journey. They can answer the two questions posed ahead of time or share in another way. Then invite participants to ask their questions.
After participants have asked their questions, let the church members ask some questions as well. Thank your guests for their time.
Variation: If you have a larger group and one hour for this activity, consider breaking the group up so that two to five participants are with each church member. Make sure that all questions are assigned to someone in each group. Ask one participant to act as a recorder. When the interviews are done, bring everybody back together and have each small group share what they heard about the church member and their faith journey.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: WALKING MEDITATION (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Youth experience a meditation on their faith journey.
Explain that participants will use a form of meditation called "walking meditation" to explore their personal faith development. Say that many different religions use walking meditation or walking prayer as a way to engage the body in a spiritual practice. In this case, we are using a walking meditation as a continuation of the journeying metaphor.
Turn on the music and follow this script:
Find a space that gives you some distance away from everyone else but is close enough so that you can still hear my voice. Make sure that you stay within your ability to hear me as we take part in this walking meditation. [Pause for a minute to let people find their space]
Once you have found your spot take three slow breaths. Feel the air as it passes through your mouth and nose and moves into your lungs. Feel it as it moves out of your body. [Pause]
Now thinking about your shoulders and back, let the tension release as you continue to breathe.
Now think about your legs. Give each one a little shake to loosen them up.
Now take your first step. Pay attention to how the pressure feels as first your heel and then the rest of your foot make contact with the ground. Focus on that feeling as you continue to walk. [Pause for the count of 10]
As you continue to walk imagine that you are walking on a path. What is the path made of? Is it the concrete of a city sidewalk or the dirt of a trail in the woods? Is it even or bumpy? [Pause for a count of 10] Now imagine that this path is a path along the story of your life.
Start by thinking of yourself as a young child. What were the earliest stories that were told to you? What did your parents or caregivers tell you about god, about right and wrong? What were the rituals practiced at home? Did you go to church? [Pause for a count of 10]
Continue to walk, paying attention to the feeling of your feet touching the ground.
Now think of yourself when you were in elementary school. Was this how old you were when you first started to go to church? Did you have friends at the church? What were the religious holidays that you celebrated? Were you told any stories from the Bible or other religious books? What did you think of them? If you did not belong to a religious community, how did your family and friends foster you spiritually? [Pause for a count of 10]
Continue walking and thinking about your spiritual and faith journey. Where are you right now? Have you had a spiritual practice? What is it? Have you questioned your faith? Have you found any answers? Continue to walk, paying attention to your feet and thinking about these questions. I will stop talking for about five minutes as you walk and think. [Pause for about 5 minutes]
Now that you have thought about your past and present, look forward to the future. Where are you going? Where do you want to be in ten years? [Pause for about 1 minute]
Slowly come back to the group. As you do, reflect on all the images and thoughts you had during this meditation. When you get back, please take a seat and stay silent until everyone returns.
Once everyone returns, stay in silence for a moment or two. Then ask the group the following reflection questions:
Including All Participants
If you have a participant with mobility issues, you will need to think about how will adapt this activity for their needs. Talk to them directly and show them the script. They will likely have ideas for how to adapt the activity to their needs.
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 2:
STORY: CHALLENGED IN BELIEF
Make three copies of this story and highlight the appropriate parts for each of the actors. Although there is gender differentiation in the characters, the character's gender does not need to match the actor's gender. Parts: Old John Murray (the Narrator) Young John Murray Young Lady Two or three Christian brethren (optional)
The scene opens with the Old John Murray standing behind a small table set for tea with two chairs.
Old John Murray:
Many people call me the founder of Universalism here in the United States. That is a mighty thing to say about a simple preacher like myself so I will let other people say it. What I can say about myself is that I was not always such a true believer in universal salvation which is the corner stone of our faith. Once upon a time I was a firm and devout Methodist believing that salvation only could come through my profession that Christ Jesus was my savior. Let me tell you a story about a time when I was still a young man in England and a young woman caused me to start to doubt my Methodist beliefs.
A young lady of irreproachable life, remarkable for piety, and highly respected by the tabernacle, congregation and church, of which I was a devout member, had been ensnared. To my great astonishment, she was become a believer, a firm and unwavering believer of universal redemption! Horrible! Most horrible! So high an opinion was entertained of my talents, having myself been a teacher among the Methodists, and such was my standing in the church, that I was deemed adequate to reclaiming this wanderer, and I was strongly urged to the pursuit. The poor deluded young woman was abundantly worthy our most arduous efforts. — He that converteth the sinner from the errors of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Thus I thought, thus I said, and, swelled with a high idea of my own importance, I went, accompanied by two or three of my Christian brethren, to see, to converse with, and if need were, to admonish this simple, weak, but as we heretofore believed meritorious female; fully persuaded, that I could easily convince her of her errors, I entertained no doubt respecting the result of my undertaking.
Old John Murray moves to the front of the table leaving room for the other actors to enter.
Young John Murray (with his Christian brethren) enters on one side and the Young Lady enters from the other. The Young John Murray watches the Young Lady with a cautious look. The Young Lady looks kind and welcoming as she pours tea and then sits motioning for Young John Murray to sit. Young John Murray sits and his Christian brethren stand behind him.
Old John Murray (cont.):
The young lady received us with much condescension and kindness, while, as I glanced my eye upon her fine countenance, beaming with intelligence, mingling pity and contempt grew in my bosom. After the first ceremonies, we sat for some time silent; at length I drew up a heavy sigh, (Young John Murray sighs loudly and starts pretend to talk adamantly) and uttered a pathetic sentiment relative to the deplorable condition of those who live and die in unbelief, and concluded a violent declamation, by pronouncing with great earnestness,
Young John Murray:
He that believeth not shall be damned!
Old John Murray exits.
Young Lady (with great sweetness):
And pray, Sir, what is the unbeliever damned for not believing?
Young John Murray:
What is he damned for not believing? Why he is damned for not believing.
Young Lady:
But, my dear Sir, I asked what was that, which he did not believe, for which he was damned?
Young John Murray:
Why, for not believing in Jesus Christ to be sure.
Young Lady:
Do you mean to say, that unbelievers are damned for not believing there was such a person as Jesus Christ?
Young John Murray:
No, I do not; a man may believe there was such a person, and yet be damned.
Young Lady:
What then, Sir, must he believe, in order to avoid damnation?
Young John Murray:
Why, he must believe, that Jesus Christ is a complete Saviour.
Young Lady:
Well, suppose we were to believe, that Jesus Christ was the complete Saviour of others, would this belief save him?
Young John Murray:
No, he must believe that Christ Jesus is his complete Saviour, every individual must believe for himself, that Jesus Christ is his complete Saviour.
Young Lady:
Why, Sir, is Jesus Christ the Saviour of any unbeliever?
Young John Murray:
No, Madam.
Young Lady:
Why then should any unbeliever believe, that Christ Jesus is his Saviour, if he is not his Saviour.
Young John Murray:
I say he is not the Saviour of any one, until he believes.
Young Lady (sips some tea and then speaks):
Then if Jesus be not the Saviour of the unbeliever, until he believes, the unbeliever is called upon to believe a lie. It appears to me, Sir, that Jesus is the complete Saviour of unbelievers, and that unbelievers are called upon to believe the truth, and that by believing, they are saved in their own apprehension, saved from all those dreadful fears, which are consequent upon unbelief, upon a state of conscious condemnation.
Young John Murray:
No, Madam, you are dreadfully, I trust not fatally, misled. Jesus never was, nor never will be the Saviour of any unbeliever.
Young Lady:
Do you think he is your Saviour, Sir?
Young John Murray:
I hope he is.
Young Lady:
Were you always a believer, Sir?
John Murray:
No, Madam.
Young Lady:
Then you were once an unbeliever, that is, you once believed that Jesus Christ was not your Saviour. Now as you say, he never was nor never will be the Saviour of any unbeliever, as you were once an unbeliever, he never can be your Saviour.
John Murray:
He never was my Saviour till I believed.
Young Lady:
Did he never die for you till you believed, Sir?
Old John Murray re-enters and stands at the front of the table.
Old John Murray:
Here I was extremely embarrassed, and most devoutly wished myself out of her habitation. I sighed bitterly, (Young John Murray sighs bitterly and pretends to talk in a dejected manner) expressed deep commiseration for those deluded souls, who had nothing but head knowledge; drew out my watch, discovered it was late, and recollecting an engagement, observed it was time to take leave.
Young John Murray and the Young Lady stand up. Young John Murray continues to look dejected. The Young Lady graciously shakes everyone's hands and thanks them for coming (silently).
Old John Murray (while the above described action goes on):
I was extremely mortified, the young lady observed my confusion, but was too generous to pursue her triumph. I arose to depart, the company arose, she urged us to tarry, addressing each of us in the language of kindness, her countenance seemed to wear a resemblance to the heaven, which she contemplated, it was stamped by benignity, and when we bid her adieu, she enriched us by her good wishes.
After saying good bye to the Young Lady Young John Murray departs with his Christian brethren. The Young Lady then departs as well, leaving Old John Murray on the stage alone.
Old John Murray (cont.):
I suspected that my religious brethren saw she had the advantage of me, and I felt that her remarks were indeed unanswerable; my pride hurt, and I determined to ascertain the exact sentiments of my associates respecting this interview. I saw, and it was with extreme chagrin, that the event of this visit had depreciated me in the opinion of my companions; but I could do no more than censure and condemn, solemnly observing, it was better to avoid conversing with any of those apostates, and it would be judicious never to associate with them upon any occasion. From this period I, myself, carefully avoided every Universalist, and most cordially did I hate them.
But of course that was not the end of the story. That young lady had sewn the seeds of doubt. Over the following months I could not get this conversation out of my mind. I talked it over endlessly with my wife and even picked up and read a pamphlet written by one of those heretical Universalist preachers. This got me to questioning my own minister and the tenets of my own faith. I began to see all the contradictions that were hidden from me before that conversation with the young lady. So finally I went to hear one of those Universalist preachers and that an experience! I remember writing to a friend shortly afterwards that "I was humbled, I was confounded, I saw clearly, that I had been all my life expecting good fruit from corrupt trees, grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles, I suspected myself, I had lost my standing, I was unsettled, perturbed and wretched." That started a long and fateful journey that included embracing and preaching the gospel of universal salvation, losing a wife, loss of faith, debtors prison, a decision to start over again in America and getting ship wrecked off the coast of New Jersey - only to get called back to preaching the good news of a loving god by a farmer. But those are all stories for another time.
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 2:
HANDOUT 1: STAGES OF FAITH DEVELOPMENT
Page 1
Stages of Faith Development
Pre-Stage: Undifferentiated Faith |
Generally children from birth through about 2 years of age. Have the potential for faith but lack the ability to act on that potential. Through loving care from parents and other adults in their life young children start to build a lived experience of trust, courage, hope and love. At this stage, children experience faith as a connection between themselves and their caregiver. |
Stage 1: Intuitive-projective Faith |
Generally pre-school aged children. The cognitive development of children of this age is such that they are unable to think abstractly and are generally unable to see the world from anyone else's perspective. As Robert Keeley writes: "These children cannot think like a scientist, consider logical arguments, or think through complex ideas." Faith is not a thought-out set of ideas, but instead a set of impressions that are largely gained from their parents or other significant adults in their lives. In this way children become involved with the rituals of their religious community by experiencing them and learning from those around them. |
Stage 2: Mythic-literal Faith |
Generally ages 6 to 12. Children at this age are able to start to work out the difference between verified facts and things that might be more fantasy or speculation. At this age children's source of religious authority starts to expand past parents and trusted adults to others in their community like teachers and friends. Like the previous stage, faith is something to be experienced. At this stage it is because children think in concrete and literal ways. Faith becomes the stories told and the rituals practiced. Later in this stage children begin to have the capacity to understand that others might have different beliefs than them. |
Stage 3: Synthetic-conventional Faith |
Generally starts about the age of 13 and goes until around 18. However, some people stay at this stage for their entire life. Unlike previous stages, people at this stage are able to think abstractly. What were once simple unrelated stories and rituals can now be seen as a more cohesive narrative about values and morals. With abstract thinking comes the ability to see layers of meaning in the stories, rituals and symbols of their faith. At this stage people start to have the ability to see things from someone else's perspective. This means that they can also imagine what others think about them and their faith. People at this stage claim their faith as their own instead of just being what their family does. However, the faith that is claimed is usually still the faith of their family. Issues of religious authority are important to people at this stage. For younger adolescents, that authority still resides mostly with their parents and important adults. For older adolescents and adults in this stage, authority resides with friends and religious community. For all people in this stage, religious authority resides mostly outside of them personally. |
Page 2
Stage 4: Individuative-reflective Faith |
This stage usually starts in late adolescence (18 to 22 years old). However Robert Keeley points out that "people of many generations experience the kind of dissonance that comes with the real questions of faith that one begins to address at this stage of development." People in this stage start to question their own assumptions around the faith tradition. Along with questioning their own assumptions about their faith, people at this stage start to question the authority structures of their faith. This is often the time that someone will leave their religious community if the answers to the questions they are asking are not to their liking. Greater maturity is gained by rejecting some parts of their faith while affirming other parts. In the end, the person starts to take greater ownership of their own faith journey. |
Stage 5: Conjunctive Faith |
People do not usually get to this stage until their early thirties. This stage is when the struggles and questioning of stage four give way to a more comfortable place. Some answers have been found and the person at this stage is comfortable knowing that all the answers might not be easily found. In this stage, the strong need for individual self-reflection gives way to a sense of the importance of community in faith development. People at this stage are also much more open to other people's faith perspectives. This is not because they are moving away from their faith but because they have a realization that other people's faiths might inform and deepen their own. |
Stage 6: Universalizing Faith |
It is a rare person who reaches this stage of faith. James Fowler describes people at this stage as having "a special grace that makes them seem more lucid, more simple, and yet somehow more fully human than the rest of us." People at this stage can become important religious teachers because they have the ability to relate to anyone at any stage and from any faith. They are able to relate without condescension but at the same time are able to challenge the assumptions that those of other stages might have. People at this stage cherish life but also do not hold on to life too tightly. They put their faith in action, challenging the status quo and working to create justice in the world. Robert Keeley points to people like Gandhi and Mother Teresa as examples of people who have reached this stage. |
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 2:
HANDOUT 2: FAITH DEVELOPMENT TASKS
Adapted from an essay written by Rev. Dan Harper.
Harper, Dan. 2001. Learning Types and their Needs. In Essex Conversations: Vision for Lifespan Religious Education, ed. The Essex Conversations Coordinating Committee (Boston: Skinner House. 94-5).
First Task: Learn basic Unitarian Universalist religious skills; learn how we Unitarian Universalists do religion. Anne has learned how to come to church once a week, what a worship service is, what a hymn is, that we get religious inspiration from certain books and certain sets of words, and so on.
Second Task: Learn what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist; learn and explore our faith tradition, our Unitarian Universalist identity. Leslie and Carol learned lots of stuff about our Jewish and Christian heritage, other world religions we draw inspiration from, and our Unitarian Universalist tradition. Probably this task comes to mind first when thinking of the tasks of religious education.
Third Task: Learn to discern who we are as persons of faith, as religious beings. This task consists of at least three parts: discerning your religious identity as an individual member of this faith community, discerning your role within your faith community (which will change over time), and discerning your role in the wider world as a faithful person.
Forth Task: Engage in theological reflection; think about how you do religion and how to find the words to talk about what you think. This task often is ceded to theological schools—displayed through Kathleen's thinking about becoming a minister—but it should also be happening in congregations all the time.
Fifth Task: Having discerned who you are as a religious being and gone on to theological reflection, establish and refine your religious practices. You might learn new techniques of prayer or meditation, learn a new role in your congregation, engage in social actions or find a job consistent with your faith.
These last three tasks can become an ongoing cycle leading to continued growth and deepening of faith.
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 2:
HANDOUT 3: SPIRITUAL METAPHOR-SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Adapted with permission from Write and Share your Spiritual Autobiography, Search Institute, 615 First Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413. To see the original, visit http://www.spiritualdevelopmentcenter.org/Display.asp?Page=autobio
Option 1: Spiritual Metaphor
Instructions: As you move through your life—the days and seasons, the ups and downs, the joys and hardships and lessons learned—is there an image that you use to describe the shape of life? For example, some people imagine life as a ship sailing across uncharted waters, and their faith, values, and beliefs as the wind in the sails. Others imagine it as a spiral of experiences and realizations, or as a journey over mountains and valleys. You can visualize your life as a river and describe its flow, twists and turns, depths and shallows, etc. How do you see it? Draw your image and consider using it as a metaphor throughout this spiritual autobiography activity.
Options 2: Spiritual Autobiography
Note: You don't have to answer all of the questions.
A PLACE OF WHOLENESS: WORKSHOP 2:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: PATHWAYS OF FAITH
This is based on an essay written by Rev. Dan Harper.
Harper, Dan. Learning Types and their Needs. In Essex Conversations: Vision for Lifespan Religious Education, ed. The Essex Conversations Coordinating Committee (Boston: Skinner House, 2001).
Lay out the pathways roughly as they are presented in the diagram below. Use pieces of paper to mark eight developmental stage points. On one side write the number and on the other write the name of the developmental stage. Use masking tape to create paths between numbers as shown below. Make sure you leave enough room for two or three people to stand at each number. Then cut the numbered case statements apart so that you can give them to different participants.
Pathways
1. Young Children
2. Children
3. New Youth
4. Long-term Youth
5. Deep Youth
6. New Adult (A. Come-outers, B. Come-inners and C. Pass-throughers)
7. Long-term Adult
8. Deep Adult
Diagram of Pathways:
Case Statements
1. Hi, my name is Anne! I come to church almost every week. The other kids and I start off in the worship service with the adults for about 15 minutes and then we head off to our religious education program. I used to have trouble sitting quietly through those first 15 minutes but my parents tell me that I have gotten much better. I am really starting to like the time with all the adults. I like the singing and the chalice lighting. The stories are really fun, too.
2. My name is Leslie. My best friend Carol and I are now ten years old and we have been coming to this congregation for a really long time. We like learning about Unitarian Universalism, about the Bible and about all those other religions. We really like telling other people about what we have learned. Just recently, Carol and I have started sitting together away from our parents during the first 15 minutes of the worship service before we head off to religious education.
3. Hey, my name is Mary. My friend Bob talked me into coming to his youth group at the Unitarian Universalist church. My parents really are not that religious so I have never been to a church. I like Bob and his friends from church seem really cool so I decided to check it out. As I have come to youth group meetings I am beginning to get what it is that Unitarian Universalists believe and I think I like it. I have not been to a Sunday service yet but maybe I will go with Bob and his family next week.
4. My name is David. I just turned 15 and I have been a part of this congregation my whole life. I know quite a bit about Unitarian Universalism and other religions from all the religious education programs I have taken. Recently I have begun to think a little bit more about what it means for me to be a Unitarian Universalist and why it is we do the things we do at church. I am not quite sure how to put it yet but I think I will figure it out.
5. My name is Bob and I love this church. I am a senior in high school and ever since I started in the youth group I have been getting my friends, like Mary over there, to come to church. I also teach religious education classes. That is really fun! This year I am teaching "Why Do Bad Things Happen?" to the fifth and sixth graders. Leading this class has really forced me to think about what I believe so that I am able to better talk with the younger kids about it. It is funny but I think teaching this class is helping me understand myself as much as it is helping the kids in the class.
6A. Hello, my name is Joel. I was raised in a pretty strict Lutheran household. I went to church all the time when I was a kid and in high school, but by the time I got to college I really started to question all the things I was being told at church. It just stopped making any sort of sense. After I graduated from college, I met Kathy who had grown up Unitarian Universalist and had been pretty involved. We ended up getting married in a Unitarian Universalist church and as I got to know the minister who married us I started to think that I might like this church. Kathy and I have started to come a little more regularly and I am starting to figure it all out. I like that I am not being told what to believe but instead I am challenged to think about my own beliefs.
6B. Hi, My name is Diana and neither my partner Jen nor I have really ever been involved with a religious community. However, I am pregnant with our first child and we have been feeling the need to find a spiritual home for us and our kids. We know that our kids will get taught about religion one way or another. That certainly happened to me when I was a kid and I do not want my kids to go through the same confusion I did. The funny thing is that as me and my partner have been attending this fellowship more often, I have found that getting in touch with my own spirituality is really important. Maybe this will not just be about the kids.
6C. Hi my name is Jeff. Two years ago I started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the local Unitarian Universalist congregation. I had been in a bad place for years and was just starting to try to get my life together. I would often come to meetings a little early and sometimes the minister was still around so we would talk. I really liked her so I started to come to the Sunday services. It became this really important place for me to just sit and think about my life. The members of the congregation were also very nice and welcoming. At one of the summer services the minister was not there but a person from the local Zen Buddhist meditation center was leading the service. He led us in some meditation and it was like a light went off in my head. This is what I needed. I started going to the meditation and gradually stopped attending the Unitarian Universalist congregation. But I will always be grateful for that minister and the people in that congregation for helping to turn my life around.
7. Hello my name is John. My wife Kathleen is really into the church. She teaches a bunch of religious education classes and is on more committees than I can think of. I am glad Kathleen is really involved but that is just not my thing. I come to church once or twice a month. I like helping out by taking food that the church collects to the local food pantry once a month. I feel like going to the worship services are enough for me right now. I could see getting more involved later on and even taking one of the adult religious education workshops, but I do not feel like I need that right now.
8. Hi, I am Kathleen. My husband John and I have been coming to church for 15 years now. I am super involved, and my husband... not so much. But that is okay, because I do plenty for the two of us! I teach religious education classes, have been on a ton of committees, and just got done with my second stint as the board president. Sunday worship really feeds my soul and I like taking the adult religious education programs that the minister offers. One of my favorite things about volunteering at the church is getting to have deep conversations with other members. I learn and grow so much each time I have one of these conversations. I have to admit that every once in a while I think about becoming a minister myself. Maybe that will be my retirement plan!
FIND OUT MORE
Faith Development
For more information on faith development, and other developmental issues for children and youth, see Tracey Hurd's Nurturing Children and Youth: A Developmental Guidebook (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=706) (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2005).
The Church of All Ages: Generations Worshiping Together (Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2007) edited by Howard Vanderwell and published by the Alban Institute (at www.alban.org/index.aspx), is a series of essays about different aspects of building multigenerational community in churches. It includes a very good essay by Robert Keeley that summarizes James Fowler's work.
If you really want to dig deep into faith development, James Fowler's classic work on the topic of faith development is called Stages of Faith (New York: HarperCollins,1981) and can be found on most online bookstores.
The Reverend Dan Harper's essay "Learning Types and Their Needs" in Essex Conversations (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=6) is also a helpful Unitarian Universalist-specific resource.
The Life of John Murray
Two books written by John Murray and edited by his wife Judith Sargent Murray can be found on Google books for free. The first is his autobiography called Records of the Life of the Rev. John Murray (at books.google.com/books?id=prpbh7e0Sw0C&dq=John%20Murray%20Autobiography&pg=PA1) and the second is called Letters and Sketches of Sermons (at books.google.com/books?id=o-BC-Bh5I40C&dq=John%20Murray%20Sketches&pg=PR3). Both offer interesting insight into the life and thinking of John Murray.
Other stories and articles about John Murray can be found at the Unitarian Universalist Association's website. (at www.uua.org/) Type "John Murray" into the Google custom search bar and click on "Go" to see what is available.
Walking Meditation
For more guidance on walking meditation techniques, visit Insight Meditation Online (at www.buddhanet.net/xmed7.htm) or watch the video at Howcast.com (at www.howcast.com).