Off Road Faith....

Prodigal Kiwi(s) point to an interesting article by Alan Jamieson - who wrote A Churchless Faith - on faith development stages as described by Fowler - here.

Comments

Eleanor Burne-Jones said…
Thanks for the link, the article is fascinating, and it is useful to read Fowler's thinking explained in someone else's words. I came across Fowler's stages in Israel Galindo's 'The Hidden Lives of Congregations'.
Looking back on my own journey, I now deeply regret having left for twenty years, and remember vividly how frustrated I was when I left, that there was nobody I could talk to about the struggles I was having. This has left me with a passionate conviction as to the usefulness of spiritual directors/faith companions. I now have the satisfaction of working with some people who are going through these difficult and dislocating transitions. One thing the article flagged up for me was the need for churches to listen deeply to their congregants to hear where they are frustrated and why - if we can't respond to people at different stages and transitions we will end up failing people as (and if) they progress.
4:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A bit of sally bashing....

Came across a good bit of Sally bashing over at salvationsoldiers I have to say we try and make sure that everything we raise goes into projects that build local community in Poplar but hopefully if you read this blog you get that sense anyway.
Read more

'Never waste a good crisis' ~ Winston Churchill

'Never waste a good crisis' ~ Winston Churchill I heard this Churchillian quote this morning while enjoying my traditional 'whatever the weather' porridge. A quick google turned up these interesting words written by Andrew Low for the commercial world. "In challenging times one must question the accepted reality because things are going wrong, rapid answers are needed and the solution may well be found outside the usual compass. In the world of business we are often guilty of not challenging the norm; we are instead satisfied with following procedure and tradition. It takes insight and not a little courage to question your leaders as to why are things done the way that they are? However, in times of crisis there seems to be more latitude to do so – management in fact is actively seeking input it seems. Leading companies nowadays recognise this and cultivate a more open, questioning climate within the office at all times because a degree of co...
Read more

Lost Voices of Mission...Fred Brown

Image
Along the world famous Oxford street in London's Westend; nestled in among the classy frontage of designer shops there is almost an unnoticeable, unimpressive wooden door. It is more or less alongside The Regent Hall's main entrance onto the busyness of Oxford Street. People pass the wooden door oblivious to the equally unimpressive wooden steps that go up three storey's to what was Regent Hall's youth club. When I was 10 I played on these bare wooden steps totally unaware of the significance behind and upon which I played. Many years later I discovered a university youth work course - as an induction to Youth Work - stopped outside this insignificant wooden door to point out that Youth Work as we know it in the UK started behind this door. ...whether that be the surbanite flower people that flooded the Westend to express their free love; or the hard core drug community this unimpressive wooden door became the 'portal' that blurred encounter between church an...
Read more