18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. - Philippians 3:18-21.
Young people may think they are "invincible" to a certain degree, but they are also thinking about death and the afterlife. I lead, what I thought would be a short discussion with middle school students based on Philippians 3:10-4:1, honing in on 3:18-21. Click here for the basic discussion questions. As I worked my way through the discussion questions I was bombarded with student questions that made me glad I am a "theo-nerd" and made our the volunteers glad they weren't the ones leading through the questions. The questions ranged from "will we eat in Heaven?" to "do babies and people who have never heard the gospel go to hell?" to "what persons of the trinity will we see in heaven?(not stated that clearly)." Indeed the word hell has probably never before been used so many times in a Methodist youth room, and not once was it followed up with giggles...They even concluded, on their own, that YOLO is probably a "bunch of hooey."
I feel I should explain that our middle school group is a group of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students (heavy on the six graders). They are a challenging group, with short attention spans (but I love em). So why was this the best group meeting we have had all year? One major reason is we have increased are volunteer team, but I think the bigger reason is, they are truly interested in eternity.
Young people may be brash. They may feel invincible at times. But they are also very capable and perhaps even willing to embrace a kingdom perspective. They are ready to contemplate the eschaton - the end times. They are able to embrace the idea that the game is already won, and that this reality should impact their lives here and now. They are ready to say No, No to YOLO. They are truly ready to knock on Heaven's door.
The Shema Initiative
As the founder of the Shema Initiative, Chad seeks to, among other things, engage those involved in ministry in the process of equipping and motivating parents to play a larger role in the faith formation of their children.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Teens and Children: Gavin's Heaven on Earth
As both a parent of 3 (Gavin – 8, Micah -5, and Sadie – 3),
and someone involved in student ministries at a local congregation, I have a
vested interest in the Sticky Faith Initiative.
The more I learn about it the more it impacts the way I parent and do
ministry. Indeed, it has impacted the
very way that I view the world around me; such was the case at our 2014 New
Year’s event for our high school students.
In true Sticky Faith fashion I decided to bring my oldest
child, Gavin, with me to the overnighter.
It was during this all night event that I learned Heaven on Earth for an eight year old is attending a high school
lock-in! Gavin loved every minute of
it, and the students were great. They
were patient and kind, they truly gave my son the royal treatment. These students connected with Gavin, and
impacted him for the better in ways know “grown up” ever could.
My Sticky Faith alarm really went off when he shifted the
conversation to how much fun he was having to a positive experience he had with
a student at a middle school event last summer.
This middle school student let Gavin play tag along an entire evening in
a display of kindness and patience that literally brought tears to my
eyes. It impacted Gavin so much that he
brought it up nearly 8 months later (that’s like eight years in eight year old
time).
Gavin’s positive intergenerational experiences made me
reflect on a third interaction between adolescents and adults, a week of
elementary church camp that I helped run and plan last summer and that Gavin
attended. The week included several
junior counselors that were high school students from my church. These students all did a wonderful job
interacting with the students. One high
school boy in particular, become something like a celebrity after the
event. “Church sitings” in the month to
come by elementary boys were like sing U2 or LeBron James. It was crazy.
So reflecting on these 2014 intergenerational experiences
between Gavin and adolescents at our church has led me to some 2015 resolutions
as both a parent and someone who ministers to children and students.
- I will facilitate intergenerational relationships between my children and adolescents from our church.
- Our church will empower students by communicating how impactful their ministry to younger children can be.
- Our church will encourage students to volunteer with children whenever possible.
The Sticky Faith initiative has made it clear the positive
impact service can have on students, but I have concluded that there service
can have a huge impact on the children they serve. I am convinced that students are playing
“pretend ministry” but that they can truly bless children in a way that no
other age group can. My experience has
been that students “step up” big time when they are asked to interact with
kids, and I know my son will never forget the blessings he has received from
our students.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Youth Ministry That Nurtures
Discipleship, at its core, is
about growth. Since humans are
integrated wholes, spiritual growth requires increased maturity in other
developmental areas. Discipleship challenges
individuals to take the next faithful step in their development in order to
grow in their understanding of God, the church, and the gospel. Those ministering to youth and families can
facilitate growth by meeting each group where they are developmentally and
challenging them to take the next faithful step.
Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Erik Erikson, and James Fowler have
helped shed light on human development as it relates to Cognitive, Moral,
Personality, and Faith development of teenagers respectively1. Using some basic developmental information
youth ministries can help nurture Christian growth by…
Creating Supportive Relationships
Developmental theory teaches us
that growth is facilitated by exposer to the next developmental level, and
through social interaction with others.
It stands to reason, then, that
relationships with supportive adults is key for the developmental growth of
adolescents. The time of leaving
adolescents to fend for themselves must end.
It is time that our young people to be supported by caring adults. In my ministry context that has meant communicating
to the adult congregation that care of young people is everyone’s
responsibility. We have taken a page
from Chap Clark, and seek to surround each student with multiple caring adults2.
We have specifically targeted the
retired community in an attempt to connect them with our young people.
Considering Moral Development
Youth
ministries have the opportunity to make use of Kohlberg’s moral theory as a
persuader for adolescent discipleship.
Kohlberg’s theory – which states that there are various stages of
morality- suggests the benefit of
answering some moral questions: What are some consequences and rewards? Why does God want us to do this? What are the societal and/or congregational
benefits of this? What do God (Ten Commandments) and the church (as an external
provider of guidelines) say about this?
How does this relate to a sense of justice? Addressing these questions provides
motivation for adolescents to take the suggestions/topic to heart. This theory, more than any other has changed
youth ministry in our context. Rather than
lamenting that our youth are not more virtuous, we have been challenged to use Kohlberg’s
theory to motivate young people at their moral level, and challenge them to
consider a slightly more mature moral understanding.
Marking Room for Questioning and
Doubt
According to
Fowler’s fourth stage of faith development, individuative/reflective faith,
questioning and doubt are a regular part of faith development among older
adolescents and young adults. There is
plenty of evidence to suggest that being honest about questions and doubts is a
healthier response than suppressing them.
Faith does not mean the absence of doubt. With this in mind youth ministries have the
opportunity to help students begin to address their questions and doubts while
in the safe environment that a youth group provides. At our youth ministry we have done this by
giving the high school group opportunity to anonymously write down their
questions and address some of those questions in a series. We have also attempted to communicate
regularly to our students that it is OK to have questions and doubts to make
space in less formal settings for the expression of those doubts.
Addressing Multiple Developmental Stages
It is likely
that in any given ministry context multiple levels of development will be
present. This means that the church must
be intentional about communicating the lesson from multiple developmental
levels. In our ministry we have tried to
do this by looking at a concept or theme from several developmental
levels. For example, we offer moral
motivation from more than one of Kohlberg’s stages, and we try to highlight
both specific/concrete and universal/abstract implications from a given lesson. We try to continually ask the question “does
this lesson resonate in some way with all the developmental stages
represented?”
Discipleship,
at its core, is about growth. Those
ministering to children, youth and families can facilitate growth by meeting
each group where they are developmentally and challenging them to “take the
next faithful step.” This is done by fostering
supportive relationships, considering moral development, addressing multiple
developmental stages, and making room for questions and doubt. In doing so Churches can successful nurture
young people into mature and lifelong followers of Christ.
1. While it is beyond the scope of this post to explore their theories it is
worth doing a couple of internet searches (multiple videos summarizing all four
developmental theories can be found on you tube).
2. For a concise explanation of Chap
Clark’s principal read this blog post
Friday, December 5, 2014
Christian Nurture
The Relationship between Development and Discipleship
I agree with Drovdahl’s (1995) assertion that development
and discipleship mutually impact one another. To believe in the imago Dei is to believe that each
individual is to be understood and valued for who they are, a unique
individual. Part of honoring this
uniqueness is recognizing the developmental stages of a person and connecting
with them in developmentally appropriate ways. Gorman (1995) states, “The high value of persons will condition which methods are to be used
based on the level of understanding found in receivers” (pg.242). Effective discipleship requires consideration
for the individual’s developmental maturity.
Effective discipleship is, however, about more than meeting
a person where they are at developmentally.
Discipleship, at its core, is about growth. The act of discipleship must seek to help the
individual grow. Since humans are
integrated wholes, spiritual growth requires increased maturity in other
developmental areas. Discipleship
challenges individuals to take the next faithful step in their development in
order to grow in their understanding of God, the church, and the gospel. This is what it means to “be transformed by
the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
Leveraging Development
Sermon Connection
Points
One way that Rockford United Methodist Church (RUMC) tries
to use development to increase discipleship is by presenting Sunday sermon
content to children and adolescents in developmental appropriate ways through
age specific programs. Our middle school
youth group, J-Club, is a midweek program, and each week we explore the
scripture that will be covered during the following Sunday’s sermon in hopes of
making a connection that will cause the students to engage with the sermon,
which will likely be presented at a more developmentally advanced level. We also cover the sermon basic theme, or
passage in our weekly children’s church in hopes that connections will be made
between parents and their children.
Story Based
Curriculum
RUMC also tries to use development to increase discipleship
in our children’s Sunday school program.
Last fall we intentionally switched from a prescriptive (theme/virtue
based) curriculum to a story based curriculum.
Cognitively, focusing on the bible stories themselves rather than
prescriptive application is much more
appropriate for preschool and lower elementary aged children. Additionally, adding prescriptive application
to the story for older elementary students is easy to do in this context.
Future Adjustments
Kohlberg
RUMC needs
to do a better job of making use of Kohlberg’s moral theory as a persuader for
child and adolescent discipleshp.
Lawrence Kohlberg identified three levels of moral development
preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. Individuals in the preconventional level are
generally four to ten years of age.
Those individuals in the conventional stage are usually ten to thirteen
years of age. Those in the postconventional stage are usually over thirteen
years old (Estep and Kim, 2010, pg.
132). The preconventional level is motivated by consequences and
rewards, while the conventional stage is impacted external standards, such as
laws or rules, and the postconventional stage is driven by a sense of justice
(Wilhoit and Dettoni, 1995, pg. 64). Kohlberg’s
theory suggests that the benefit of answering some moral questions: What are
some consequences and rewards? Why does
God want us to do this? What are the
societal and/or congregational benefits of this? What does God (Ten
Commandments) and the church (as an external provider of guidelines) say about
this? How does this relate to a sense of
justice? Addressing these questions
provide motivation for children and adolescents to take the suggestions/topic to
heart. Rather than lamenting that
children and adolescents aren’t more “virtuous” RUMC can use Kolberg’s theory
to motivate young people at their level, and challenge them to consider a
slightly more mature moral understanding.
Addressing Multiple Developmental Stages
It is likely that in any given ministry context multiple
levels of development will be present.
This means that RUMC must be intentional at communicating the lesson
from multiple developmental levels.
Steve Argue (personal correspondence, November 20, 2014), the Life
Development Director at Mars Hill Church in Grandville, suggests that this is done looking at a concept or theme for several developmental
levels. For example, offering moral
motivation from more than one of Kohlberg’s stages (ie. a personal benefit, an
external standard, and an implication for justice). RUMC needs to continually ask the question
“does this lesson resonate in some way with all the developmental stages
represented?”
Wilhoit, J. C., &
Dettoni, J. M. (Eds.) (1995). Nurture that is Christian: Developmental
perspectives on Christian education. Grand Rapids, MI: BridgePoint Books.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
The Church's Response to Developmental Challenges
Today’s children, youth and adults face a wide
array of challenges. What help can developmental theory be in facing
these challenges? How can the church leverage developmental theory
to better minister to children, youth and families? Three challenges
to children, youth and family that can be addressed in light developmental
theory are: fractured nuclear families, adolescent abandonment, and society’s
obsession with diagnosis.
Challenges Facing Children, Youth and
Families
Fractured Nuclear Families
Garland (2012) rightly
instructs, “A doctrine of family life fueled by judging who is ‘in’ and who is
‘out’ based on their family life situations needs to be carefully scrutinized”
(88). The blending of two families can also be a difficult adjustment for family
members. If children respond negatively to change it is easy to
focus on the responsive behaviors rather on the environment sparking the
negative response. Friedman (1985) points out, “In family
relationships, as long as individuals focus primarily on the toxicity of their
relatives’ behavior instead on what makes them vulnerable, they will fail to
realize that it is a far healthier response to work on their own ‘cells,’ as a
way of immunizing themselves against ‘insult.’ Actually, such
responses accomplish more than self-protection; they also tend to modify the
insulting behavior” (64).
Adolescent Abandonment
Chap Clark (2011)
states, “Systemic abandonment of adolescents as a people group seems to capture
the widest range of descriptors used by careful observers of adolescent and
adolescents themselves” (28). Clark (2011) points to research that
indicate that adolescents spend less than seven percent of their time with
adults, including parents. Last Sunday during a parent class I was
leading, covering some of Clark’s work, a parent from our church admitted that
she felt guilty that her preteen child wasn’t spending more time with
peers. She recognized that this guilt was driven by society’s
message to segregate young people. Another parent noted that once a
child enters middle school parents are no longer encouraged to spend time in
that child at school.
Obsession with Diagnoses
Garland (2012) states, “If a child is told he is
unkind he may believe it and be more likely to act unkindly. Instead,
naming the negative behavior helps the child come to terms with the behavior
and not be overwhelmed by the parent’s negative opinion of his very personhood”
(399-400). This is exactly what is done when we are quick to have
our children diagnosed. Friedman (1985) notes, “The diagnosis of the
individual family member stabilizes family homeostasis and makes it more
difficult for the diagnosed member to change” (56). Rockford, like
many middle class communities, is quick to seek the diagnoses of children and
other individuals whose behaviors are difficult to handle. People
are more than their diagnoses and God is bigger than diagnosed disorders.
Challenges and
Developmental Theory
Fractured Nuclear Families
Various
developmental theories (particularly Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory)
make clear how important a caring relationship with parents is for the
development of infants and young children. Developmental theory also
defines the roles that parents play in the development of children. Defining
these roles allows the church to seek ways to assist in feeling those roles
through caring adults from the church, when parents are absent. Developmental
theory also sheds light on the challenges that young people will have when
their families blend with another. By identifying the reasons for
these challenges churches can help families navigate this transition.
Adolescent Abandonment
Developmental
theory allows for the church and families to recognize the needs of
adolescents. Two major needs include building meaningful
relationships that will help them develop their identity, and be challenged
through relationships with individuals who are more developmentally
mature.
Obsession with Diagnoses
Imago
Dei.
Estep and Kim (2010)
state, “We are human because we are made in the image of God…The imago
Dei is the definitive mark of our maker” (p. 11). Humanity,
men and women resemble in some small way, the Triune God. All of
humanity is made in the image of God, therefore, first and foremost, the
“label” giving to individuals is imago Dei, not a diagnosis. Individuals,
regardless of their diagnosis, must be seen as “fearfully and wonderfully made”
(Psalms 139:14).
Developmental
Identification.
A major gift of
developmental theory is it focuses on who the individual currently is, not
lamenting over who they are not. By identifying the various
developmental stages of an individual, he or she’s needs can be met, and the gospel
can be communicated effectively. Regardless of what diagnoses
an individual has, identifying their stages of development will approve the
effectiveness of ministry efforts directed at them.
Action Plan
Supporting Fractured and Blended
Families
The church must be sure that fractured and blended families are not excluded in any way while,
at the same time, being realistic about negative impact divorce has on
families. We are clear about the potentially devastating effects of
family fracturing. We encourage a family systems approach to dealing
with the many challenges divorce and remarriage can create. The church is
a place where young people dealing with the fracturing of their Family will be
fostered into relationships with caring adults who will function as their
“spiritual extended family.”
Addressing Adolescent Abandonment
The church should seek to encourage parents
to ignore societies’ instruction to abandon youth by making intentional times
to be present with their children both at church and at other times. This
includes worship services and other church activities that are not age
fragmented so parents and children can worship and learn about God
together. It is also crucial that the chruch be a place where young people
will be fostered into relationships with caring adults who invest in their
lives and seek to spend time with them. Intergenerational worship,
programs and events create time with parents and with other adults.
Combating the Obsession With Diagnosis
Imago
Dei.
The church can regularly communicates to children and
youth that over and above any label that they are beloved children of God, made
in God’s image. A phrase we use regularly with children and youth is
“there is nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less.” RUMC
believes that part of what it means to be imago Dei is that we
are all recipients of God’s agape love, and we want our young
people to understand that. The church should also strives to communicate the
gospel to individuals at their developmental level – regardless of how their
development compares to their peers- those without “disorders.” To
accomplish this the church should attempt to address passages/topics from the perspective
of multiple developmental levels.
Family
Systems Counseling.
The Church should
be clear that individuals within the congregation should not be defined by
their diagnoses. People are more than their diagnoses and God is
bigger than diagnosed disorders. There will be times when
the behavioral responses and emotional distresses of family members require
professional help. Based on Friedman’s (1985) thoughts concerning
family systems theory, Rockford UMC will guide families to seek professional
help from mental health practitioners who ascribe to family systems
theory. Family system’s counseling will prevent the approach of
identifying which family member is “the problem” – generally a child or
adolescent.
Conclusion
Today’s children, youth
and adults face a wide array of challenges. Three challenges to
children, youth and family that can be addressed in light developmental theory
are: fractured nuclear families, adolescent abandonment, and society’s
obsession with diagnosis. Developmental theory sheds light on how
the church can minister to children, youth and families who are impacted by
these challenges. the church addresses these challenges by fostering
supportive relationships within the church, communicating imago Dei and
encourage a family system’s approach to therapy over diagnosing the “problem
individual.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Wives AND Husbands submit to one another...
Spirit-Guided Relationships: Wives and Husbands
21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.[b]27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.
When Laura and I married on June 18, 2005 we decided that we wanted to have a foot washing as part of the event. I was still in my "whizkid" stage, reveling in upsetting the equilibrium of our theologically conservative friends and family. For this reason I was dead set on the idea that I would wash Laura's feet, and not the other way around.
Despite my immature bravado, nearly 10 years later, I think I was really on to something. I still believe that many Christians are confused about what Ephesians 5 is actually saying to husbands. What follows is something I wrote, and the pastor read during our wedding ceremony. My general attitude has changed over the last 9 1/2 years, but these words still resonate in my heart.
Despite my immature bravado, nearly 10 years later, I think I was really on to something. I still believe that many Christians are confused about what Ephesians 5 is actually saying to husbands. What follows is something I wrote, and the pastor read during our wedding ceremony. My general attitude has changed over the last 9 1/2 years, but these words still resonate in my heart.
"Very few of us have trouble understanding the concept of wives serving their husbands. Often times though, we are confused about what it means for a husband to be the head of a household. This passage radically changes our understanding of what a husbands authority really entails. By comparing a husband's relationship with his wife to Jesus' relationship with the church, all ideas of domination and entitlement are removed. All authority in Heaven and earth were at Jesus' disposal, yet it was manifested on his knees. The Master humbled himself and became the servant by washing his followers feet. This is the example husbands are commanded to follow and that is why this event (my washing of Laura's feet) has just taken place." I fail daily at this, but the spirit of these words still resonated in my brain, and weighs on my heart. I have striven, am striving, and will continue to strive to leave my sense of entitlement at the door. This has been a great reminder over the past month or so as I attempt to support Laura during a difficult time - attempting to check my selfishness, and frustrations.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Piaget's Indictment of children's and youth ministry programs
According to Estep and Kim (2010), “It seems apparent the
Christian education community maintains that social science theories provide a
valuable lens through which to conceptualize an approach toward Christian
formation” (p. 52). What exactly is a theory? What is a developmental theory, and how are
these theories helpful to Christian ministry?
What
Makes a Theory?
In its broadest and ideal sense, a theory is “a set of
interconnected statements – definitions, axioms, postulates, hypothetical
constructs, intervening variables, laws, hypotheses, and so on…The function of
the set of interconnected statements is to describe unobservable structures,
mechanisms, or processes and to relate them to each other and to observable
events” (Miller 2002, p. 3). A
scientific theory attempts to explain unobservable events/changes by connecting
them to other observable events. How does this relate to developmental theory?
According to Seifert and Hoffnung (2000), “human development refers to long-term
changes that occurr during a person’s lifetime and the patterns of these
changes” (p. 35). Developmental
theories, then, are attempts to predict, identify, and map out these long-term
changes. Miller (2002) asserts “What is
critical about a developmental theory is that it focuses on change over time”
(p. 5). Developmental theory attempts to
interpret the changes that take place during the human maturation process. These theories usually have stages, to which
an individual belongs, based on where they are in the process. These stages are often broken up based on the
age of individuals.
Piaget
According to Epstein (2010)
Jean Piaget was, “arguably, one of the two or three most eminent and
influential scientists in the history of psychology” (p. 163). Piaget’s Cognitive theory claimed “that
children’s thinking develops in a series of increasingly complex stages, or
periods, each of which incorporates and revises those that precede it” (Seifert and Hoffnung, 2000, p. 51). Piaget identified four stages: sensorimotor –
coordination of sensory and motor activity (0- 2 years), preoperational –
language and symbolic representation (2-7 years), concrete operational –
solution of concrete problems (7-11 years), and formal operation – systematic
solution of problems (7-11 years) (Seifert and Hoffnung, 2000, p. 53). Essentially Piaget’s Cognitive Theory helps
us understand how individuals of all ages think, and what kind of information
they are able to process.
Ministry
Implications
A basic understanding of developmental theory has positive
implications for ministry, particularly when ministering to children and
youth. Keeley (2010) posits, “As we think about faith formation,
it is helpful to think about what impact development might have on the way
people interact with our ministry. So
what does Piaget’s Cognitive Theory have to offer those in Christian
ministry? Wilhoit and Detonni (1995)
note, “human beings are integrated wholes” (p. 35). The faith development of an individual is dependent upon
that person’s developmental stages. A person’s
physical, emotional, and cognitive stages all have bearing on his or her
spiritual formation.
Wilhoit and Detonni (1995) point
out, “Teachers cannot teach something that is developmentally above learners, no
matter how much the teachers attempt to ‘get them to learn it.’ No amount of teaching of five-year-olds will
produce children capable of abstract theological thought” (p. 35). Piaget’s
cognitive stages show how many churches are missing the developmental mark with
their Christian Education.
The preoperational stage, for example, shows us that children
as young as two year of age are capable of learning and articulating well known
stories from the bible. Most churches do
not start the process of formal Christian Education until age four. Additionally this stage claims that children
are not ready to apply biblical content prescriptively in their lives until age
seven, yet most published preschool and early elementary curriculum attempt to
do just that – present the sacred text
prescriptively. It seems, instead, that that
children’s ministry curriculum for this age group should instead focus on
learning and articulating the biblical stories.
Prescriptive application should not be a focus until children are seven
years old and older (concrete operational stage).
Piaget also claims that adult abstract thinking (formal
operational stage) begins when an individual is as young as eleven. This suggests that we are selling adolescents
in the church short. It appears that
middle school and high school students are capable of learning and wrestling
with theological issues and doctrinal claims.
It also appears that students this age are ready to personally
assimilate these complex and abstract teachings in their lives. In contrast, much of today’s youth curriculum
seek to spoon-feed adolescents pre-packaged, bite sized “Christian prescriptions.”
Indicting research abounds concerning
the church’s failure to communicate the Christian message to children and youth
in a way that leads to life-long transformation. I quick look at Piaget’s theory shows that
failing to understand the cognitive understanding of young people is at least
part of the problem.
Conclusion
What is a developmental theory, and how are
these theories helpful to Christian ministry? Developmental
theories attempt to interpret the changes that take place during the human
maturation process. An example is Piaget’s
cognitive theory which explores how an individual’s thinking develops over
time. Piaget’s theory illuminates how to
effectively communicate the gospel to individuals of all ages, as well as
highlighting the developmental errors the church is currently making.
References
Epstein, R. (2010). Teen 2.0:
Saving our children and families form the torment of adolescence. Fresno,
CA: QuillDriver Books.
Estep, J. R., & Kim, J. H. (Eds.) (2010). Christian
formation: Integrating theology and human development. Nashville, TN: B
& H Publishing Group.
Keeley, R. J.
(Ed.)(2010). Shaped by God: Twelve
essentials for nurturing faith in children, youth, and adults. Grand
Rapids, MI: Faith Alive.
Miller, P. H. (2002) Theories of developmental psychology (4th
ed.). New York, NY: Worth.
Seifert, K. L., & Hoffnung, R. J. (2000). Child
and adolescent development (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Wilhoit, J.
C., & Dettoni, J. M. (Eds.) (1995). Nurture that is Christian:
Developmental perspectives on Christian education. Grand Rapids, MI:
BridgePoint Books.
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