Maps & Models
There is no one model that will serve all situations.
A map—not unknown as in ascetical metaphor—is a very useful guide in making a journey, but it must be sensibly interpreted: we must not be surprised if a seemingly straight road on the map in fact contains a good many bends, or that a village represented by a little circle is in fact a long straggling street; yet it would be silly to dismiss the map as mere theory. – Martin Thornton
Parish development models and faith development models sometimes overlap while also maintaining their particular focus. So for example, the Shape of the Parish model is primarily a parish development model not a faith development model. It is focused on adults in the parish. John Westerhoff’s faith development model isn't at all useful for parish development purposes but has served many people in better understanding and engaging the faith journey of children and young people.
Shape of the Parish and Remnant Theory are both focused on adults within the parish church. Thornton writes about Jesus’s strategy with his followers - A core of 12 that needed formation (maybe 3 of them were the critical mass within the 12), then 70, then 5000. Jesus spends a great deal of time with the 12. Thornton suggests that a priest should spend 90% of their time with the Remnant. In most American and Canadian parishes that would be politically foolish. And, it’s also true that clergy might benefit by spending more time with the Apostolic and Progressing than most clergy do. The thing about those people is that they often tend to not be as demanding as people further out in the Sacramental rings. Leaders can easily get caught up with having their demand system shaped by those asking for time and attention. Another benefit in both models is the understanding that if you develop and nurture a strong center it will set loose an energy in the entire system. There is a multiplying effect. They become partners with the priest in shaping the climate and culture of the parish. Because we easily slide into the institutional reality of the parish, we can find ourselves more focused on the people who are willing to help run programs or serve on the vestry. We might think of them more easily as our partners. But if the purposes of a parish have to do with the worship of God, the formation of the people of God, and the sanctification of a larger community -- then the person who participates routinely in the Sunday Eucharist and says some form of the daily office may be a very significant partner in influencing the climate and culture of the congregation.
Models of faith and child development highlight how children’s understanding of faith grows through stages, from early trust to abstract thinking, influenced by experiences, relationships, and community. Key models include James Fowler’s theory of faith development with its stages from “undifferentiated” to “universalizing,” and John Westerhoff’s model which describes four non-linear “styles” of faith experienced as young people. He uses the metaphor of rings on a tree, where each new ring adds to but does not replace the previous ones - experienced, affiliative, searching, owned.
Both models suggest faith is not linear and that younger children learn through concrete experiences, while adolescents and young adults may begin to question and reflect more critically
Two things may be true at the same time. Children become full members of the Body of Christ when baptized. So they are to be treated with respect in terms that children understand and they are to be offered the sacraments. A faith development model may be a useful resource in that work. And, it's also true, that a 5 year old can not serve on the vestry because their intellectual, emotional, and spiritual maturity are simply not adequate to the role. It's also unlikely that the child will have an internal commitment to sacramental or apostolic faith. The Shape of the Parish model could easily lead us to wonder — how might our relationship and formation efforts with a young child lay the groundwork for a mature commitment to Christian faith and practice. In a recent program one participant noted research that suggested having children serve at the altar might be a significant factor. Combine that with the research that commitment is often based on a person's competence to function in a field and you get the need to help the child become a competent acolyte. There was also some discussion about the likely effect on children if the adults in a family engaged their parish participation with some degree of mature faith and practice.
Models
“Conceptual models simplify the complex dynamics and forces present in a situation, and at the same time, help us perceive more complexity than we usually notice. And often a model will suggest a way forward into a better life. Models are also limited. They focus our attention on some elements of a situation. There is no one model that will serve all situations. Therefore, one of the competencies of a parish development practitioner is the ability to select which model or models will best help us understand and intervene in a specific situation.” - See Appendix C for more on how models work An Energy Not its Own: Three Cycles of Parish Life and the Purposes of the Parish Church
Behavioral science models and ideology
It may be useful in the current American political environment to take note that ideology, whether from the right or the left, will often have a difficult time dealing with models from organizational psychology and organization development. Organizational psychology might be concerned with identifying what the hierarchy within a system is and how it functions. It might then go further into strategy to consider how to help that way of functioning be more helpful in achieving the goals of that system. And in that process, possibly bring forth necessary changes. A progressive ideology may want to delegitimize any hierarchy. A right-wing ideology may have a preference for traditional modes of hierarchy and a more rigid social order. Standard approaches to the behavioral sciences may prove uncomfortable to people with a strong ideological bent. When we're talking about parish development the dynamic will play out with various theological approaches currently in play that are more to the left or the right in the culture.
A way to recover and maintain a sense of perspective about the world and ourselves
A “problem we face is that we carry mental models that are inadequate for our current and future needs. These are not deliberate lies told with destructive malice but partial and possibly dated truths: convincing, persistent, and naive. The need is to use models that express the deeper parts of our common life. The change is toward grounding ourselves in our own tradition, including that part of the tradition that assumes experimentation in the spiritual life. The pattern we believe is called for in our age includes a weekly and a daily practice connecting us to something larger than ourselves. Practices that link us to the ancient rhythms and bring us into relationship with the baptized community. It also includes a way to recover and maintain a sense of perspective about the world and ourselves.” See Appendix C for more on how models work An Energy Not its Own: Three Cycles of Parish Life and the Purposes of the Parish Church
so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints (Ephesians 1: 18)
This abides,
Brother Robert, OA
Related
Jumping into our place: Mental models and images
Building an Apostolic Core: The vestry is not the Apostolic Center
We bring our mental models: Setting us free from bondage
Power from the center: I will run the way of your commandments, * for you have set my heart at liberty.
Disciplined reflection on experience: Centering the soul’s aspirations entirely on God
Unable to make a free choice: With the eyes of your heart enlightened
quantum satis: Just far enough
Critical Mass Model: Energy from the center pervades the whole