Hi everyone! I'm sorry I have been so long since the last article that was posted. It has been a crazy few weeks around here, and I am sure it has been much the same for all of you!
Let's continue on the faith development theme and comment on this article about helping kids own their faith. It will be good to help us focus in on helping those kids that DO grow up in the church transition to a more mature faith. It also presents some intriguing thoughts on just how to do that. Which ones do you agree with? Are there any ideas you disagree with?
http://ymtoday.com/articles/2648/helping-your-kids-own-their-faith
Thank you for your continued participation in our training blog and your patience! :-)
This article does a good job of articulating what I've thought for many years - that unless our kids have a faith that is their own, as opposed to their parents, they will not end up becoming adults that are committed Christians. I have taught middle school catechism for many years, and this is one of the things I talk about with my kids regularly. They are preparing for confirmation, but I stress to them that there is no way they should be confirmed if they think this is the "end" - they need to remember that it is the first real adult decision they are making about their faith. Sadly, many of the kids I teach do not go to church regularly and have a hard time articulating what they do believe in - many times because their parents don't go to church, but for some reason enroll the kids in religious education anyways! Makes no sense to me!
ReplyDeleteAs far as camp goes, I think we all need to remember this article, and work on posing the questions that will help our kids develop their own faith. We need to let them know that as adults, we face hard questions about our faith and have to do lots of "updates" - like when our phones or computers tell us that our apps need updating. It doesn't mean the apps are bad, just that there is something new to add to it, or a glitch to fix. We do that with our faith too, as new situations arise in our lives and in our world that make us pause and think and re-evaluate.
Great analogy, mom! :-)
DeleteI really enjoyed reading this article because I distinctly remember having gone through that critical thinking process myself. It was a scary time- at first, I really did think because I was starting to question and doubt, that I was to be condemned for having done so. (Ironically enough, it was also very appropriately happening during Lent.) Thankfully, I remember having a long talk with my mom who was able to confirm that questioning was a part of developing your faith, not something feel guilt over.
ReplyDeleteThat memory has stuck with me ever since. Between my own faith experiences and what is suggested by the article, I think we as councilors need to be open to relinquishing "control" and giving over to the middle school/high school kids, allowing them to have a voice and question, while we act as their guiding support along the way. (I'm thinking that the "input" time would be a great opportunity to have some of these discussions? Not sure about the timing, as I've never actually participated, but it seems like it would fit in as an appropriate time for this sort of discussion.) If they are not allowed to develop their own thoughts on faith, then many of them will fall into that other category of never really owning their faith.
Amy has often provided "Input" time suggestions that include questions! THANK YOU, Amy! If we find ourselves lecturing during those short moments of group leadership, then we might question oursevles about how we could rephrase or re-direct the information into questions. We always appreciate new ideas from our incoming staff!! Thanks. Daphne
DeleteLets go for 3 Staniszewski's in a row...
ReplyDeleteI liked the article quite a bit. I think that often in our society, the notion of critical thinking about God and faith is repressed too often. I like the fact that this author has specifically said that critical thinking about God and faith is acceptable, and even encouraged. I think it goes back to some of the other articles that we have read in regards to an open community of faith in which there is much sharing.
I think this is also an area where as a camp, we can actually thrive, since we have many adults who come from many areas of life and many areas of faith. We have such a rich background of tradition and faith that is all similar, and yet all very different. Our campers have the opportunity to seek out many different adults to discuss, critically think, and question their own life, faith, and relationship with God.
I think the key for us in this area is to make sure that the discussion is open and willing. We need to develop the relationship with our campers in order for this discussion to be built. I'd like to think that I do a good job in the manner, having many goofy and weird nighttime discussions with my cabin, but that much of the time will contain and lead to matters of critical thinking and questioning.
I don't quite know what else to say about this article, other than I think it is a very important thing that we do and must push our campers to think critically and be there to think with them, offer our opinions, and guide them through. Even though our campers may not be carbon copies of us, or their parents, if they develop that relationship with God and live their faith, that is the most important thing
Okay, time for another surname response :).
ReplyDeleteI agree with this article's philosophy. And I think it should not be limited to only youth. Faith can't be stagnant regardless of the age of the believer. As Barb said above, all of us are constantly "upgrading". And questioning and delving into the answers we find is one major way to accomplish this.
I know when I went to Sunday School everybody was expected to follow the given line, there was no encouragement to ask questions or seek answers. (This was at the very end of the phase where everybody went to church if you were anybody, because that's the way it was!) Unfortunately, by just looking at today's population of non believers, it's easy to see that that approach was not successful.
Camp is the perfect place to let kids be who they are, to be able to ask questions, to allow them to find God in their own way. I think this is a major allure that Choir Camp holds for its campers. I've heard from many of them how special it is that for a least that one week a year they are able to be themselves and find themselves so much closer to God in his outdoor Sanctuary. We as counselors need to allow this to happen, to be available to help guide, listen, advise but also to sometimes stand back and let the campers listen to God in their own way.
Seriously, you Staniszewski's like posting early don't you? :-)
ReplyDeleteExcept for the west coast part of the family! We just have a lot to say!
DeleteOk - Time for the West Coast Staniszewski to chime in!
ReplyDeleteI am going to take a slightly different perspective on this article. It is a very good article and important to keep in mind. However, I am fortunate enough to be watching someone go through the exact opposite situation right now.
In the Catholic church, adults who want to join the church go through a lengthy faith formation process called RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation). It is a lengthy process that starts when a person - either baptised into a Christian faith or not - decide that she wants to become a full member of the Catholic church. Each person either chooses or is assigned a sponsor - a faith mentor.
This year I was asked to sponsor a woman named Lisa who decided she wanted to enter the Catholic church. She was raised with very little faith in her life, though her grandparents were practicing Catholics. For a variety of reasons, she decided she wanted to be open to letting some spirituaility into her life.
As I've gotten to know Lisa through the RCIA process, I realized that she has the exact opposite problem of the teenager described in the article. She has faith and spirituality, but zero knowledge of the Bible stories that the rest of us were raised on. One week we were reading the story of Cain and Abel and I was shocked at how far back we had to go to explain who these characters were and how they related to the current story. I realized that we take our own knowledge for granted. She understood the sturface meaning of that story, but wasn't able to truly understand all of the implications until she had the background knowledge.
I wonder if this might be a type of camper we will be working with as well. Certainly we will have those with no background and no interest. And those who practically live in church. But this article made me think about those campers who might be stuck somewhere in the middle and not know how to handle it. Just one more thing to think about!
You're so right - we really get kids with all levels of faith development. We need to be ready to meet them where they're at - for some of these kids it's the most important week of their year as far as their relationships with God.
DeleteI am sure that we will get campers like this. I know that I was a camper like this. I knew some of the basic stories from the bible, like Noahs Ark, Sampson and Delilah, and Adam and Eve. But there were some storys that we would talk about or sing about that I had no idea what we were talking about. It helped me though to know that if I asked a counselor what it meant they wouldn't laugh at me or tell me that I know what it means, but they would explain it to me in a way that didn't make me feel stupid or further behind than the other kids my age.
DeleteErin - That's a great point. Social skills are so delicate at this age that it's easy to see how a camper could feel left out if he/she doesn't come from a home filled with camp. It's good to know we have such a good team to help guide those conversations without judgement!
DeleteI approach this article from the same standpoint as the author--one who grew up in the church. I remember my first period of having serious doubts. I was in college and thought I was headed straight to hell! My campus pastor at CMU assured me that questioning and doubt was a normal process to growth.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to be a part of a camp that will have people at many points on the theological spectrum and faith journey. Part of what I really enjoyed at seminary was the chance to express views, doubts, and faith in a non-judgmental setting. This, for me, was an image of God's love--one that says "I love you for who you are now, and for who you will become."
As was pointed out in other comments, not everyone is raised in the church. It is becoming increasingly common that people are not. I appreciate the perspectives of those who came to Christ later in life. Some of these people may well think more critically and be able to see "issues" than those who were indoctrinated and formed within the church.
The bottom line is that we as staff foster a climate that allows for and encourages critical thinking, the sharing of faith--or lack of it--and the intersecting of our life stories in mutual concern for each other's feelings, well-being, and potential for spiritual growth.
I had a hard time with this article just because, like Lauren, I remember going through this. I was in a family that would go to church for a couple years, then my mom would decide that she didn't like our church anymore, so we wouldn't go to church for a couple years, then we would find a new church, and this when on and off up until my senior year of high school. When I was younger I remember that I didn't feel like there was many people that I could talk to about my faith, either because they wouldn't know what I was talking about or because they would make me feel worse than I already did about it since I was very confused about my religion in the first place. I felt like I couldn't go to my parents because for one thing my dad didn't even go to church. He would only go on holidays and that was just because he was "required" to attend. For my mom I just didn't understand why when I started to make new friends and enjoy going to whatever church we were going to we got pulled out because she didn't like the people, the pastor, how small the congregation or how big the congregation was, etc. Either way I was extremely confused. I think that the one thing that helped me was Terry. I remember having an hour long conversation with her one year at choir camp where I was able to ask her questions about faith and she didn't agree or disagree, but allowed me to think them out on my own. Just having someone to talk to about what was going on and knowing that I wasn't the only one to have those sorts of feelings made me feel quite a bit better and helped to me to start and understand my own faith.
ReplyDeleteFor the kids at camp, I feel as if they best things that we can do is encourage them to ask questions. As Dan said, there is so many of us that come from different backgrounds and places and they have many of us to be able to connect with and talk about their questions and concerns. It is just a matter of making them feel as if there is open communication and that they will not be put down for whatever question it is that they have.
There was another blog posting nearby that quoted Tim Eldred's newsletter for Christian Endeavor where they function with one crucial principle:"Never do anything for young people that they can learn to do themselves. ... they grew because we got out of their way and trusted in their abilities. That's what happens when adults learn their place and let youth learn by doing." Still fits with the faith development theme!
ReplyDeleteWe can "create the atmosphere where critical thinking by adolescents is fostered" by asking more open-ended questions, rather than questions that invite "yes" or "no" answers. If we fail to encourage youth to talk about doubts about and challenges to their faith, not many of them will initiate such conversations. Youth often sense whether their "different" ideas and questons are welcome OR NOT! I remember a youth who "straight out" said that she doubted if there was a God ... at Choir Camp. If her words had been met with shock or a quick battle of words, she might have retreated back into her private doubt. Good listeners ask inviting questions, such as: "What conversations have you had with friends about God?" That same youth really grabbed onto Rev. Dave Gladstone's question: "Could that wonderful heron that often visits camp embody the holy spirit present among us?" There was something concrete and beautiful in nature and those moments that helped God be "real" in her life.
ReplyDeleteDaphne - I think this is an excellent example of helping to guide someone through faith development. It's easy to think of faith as some abstract thing that other people have. By helping the campers to find God in external situations, we can help guide that to an internal experience as well.
DeleteAbsolutely!
DeleteI never really thought about our faith as being "owned" or "unowned", but it's a good way to describe it. I grew up in the church (Methodist during my early years, then Baptist, and eventually back to Methodist), but I can certainly appreciate the fact that as we go along our faith journey, we have questions. I had an aunt who, in her later years, attended Metropolitan UMC in Detroit. At her funeral, Rev. Quick talked about how Aunt Marge would sit and talk with him and question so many things. (By the way, she was 91 when she passed away; I hope my mind is that sharp when I'm that age!) I think no matter what our age is, whether 9 or 90, it's perfectly acceptable to question and search for answers in God's Word.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great article and what a great reminder of how important it is to be open to and accepting of varying interpretations of scripture and faith. It was especially helpful for me as I have just finished the Input for 2012 and now I want to go back and make sure I left plenty of room for questioning and sharing of ideas and opinions. It is tempting sometimes to want religion to be black and white with only right or wrong answers but that would be diminishing God. God is beyond our understanding and it's part of the adventure of life to figure out (each of us) for our selves what is right and wrong for us.
ReplyDeleteI also was a child who grew up very strong in my stories. I happened to start noticing in junior high and high school those that weren't, even in the same church and those who came regularly. I don't know when I began to question validity of the bible as, hey, it was written by mere humans and as the Wizard in Wicked says, "Where I come from, they believe all sorts of things that aren't true...they call it history. A man's a crusader or ruthless invader, a rich man's a thief or philanthropist...it's all in which label is able to persist." (For full quote listen to "Wonderful" the entire song is filled with it). Trying to get young people to think of all sides of an issue is extremely hard even in schools. They just want to conform with what their friends are doing. I love having students come ask me questions that involve me to think before I answer. Papers that call for interpretation are wonderful! (I know, I'm such an English teacher) The biggest battle I see are the young people who want to question and are either afraid to because of conformity or the fact that faith is often seen as an absolute, either you have it or not, or don't know where to begin to question. Thank you Amy for making sure our kids will have the time and opportunity to figure that out!
ReplyDelete