Each Saturday through this Lent period we’re going to have a little think about what James Fowler described as the ‘stages of faith’. When people have made it through the ‘childhood’ stages, they find themselves in the fourth stage, which Fowler describes as “Synthetic – conventional’. Snappy title. Very snappy.
So having been through those formational stages of faith, people begin to develop the ability to think abstractly, pulling together the strands of meaning that lie behind the stories they grew up with. Of course for those who have grown into a faith, rather than grown up in a faith, they may come to it at this sort of level anyway.
In either case, leaders remain important at this stage, humpty dumpty moments can have a big impact still, which emphasises how frail these stages of faith remain.
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This really is a wilderness of a Lent, isn't it.
Although 40 days and 40 nights seem relatively 'short term' now.
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