Page 58 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 7

Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology

Walter Thiessen

The Mosaic of Maturing

Spirituality. An Alternative

Model for Spiritual Walter Thiessen

Development is the Dean of
Arts and a pro-
fessor of psy-
chology at St.
Abstract Stephen’s Uni-
There are reasons to question the sequential versity, a school
and hierarchical nature of structural stage theo- which is delighted to be the smallest univer-
ries of faith development, especially in regard sity in Canada, allowing it to focus on living
to adults. This article suggests a conceptual, and travelling together. He also has a private
two-dimensional model of spiritual develop- counselling practice (St. Croix Counselling
ment. The first dimension is the continuum of Services) and is the author of Glimpses of
maturity defined as increasing complexity held a Good Life. He and his wife, Carol, have
together by integrity and is exemplified by the raised three children in St. Stephen, NB
metaphor of a mosaic. The second dimension (Canada) and love gardening, walking, and
is a series of “facets” or themes that are under- drinking coffee on the patio. Walter’s stu-
stood to exist simultaneously, though one or dies have focused on the personal and com-
more facets are typically highlighted during any munal search for a life of wholeness.
particular season of a person’s life. A highligh- waltert@nb.sympatico.ca
ted facet will often give shape and content to the
growing edge of spiritual maturity.
been because FDT has been free of criticism or
The four facets of the second dimension are has silenced all of its critics; rather, as Stephen
characterised by the central themes of 1) Chaos Parker (2010) concluded, in spite of mixed le-
and Order, 2) Love, Forgiveness, and Commu- vels of support for components of FDT, “those
nity, 3) Freedom and Change, and 4) Mystery, inclined to look elsewhere for models of spiri-
Peace and Trust. These facets unpredictably re- tual or religious development with more empi-
cur throughout a person’s life, and it is suggested rical support will not find the picture any better,
that the third facet has a tendency (though not a and often not as well supported as Fowler’s mo-
necessity) to bifurcate into one of two pathways: del” (p. 246). And so it has remained the theo-
a) Revolution and Resistance or b) Imagination ry that underlies a variety of more popularized
and Hope. This model, though untested by for- models (Peck, 1987; Schmelzer, 2008; McLaren,
mal research, is offered in the hope that it more 2012).
functionally represents the varied complexity of
human experience and can be taught in a man- The Limitations of Fowler’s Model
ner that is free from some of the biases and eli- In the face of critics and his own exploration of
tism which are difficult to avoid with structural postmodern approaches, Fowler (2001) has in-
models. sisted that FDT was right to establish stages that
are “sequential, invariant, and hierarchical” (p.
Since 1981, James Fowler’s faith development 167). Yet, according to Parker’s assessment, this
theory (FDT; 1981, 2001) has largely held the particular aspect only has support as long as the
imagination of practical theologians and deve- emphasis is on cognitive aspects (2010, p. 245)
lopmental psychologists as the best model for and focuses on pre-adolescents (p. 239). One
understanding how we approach faith different- might suggest, therefore, that Fowler’s claim to
ly over the course of a life span. This has not have successfully established “sequential, inva-

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