Quotes from Catherine Stonehouse

Biblical faith is not some feeling that stands alone; rather, it is the deeply felt and held assurance of God's faithfulness and power. It is confidence in the willingness and the ability of Jesus to bring us into a relationship with God and to empower us to live the Christian life.

says N. T. Wright, bring "two sets of ideas close together, close enough for a spark to jump, but not too close, so that the spark, in jumping, illuminates for a moment the whole area around."[12]

Stories and their meaning will be learned best by children if they actively experience them.

is often considered to be something children use in play and then discard when they become adults and put away childish things. We are therefore not surprised to learn that children use their imagination to enter stories, to experience them, and even to meet God there, but few adults think of using their imagination to meet God. However, following the lead of children could enrich the spiritual walk for adults.

To communicate effectively with children we must learn how they think.

We are devoted to and love whatever becomes our center of value and find meaning as we live our lives focused on and guided by that central value. In the Christian faith, the ultimate center of value is to be the Creator, the redeemer God.

Imagination brings stories to life for both children and adults.

Some forms of instruction seem to assume that the concept of the parent or the teacher can be fully captured in words and then transplanted, through the ears of the hearers, into their minds. This view of instruction sets the stage for failure. As adults, we can give children content—information and experiences—as material with which they can build understandings, but each child must construct his or her own concepts.

Just when we think we have mastered what is expected of us, relationships change, new persons join us on the journey, or circumstances call for untried roles.

Faith includes not only a center of value and an image of power but, thirdly, trust in and loyalty to a story that helps us make sense out of our world and experiences. This is what Fowler calls the shared master story.

If the kingdom of God belongs to children, they deserve full welcome and participation; they need to grow up as noticed, valued, and nurtured members of the faith community.

All children," says Walter Wangerin Jr., "experience the Dear Almighty. All people begin, at least, to dance with Deity. And yet so few continue in the dance. . . . And why? Because, when they needed language to name and to save the experience, it was not given unto them.

To live and grow, faith needs religion. Children—and adolescents or adults with a newborn faith—must learn God's name and the stories of God's people.

children are "powerfully and permanently influenced" by how these significant others live their lives and their faith, by their moods, and by the stories they tell of their faith.[19]

As children construct their understandings of God and religion, they are surrounded by symbols for their imaginations to take hold of and to build into their faith images. When children begin to ask questions about the rituals and symbols of the faith, we know their imaginations are grasped by the symbol and that they are working to create a meaning for it.

Children form their image of God in the context of relating to their parents and other significant adults.

Imagination is the power to form in our minds the images of reality. Fowler sees imagination as a powerful force in all learning not just in faith development. When young children use imagination to form their image of God, they are using a natural tool for learning.

The church has a greater potential than any other institution for providing the community so desperately needed by persons of all ages; it is the means God designed to provide support and resources for life's journey.

God did not intend for a father and a mother to shoulder the full load of child rearing without the support of an extended family and a faith community. Will our faith communities connect with young people and become an extended family for them?

Knowing the faith master story and how to interpret it is critical to the spiritual journey; it may be a life and death issue.

The children with whom I worship are also fascinated with symbols of our faith.

groups and classes for adults we often try to give them an understanding of the Christian faith by teaching the basic beliefs—the theological system—of our church. We lead them in discussing how Christians should respond to life situations and issues, but seldom do we tell them the faith story.

Imagine children watching as the Levites took down the tabernacle or put it up again. There was mystery as the Levites carried the tabernacle furnishings.

Maria Montessori, a European educator of an earlier generation, designed a setting for children that was "between the classroom and the church." It was a place where children came to meet God and to know the deep realities of faith—a place, not for instruction, but for experiencing the religious life.[4] My observations suggest that few churches provide such a place for children.