Westerhoff’s Styles of Faith Development
Owned Faith
Searching Faith
Affiliative Faith
Experienced Faith
Source: Will our Children Have Faith, John
Westerhoff, 2012
Owned Faith:
At this stage, there is more comfort with ambiguity and the unknown, and yet a resolution and settledness. There is a strong sense of what I believe.
Experienced Faith:
Children make meaning of their faith through active participation and play within their environment including exploration and testing, imagination and creativity, observation and copying, and experiences and reactions.
Searching Faith:
Life experiences begin to cause people to wonder about and question things they have believed. This is a natural part of faith development/formation and important to resulting in a mature, owned faith. In this stage, the individual “takes stock” of what they have believed, testing, sifting and searching to find what remains.
Affiliative Faith:
Children grow in their faith as they experience belonging. They observe and interact with their community to learn how to be a part of it. Faith is strongly associated with “the way we do things.”
Styles of Faith Development
Alex Daye
Created on January 23, 2024
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Transcript
Westerhoff’s Styles of Faith Development
Owned Faith
Searching Faith
Affiliative Faith
Experienced Faith
Source: Will our Children Have Faith, John Westerhoff, 2012
Owned Faith:
At this stage, there is more comfort with ambiguity and the unknown, and yet a resolution and settledness. There is a strong sense of what I believe.
Experienced Faith:
Children make meaning of their faith through active participation and play within their environment including exploration and testing, imagination and creativity, observation and copying, and experiences and reactions.
Searching Faith:
Life experiences begin to cause people to wonder about and question things they have believed. This is a natural part of faith development/formation and important to resulting in a mature, owned faith. In this stage, the individual “takes stock” of what they have believed, testing, sifting and searching to find what remains.
Affiliative Faith:
Children grow in their faith as they experience belonging. They observe and interact with their community to learn how to be a part of it. Faith is strongly associated with “the way we do things.”