Major Research-Based Books

"The Children's Spirituality Database"

Listed below are important books that describe social science, historical, and biblical/theological research conducted on the topic of children's religion and spirituality. There are summaries that help locate each book in the general literature on the topic, as well as all of the chapter titles of each book. A few other books are included at the end that have only one or two relevant chapters. You may click on any title in which you have an interest to see if it is currently available (any purchase made helps finance the continuation of this page, as does the use of the search boxes at the bottom of the page). If you know of additional resources that are research-based and relate to children's faith, religion, and/or spirituality, please send all relevant information to jennifervh@cp.fuller.edu, as we hope to update this web page occasionally. At present we are not including dissertations in this listing.

Many thanks for the research grants received from the North American Professors of Christian Education (NAPCE) and Biola University that helped make this page and those linked to it possible. Thanks for visiting!

--Don Ratcliff

Books on Children's Religion and Spirituality Research

Bakke, O. M. (2005). When Children Became People  (Fortress).

The author of this book makes a strong case that children were first defined as people because of the influence of early Christianity. He makes use of original documents and social histories in this first-rate addition to the history of childhood.

 

 

Chapters:

1. Introduction

2. Children in the Greco-Roman world

3. Patristic teaching about the nature of children and their characteristics

4. Abortion, infanticide and expositio, and sexual relations

5. Making "Athletes of Christ"

6. Children's participation in worship

7. Children and a life of religious perfection

8. Early Christians and the humanity of children

 

Balla, Peter. (2006).  The Child-Parent Relationship in the New Testament and its Environment (Hendrickson).

Drawing from a wide variety of sources, including archaeology, extra-biblical sources, as well as the Scripture, the author portrays First Century Christian families and their expectations of children, in contrast with the cultures surrounding them. Much of the book relates to grown children and their parents, rather than youngsters.

 

 

Chapters:

1. From Homer to the end of the Greek classical period

2. Greek and Latin sources from the Hellenistic period to the Third Century A.D.

3. Jewish sources in the centuries around the turn of the era

4. The Gospel tradition

5. Traditions in the Pauline corpus

6. The rest of the New Testament

Berryman, Jerome (1991). Godly Play  (Harper Collins).

Berryman's work is a philosophical and methodologically-centered presentation of a model of encouraging children to reflect upon and experience spiritual reality. While at best the "research" reflected in this book can be considered informal in nature, the Godly Play method has been studied more formally by Catherine Stonehouse (see below) and by others. He adapted this approach from the work of Sofia Cavalleti, under whom he studied, and who is also listed below as an informal researcher.

 

Chapters:

1. Playing and reality

2. An adult at play

3. Children at play

4. The spoken lesson

5. The unspoken lesson

6. The imagination and godly play

7. The theology of childhood

 

Blazer, Doris (1989). Faith Development in Early Childhood  (Sheed and Ward).

This book is a compilation of plenary sessions from The 1987 Kanuga National Symposium on Faith Development in Early Childhood, held at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina. A wide variety of researchers and practitioners from across the United States attended this conference. The theories of Fowler, Erickson, and Skinner are predominant in these chapters.

 

 

Chapters

1. Strength for the journey: Early childhood development in selfhood and faith--James Fowler

2. The roots of faith: The crucial role of infant/toddler caregivers--Alice Honig

3. A faltering trust--Bettye Caldwell

4. Attitude education in early childhood faith development--Lucie Barber

5. Strengthening families for the task--Kevin Swick

6. Inviting children into the faith community--Patricia and Robert Boone

7. The public church: Ecology for faith education and advocate for children--James Fowler

 

Brusselmans, Christine (1980). Toward Moral and Religious Maturity  (Silver Burdett).

This compilation was the outcome of a conference at the Abbey of Senanque located in the southern area of France during the summer of 1979. Twenty scholars from the United States, Canada, and Europe discussed their research and considered the implications for education, the results of which are reflected in this book. Many of the contributors were or later became leading scholars in education and religious education.

Chapters

1. Interdisciplinary approaches to moral and religious development--William Rogers

2. Faith and the structuring of meaning--James Fowler

3. The dynamics of the family and its social significance for moral and religious education--Antione Vergote

4. The psychological foundations of belief in God--Ana-Maria Rizzuto

5. The relation to God and the moral development of the young child--Jean-Marie Jaspard

6. Negation and transformation: A study in theology and human development--James Loder

7. Reference figures in moral development--Dirk Hutsebaut

8. Justice and responsibility: Thinking about real dilemmas of moral conflict and choice--Carol Gilligan

9. Reciprocal relationships between moral commitment and faith profession in worship--Herman Lombaerts

10. Stages of religious judgment--Fritz Oser

11. Moral theology and moral development--Enda McDonagh

12. Religion, morality, and ego development--F. Clark Power and Lawrence Kohlberg

13. Moral and faith development theory--James O'Donohoe

14. There the dance is: Religious dimensions of a developmental framework--Robert Kegan

15. Character, narrative, and growth in the Christian life--Stanley Hauerwas

16. Democracy, cooperation, and moral education--Thomas Lickona

17. Moral education in private schools: A Christian perspective--Jef Bulckens

18. The scandalized child: Children, media, and commodity culture--Edmund Sullivan

 

Bunge, Marcia (2001). The Child in Christian Thought  (Eerdmans).

An outcome of a research initiative associated with  the University of Chicago and funded by the Lilly Endowment, "The Child in Christian Thought" was a project directed by Marcia Bunge between 1998 and 2000. The writings that came out of this project addressed the marginalization of children in contemporary theology by encouraging scholars to investigate the theology of children throughout church history.

 

Chapters

1. The least and the greatest: Children in the New Testament--Judith Gundry-Volf

2. The ecclesial family: John Chrysostom on parenthood and children--Vigen Guroian

3. "Where or when was your servant innocent?": Augustine on childhood--Martha Stortz

4. A person in the making: Thomas Aquinas on children and childhood--Cristina Traina

5. The child in Luther's theology: "For what purpose do we older folks exist, other than to care for . . . the young?"--Jane Strohl

6. "The heritage of the Lord": Children in the theology of John Calvin--Barbara Pitkin

7. Complex innocence, Obligatory Nurturance, and Parental Vigilance: "The Child"  in the Work of Menno Simons--Keith Miller

8. "Wonderful Affection": Seventeenth-Century Missionaries to New France on Children and Childhood--Clarissa Atkinson

9. Education and the Child in Eighteenth-Century German Pietism: Perspectives from the Work of A. H. Francke--Marcia J. Bunge

10. John Wesley and Children--Richard Heitzenrater

11. Children of Wrath, children of grace: Jonathan Edwards and the Puritan culture of child rearing--Catherine Brekus

12. "Be Converted and Become as Little Children": Friedrich Schleiermacher on the Religious Significance of Childhood--Dawn DeVries

13, Horace Bushnell's Christian Nurture--Margaret Bendroth

14. African American Children, "The Hope of the Race": Mary Church Terrell, the Social Gospel, and the Work of the Black Women's Club Movement--Marcia Riggs

15. Reading Karl Barth on Children--William Werpehowski

16. "Infinite Openness to the Infinite": Karl Rahner's Contribution to Modern Catholic Thought on the Child--Mary Hinsdale

17. "Let the Children Come" Revisited: Contemporary Feminist Theologians on Children--Bonnie Miller-McLemore

 

Cavalletti, Sofia (1992). The Religious Potential of the Child: Experiencing Scripture and Liturgy with Young Children, 2nd edition  (Liturgy Training Publications).

Cavalletti's "research"--reflected in the subtitle phrase "description of an experience"--is informal in nature, yet it has impacted later more formal research, as well as a variety of approaches to religious education. These include Jerome Berryman's "Godly Play," Gerard Pottebaum's "The Liturgy of the Word," and the curriculum most directly identified with Cavalletti, "Catechesis of the Good Shepherd." Cavalleti's approach is compared with more traditional approaches to the religious education of children in Tim Gibson's study, "Implications of two approaches to childhood education in the church" in the Christian Education Journal, Volume 5NS, No. 2, Fall, 2001. This ground-breaking book is a slightly revised version of the original The Religious Potential of the Child Published by Paulist Press in 1979/1982.

Chapters

1. God and the child

2. The child and the adult

3. Christ the Good Shepherd

4. Christ the Good Shepherd and the eucharist

5. Christ the light and baptism

6. The historical events in the life of Jesus Christ

7. Prayer

8. Education to wonder and the Kingdom of God

9. Moral formation

10. The method of signs

11. Anthropological catechesis

 

Cavalletti, Sofia (2002). The Religious Potential of the Child: 6 to 12 Years Old  (Liturgy Training Publications).

This book extends Cavelletti's approach to school-aged children, based upon the methods of religious education suggested by Maria Montesorri. This version of the book was edited by Margaret Brennan and the director of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Tina Lillig. An update on the research related to this approach was presented by Kathleen Garness in June, 2003 at the Children's Spirituality Conference: Christian Perspectives.

 

Chapters

1. The questions of the child

2. Time and the Bible

3. The globality of biblical history

4. A history of the covenant, part I

5. A history of the covenant, part II

6. Historical events and the typological reading of scripture

7. The covenant in the parables

8. Why liturgy?

9. Our living of history, part I

10. Our living of history, part II

11. Our living of history, part III

12. Moral life and the liturgy, part I

13. Moral life and the liturgy, part II

14. The continuum of the catechesis

Coles, Robert (1990). The Spiritual Life of Children  (Houghton Mifflin).

Robert Coles is famous for his excellent work with children, and is perhaps the best-known current American researcher in the area of children's moral development. In his prior research he noticed that children had significant and deep religious experiences and views, and thus he eventually initiated his own research that included children from a number of countries and several religions, including youngsters who had no religious faith. Across nationalities and ethnic groups, as well as across children of various religious faiths--or no faith at all--he found a common spiritual nature that he describes in detail.

Chapters

1. Psychoanalysis and religion

2. Method

3. The face of God

4. The voice of God

5. Young spirituality: Psychological themes

6. Young spirituality: Philosophical themes

7. Young spirituality: Visionary moments

8. Representations

9. Christian salvation

10. Islamic surrender

11. Jewish righteousness

12. Secular soul-searching

13. The child as pilgrim

 

Erricker, Jane; Cathy Ota; Clive Erricker (2001). Spiritual Education: Cultural, Religious, and Social Differences  (Sussex Academic).

This book, the first in a series, presents many of the papers presented at the First International Conference on Children's Spirituality, held in Chichester, England. The conference was a landmark event in the study of children's spirituality, and has continued to be held each summer, alternating between a location in the United Kingdom and other countries. Thus the second conference (summer, 2001) was held in Haifa, Israel, and the third in Winchester, U.K. (summer, 2002). The conference emphasizes spirituality across a wide variety of religions, as well as secular spirituality. This is a rich resource of materials from which one can draw ideas and methods that fit one's specific context of spiritual education.

Chapters

1. The nonverbal nature of spirituality and religious language--Jerome Berryman

2. When your children ask--A Jewish theology of childhood--Sandy Sasso

3. Toward a pedagogy of the sacred: Transcendence, ethics, and the curriculum--Hanan Alexander and Miriam Ben-Peretz

4. Who nurtured the child? Without attachment there can be no intimacy--Cynthia Dixon

5. Children, doorposts, and hearts: How can and should the religious traditions respond to spirituality in a postmodern setting?--Mark Chater

6. Listening to . . . listening for . . .: A theological reflection on spirituality in early childhood--Elaine Champagne

7. Youth spirituality as a response to cultural crisis--David Tacey

8. Spirituality versus individualism--The challenge of relational consciousness--David Hay

9. Storytelling, voice and qualitative research: Spirituality as a site of ambiguity and difficulty--Daniel Scott

10. Religious nurture and young people's spirituality: Reflections on research at the University of Warwick--Eleanor Nesbitt

11. The corruption of innocence and the spirituality of dissent: Postcolonial perspectives on spirituality in a world of violence--Liam Gearon

12. "Theory of mind" or "Theory of the Soul"? The role of spirituality in children's understanding of minds and emotions--Sandra Bosacki

13. The prospects of spirituality in a globalized, technologized world--Wong Ho

14. The experience of religious varieties: William James and the postmodern age--Jack Priestly

15. Spirituality and the notion of citizenship in education--Jane Erricker

16. Postmodernism, spirituality and education in late modernity--Paul Yates

17. Searching for the spirit--Tony Eaude

18. Autism and childhood spirituality--Laura Morris

19. Youth and adulthood in children's and adults' perspectives--Wim Westerman

20. The conflict between pedagogical effectiveness and spiritual development in Catholic schools--Cathy Ota

21. The spiritual education of Khoja Shi'a Ithnasheeri (KSI) youth: The challenges of diaspora--Clive Erricker

 

Fowler, James; Karl Nipkow; Friedrich Schweitzer (Eds.)(1991). Stages of Faith and Religious Development: Implications for Church, Education, and Society  (Crossroad).

This valuable resource was originally written in German and published in 1988, then later translated into English with the help of several of the authors and students at Emory University. It includes a cross-section of international authors, yet is not as tied to the broad spectrum of religious development research as some other books listed here. Instead, the focus is on several major theories, critiques of those theories, alternatives to those theories, and applications of theories.

Chapters

1. The vocation of faith development theory--James Fowler

2. Toward a logic of religious development--Fritz Oser

3. Developmental views of the religion of the child: Historical antecedents--Friedrich Schweitzer

4. Stage theories of faith development as a challenge to religious education and practical theology--Karl Nipkow

5. The North American critique of James Fowler's theory of faith development--Sharon Parks

6. Hard versus soft stages of faith and religious development: A Piagetian critique--F. Clark Power

7. Cognitive developmental studies of religious thinking--Nicola Slee

8. Alternative developmental images--Gabriel Moran

9. Oser and Gmunder's stage 3 of religoius development and its social context: A vicious circle--Reiner Dobert

10. Against religious headbirths: A psychoanalytic critique--Gunther Bittner

11. Religious development and the ritual dimension--Hans-Gunther Heimbrock

12. Human development and capitalist society--John Hull

13. The influence of societal and political factors on religious development and education in the United States--Gloria Durka

 

Francis, Leslie; William Kay; William Campbell (Eds.)(1996).  Research in Religious Education  (Smyth & Helwys).

This is an impressive survey of topics related to the religious education of children and teenagers. Some of the finest researchers available wrote these chapters, which include surveys of the literature as well as summaries of their own work. The large majority of writers are British (22), five are from Europe, and the others are from Israel, Finland, and Ireland. Several chapters consider methodological issues.

 

Chapters

1. John E. Greer: Research pioneer in religious education--Leslie Francis

2. Historical context: Loukes, Goldman, Hyde, Cox and Alves--William Kay

3. Thinking about childhood spirituality: Review of research and current directions--David Hay, Rebecca Nye, and Roger Murphy

4. Further on from Fowler: Post-Fowler faith development research--Nicola Slee

5. Measuring religious thinking using Piagetian operational paradigms--Andrew McGrady

6. Developmental research in the classroom: An empirical study of teaching-learning processes--Karl Nipkos, and Friedrich Schweiter

7. Relational and contextual reasoning in religious education: A theory-based empirical study--K. Helmut Reich

8. Ethnographic research and curriculum development--Robert Jackson

9. Gender differences in religiosity in children and adolescents--Kalevi Tamminen

10. Religiosity and self-esteem during childhood and adolescence--Susan Jones and Leslie Francis

11. Are religious people happier? A study among undergraduates--Mandy Robbins and Leslie Francis

12. Religiosity and obsessionality--Christopher Lewis

13. Personality and attitude toward religious education among adolescents--John Lewis and Leslie Francis

14. A level gospel study and adolescents' images of Jesus--Jeff Astley and Leslie Francis

15. Measuring Christian fundamentalist belief among adolescents in Scotland--Harry Gibson and Leslie Francis

16. Science, creation and Christianity: A further look--Peter Fulljames

17. Religious education and assemblies: Pupils' changing views--William Kay

18. Measuring attitude toward Christianity through the medium of Welsh--Thomas Evans and Leslie Francis

19. Christian children at school: Their religious beliefs and practices--Bernadette O'Keeffe

20. Church of England schools and teacher attitudes: Personal commitment or professional judgement?--Carolyn Wilcox and Leslie Francis

21. 'Catechesis' and 'religious education' in Catholic theory and practice--James Arthur and Simon Gaine

22. Growing up Catholic today: The teenage experience--Linda Burton and Leslie Francis

23. Measuring 'Catholic identity' among pupils in Catholic secondary schools--Michael Curran and Leslie Francis

24. Attitudes toward assembly and religious education among Roman Catholic girls--Alice Montgomery and William Kay

25. Religiosity, personality and tertiary educational choice--Yaacov Katz

26. Religious schooling and secularisation in Israel--Mordechai Bar-Lev and Avraham Leslau

 

Goldman, Ronald (1964/1984). Religious Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence  (Harper San Francisco).

A classic study of children's religion, this controversial book concentrates upon children's cognitive understandings of religion. While the research is heavily colored by Piagetian theory, and encouraged many religious educators--particularly those in the United Kingdom, but also in many other countries--to take seriously the need to conduct research on children's faith and religion. 

Chapters:

1. The problems of religious thinking

2. Thinking and its application to religion

3. A research approach to the problems of religious thinking

4. Operational thinking about religious stories

5. Concepts of the Bible

6. The identity and nature of the divine

7. God's activity in the natural world

8. The holiness of God

9. God's concern for men

10. God's concern for men (continued)

11. Jesus and the problem of evil

12. Concepts of prayer

13. Concepts of the church

14. The influence of the church, home, and other factors upon religious thinking

15. Some implications for religious education

 

Haight, Wendy (2002). African-American Children at Church (Cambridge University Press).

This is a ethnographic/developmental study of children's socialization and participation in a predominantly African-American church. The work provides strong evidence against the negatively biased assumptions of African-American teachers, and contributes to the understanding of children's experiences and development within a religious community. 

 

 

Chapters:

1. Introduction

2. The African-American church and the socialization of children's resiliency

3. Research strategy

4. African-Americans in Salt Lake City: A historical and social overview

5. The teachers

6. Adults' perspectives on spiritual socialization

7. Narratives related during Sunday school

8. Socialization and participation in storytelling

9. Adult-child verbal conflicts

10. Other contexts for socialization and participation

11. The computer club: Implications of research for practice

12. Enhancing university students' understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity: Implications of practice for research

Hay, David; with Rebecca Nye (1998/2006). The Spirit of the Child, revised edition  (Jessica Kingsley Publisher).

For many people, this was a ground-breaking research study, conducted by Rebecca Nye as part of her doctoral study, and given a theoretical and philosophical context by David Hay. Rebecca Nye now heads a research program in children's spirituality at Cambridge University, and at the time of the writing David Hay chaired a research group at Oxford University. Many, perhaps most, subsequent research studies made use of their definitions of "spirituality" and the broad perspective of spirituality that encompasses all children everywhere. The revised edition has an added chapter.

 

Chapters

1. What is spirituality and why is it important

2. The social destruction of spirituality

3. Children's spirituality--What we know already

4. A geography of the spirit

5. How do you talk with children about spirituality?

6. Listening to children talking

7. Identifying the core of children's spirituality

8. The naturalness of relational consciousness

9. Nurturing the spirit of the child

10. Developments since 1998

 

Heller, David (1986). The Children's God  (University of Chicago Press).

The author of this book analyzed children's drawings, letters to God, interviews, and play to form conclusions about their understandings of God. He included an equal number of Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, and Baptist children, 40 total, all Americans from the Ann Arbor, Michigan area. Psychology Today made Heller's research their cover story and he went on to author several additional books on children's religion that were less research oriented. However, some have noted that Heller focused on the family's contribution to children's religious concepts, minimizing the influence of the church and synagogue, as well as the importance of ritual, language, and tradition.

 

Chapters

1. Introduction: Children's conceptions

2. The method: In search of the children's God

3. Religious themes

4. Age themes

5. Gender themes

6. Personality themes

7. The family: A socialization scenario

8. Common themes

9. Conclusion: Implications for childhood religion

10. Epilogue: For children only?

 

Hyde, Kenneth (1990). Religion in Childhood and Adolescence  (Religious Education Press).

This resource includes more than 500 pages succinctly summarizing approximately 1800 research studies related to children's and adolescents' religious thinking and behavior. Sixty pages of appendices provide extensive detail on methodological and conceptual aspects of the research: "The definition of religion in psychology," "Problems in the measurement of religion," "Dimensions of religion," "Religious orientations," "Religious knowledge and religious understanding," "A new analysis of Goldman's findings," "The cognitive basis of religion," "Metaphor comprehension in childhood," and "Attitude to religion--theoretical considerations."

 

Chapters

1. Religious thinking--before and after Goldman

2. Religious thinking--criticisms and new approaches

3. Children's ideas of God

4. Parental images and the idea of God

5. Religious beliefs and their development

6. Understanding parables, allegories, and myths

7. Related studies and teaching styles

8. Studies of religious attitudes

9. Religious experience

10. Personality and religion

11. The development of religiousness

12. Surveys of religious beliefs and practices

13. Religion and morality in adolescence

14. The religious influence of schools

 

Jenson, David (2005).  Graced Vulnerability: A Theology of Childhood (The Pilgrim Press).

This book is a major contribution to the theology of children, emphasizing what children are, rather than holding the traditional emphasis in theology of what they will become. The author speaks "as an adult claimed by children, changed by them, and constantly in relation with them" (p. xiv). The vulnerability of children, and need for advocacy is a major theme throughout.

 

 

Chapters

1. Consider the children

2. Fragments of vulnerability and difference

3. The vulnerable child of God

4. Vulnerability and violence

5. Practices of vulnerability

6. To change and become like children

 

May, Scottie; Posterski, Beth; Stonehouse, Catherine; and Cannell, Linda. (2005).  Children Matter: Celebrating Their Place in the Church, Family, and Community  (Eerdmans).

An immensely valuable new resource--perhaps the finest book on children's ministry available. Provides not only biblical, theological, and developmental referents for ministry, but also outlines how ministry varies by context and describes the most important models of ministry available today. All four authors are leading experts in the field of children's ministry who are very familiar with the best research in this area.

 

Chapters

1. Metaphors shape ministry

2. Children in the Bible

3. Theology and children

4. The child's development

5. Historical roots of ministry with children

6. Children in context

7. Children in the faith community

8. Children in the family

9. Children and story

10. Children and curriculum

11. In worship

12. In learning and teaching

13. In specialized ministries

14. All children matter

15. In leadership

 

Mercer, Joyce. (2005).  Welcoming Children: A Practical Theology of Childhood. (Chalice Press).

Much of Western society is driven by a consumer mentality, and that view of humanity extends significantly to children. While the church might be expected to resist this trend, considerable evidence is provided to indicate that the church also perceives children as consumers. Mercer makes the case that churches should resist the consumer mentality, and emphasize the inherent value of children. The church must work to include children.

Miller-McLemore, Bonnie. (2003).  Let the Children Come: Reimagining Childhood from a Christian Perspective. (Jossey-Bass).

An important book on nuture of children in home and church, highlighting a variety of perspectives on children. The author is a prominent feminist theologian, and this book constitutes a "bridge between historical and contemporary theological understanding" [from the slipcover of the book].

 

 

Chapters

1. Depraved, innocent, or knowing: History reinvents childhood

2. Popular psychology: Children as victims

3. Christian faith: Children as sinful

4. Christian faith: Children as gift

5. Feminism and faith: Children as the labors of love

6. Feminism and faith: Children as agents

7. Care of children as a religious discipline and community practice

 

Morgenthaler, Shirley (Ed.) (1999). Exploring Children's Spiritual Formation (Pillars Press).

This volume edited by Morgenthaler is marked by clarity and precision. Strongly Lutheran in its perspective, most of the conceptual and methodological issues raised are important regardless of denomination or religious orientation of children. Specialists from a wide variety of disciplines participated in two conferences, which produced this book of readings, as well as commentary following each major section provided by Morgenthaler. Available from Concordia University Bookstore, River Forest, IL.

Chapters

1. Examining paradigms: A review of the literature--Shirley Morgenthaler

2. Right relationships research: A review of the literature--Gertrude Gobbel

3. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

4. Things that matter in the lives of children: Looking at children's spiritual development from a developmentalist perspective--Stanley Graven

5. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

6. The philosophic roots of research into children's spirituality--William Lehmann

7. Christians make better researchers--John Isch

8. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

9. Lutheran perspectives on research in children's spirituality--Gary Bertels

10. Communicating about faith: A response--Paul Andrews

11. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

12. Sociological perspectives on children's ethical development--Peter Becker

13. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

14. Cultural dynamics in perspective--Dwayne Mau

15. The perpetual pursuit of the impossible--Emily Moore

16. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

17. Discovering congregational culture--James Wind

18. Clarifying congregational culture--Kenneth Heintz

19. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

20. Children's spirituality and family relationships--David Anderson

21. Issues for families and spirituality--Bonnie Bondavalli

22. Discussion--Shirley Morgenthaler

23. Research possibilities and interests--Shirley Morgenthaler, Peter Becker, and Constance Seraphine

24. Conceptual and methodological issues in research on children's spiritual development--John O'Hara and Kenneth Inskeep

25. Refining perspectives--Shirley Morgenthaler

 

Morgenthaler, Shirley; Peter Becker; Gary Bertels (1999). Children in Worship: Lessons from Research (Pillars Press).

The Center for the Study of Children's Ethical Development at Concordia University (River Forest, Illinois) initiated a multi-phase study of children's spiritual formation and congregational life in the three largest Lutheran denominations in the United States. Phase one of this research study is represented in the present volume in which one hundred local congregations were studied by a team of researchers. The chapters by Peter Becker were some of his last writings before his untimely death.

Chapters

1. Studying children in worship--Peter Becker

2. Analyzing the environment--Shirley Morgenthaler

3. Analyzing the communal rites--Gary Bertels

4. Planning from a child's perspective--Peter Becker

5. Lessons from research--Shirley Morgenthaler

 

Oser, Fritz; Paul Gmunder (1991). Religious Judgement: A Developmental Approach (Religious Education Press).

Fritz Oser is at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, and is well-known for his theory of religious judgement [the British spelling is used]. One of the most distinctive aspects of Oser's theory is that it suggests that religious development, and thus children's spirituality, is different from other areas of development in that there is a distinctive mental structure that accounts for spiritual experience. Many prior researchers assumed--explicitly or implicitly--that religious thinking and experience is exactly like all other thought and experience. Note that the British spelling of judgment is used in the title and chapters.

 

Chapters

1. On the development of the religious personality

2. The structure of religious reasoning as mother-structure

3. Stages of religious judgement

4. Measuring religious judgement

5. On the range of structures of religious cognition

6. Educational implications and applications of the theory of religious judgement (with Anton Bucher)

7. Validation of the stage-concept of religious judgement

 

Oser, Fritz; George Scarlett (Eds.)(1991). Religious Development in Childhood and Adolescence (Jossey-Bass).

This volume is part of the Jossey-Bass Education Series titled "New Directions for Child Development," which involves quarterly publication of a book on selected topics (this is the Summer, 1991 issue, number 52 in the series). Several major researchers contributed to this volume, coedited by W. George Scarlett who teaches child study at Tufts University in Massachusettes.

Chapters

1. The development of religious judgment--Fritz Oser

2. Stages in faith consciousness--James Fowler

3. Religious development: A psychoanalytic point of view--Ana-Maria Rizzuto

4. The development of prayer in adolescence--W. George Scarlett, Lucy Perriello

5. The role of complementarity reasoning in religious development--K. Helmut Reich

6. Adolescents' justifications for faith or doubt in God: A study of fulfilled and unfulfilled expectations--Karl Nipkow, Friedrich Schweitzer

7. Understanding parables: A developmental analysis--Anton Bucher

8. Annotated bibliography on religious development--Anton Bucher, K. Helmut Reich

 

Pottebaum, Gerard (Ed.)(1998). Exploring the Spirituality of Childhood (The Spiritual Life of Children Institute).

The First National Conference on the Spiritual Life of Children was a conference sponsored by the Human Foundations Institute. This collection of papers from the conference includes several notable scholars in education and religion, as well as discussions that took place during the conference. 

 

 

Chapters

1. When I was a child: Exploring our childhood experiences--Interfaith Dialogue Focus Group and Gerard Pottebaum

2. Our search for spirituality: What is your experience of God?--Clark Roof Wade

3. Changing family systems: The roots of spirituality--Jane P. Ward

4. Myth and ritual: The language of spirituality--Vivian G. Paley

5. Who do you say I am?--Interfaith Dialogue Focus Group and Gerard Pottebaum

 

Ratcliff, Donald (2005). Experiencing God and Spiritual Growth with Your Children (unpublished manuscript).

A book for parents, available as a download without charge, that describes children's spiritual experiences, development, and nurture from birth to the teen years. A wide variety of innovative approaches are outlined. Many research studies, including those of the author, are cited in the manuscript.

 

Chapters

1. What is Spiritual Growth in a Child?

2. Awe, Wonder, and God: Spiritual Experiences of Children

3. Baby Faith: Forming Strong Roots of Faith in Infancy

4. Crawling, Walking, and Running Toward God: Toddlers and Preschoolers

5. Salvation: Moment and Memory

6. Co-creating Life in God: You, Your School-Aged Children, and God

7. Telling, Acting, and Applying Bible Stories

8. Daily and Weekly Rhythms of Faith: Children's Rituals

9. Touching, Smelling, and Eating: The Biblical Holidays

10. Communion or Commotion: Children, Parents, and Church

11. Handel's Messiah and Visiting a Sheep Farm: Family Field Trips

12. Potential Faith Partners: Brothers, Sisters, Friends, Grandparents, and Schools

Ratcliff, Donald (Ed.)(1988). Handbook of Preschool Religious Education (Religious Education Press).

[From the back cover] Handbook of Preschool Religious Education is an exhaustive and comprehensive treatment of the entire field of early childhood religious education.

 

 

 

Chapters

1. The cognitive development of preschoolers--Donald Ratcliff

2. Physical, language, and social-emotional development--Charlotte Wallinga and Patsy Skeen

3. The Religious Concepts of Preschoolers--Kalevi Tamminen, Renzo Vianello, Jean-Marie Jaspard, and Donald Ratcliff

4. Preschooler Moral Development--Claity P. Massey

5. Faith Development in the Preschool Years--Romney M. Moseley and Ken Brockenbrough

6. Religion and Socialization--Mary Anne Fowlkes

7. How to Teach: Foundations, Processes, Procedures--James Michael Lee

8. Creativity and Teaching Concepts of God--E. Paul Torrance and J. Pansy Torrance Lee

9. Stories, Enactment, and Play--Donald Ratcliff

10. Planning, Evaluation, and Research--David Starks and Donald Ratcliff

 

Ratcliff, Donald (Ed.)(1992). Handbook of Children's Religious Education (Religious Education Press).

[From the back cover] Handbook of Children's Religious Education is a thorough and comprehensive treatment of the religious education of children ages six to twelve.

 

 

 

Chapters

1. Characteristics of School-Aged Children--Cary A. Buzzelli

2. Faith Development and the Language of Faith--Jerome W. Berryman

3. The Religious Concepts of Children--Renzo Vianello, Kalevi Tamminen, and Donald Ratcliff

4. Moral and Affective Dimensions of Childhood--Jerry Aldridge and Jean Box

5. Lifestyle Content and the Family--Blake J. Neff and Judith W. Seaver

6. Social Contexts of Children's Ministry--Donald Ratcliff

7. Discipline, Development, and Spiritual Growth--Cary A. Buzzelli and Kevin Walsh

8. General Procedures of Teaching Religion--James Michael Lee

9. Specific Procedures of Teaching Religion--Jolene Pearl

10. Assessment, Placement, and Evaluation--Kalevi Tamminen and Donald Ratcliff

Ratcliff, Donald (Senior Ed.) (2004). Children's Spirituality: Christian Perspectives, Research, and Applications  (Cascade/Wipf and Stock).

Robert Coles comments on this book: "Here are essays on young people that tell of their various ways of seeking God's presence in their ongoing lives--an aspect of faith observed and discussed with intelligence and sensitivity. Here is a book many of us will greatly value--its wisdom an important presence in our effort to understand children."

 

 

Chapters

1. Identifying Children's Spirituality, Walter Wangerin's Perspectives, and an Overview of this Book--Donald Ratcliff with Scottie May

2. Children and Mature Spirituality--Jerome Berryman

3. Historical Perspectives on Children in the Church: Resources for Spiritual Formation and a Theology of Childhood Today--Marcia Bunge

4. Biblical Perspectives on Developmental Grace for Nurturing Children's Spirituality--Klaus Issler

5. Unless You Become as One of These: Biblical Perspectives on Children's Spirituality--Shelley Campagnola

6. Christian Perspectives on Children's Spirituality: Social Science Contributions?--Rebecca Nye

7. A Sociocultural Perspective on Children's Spiritual Development--Wendy Haight

8. Exploring Scientific and Theological Perspectives on Children's Spirituality--Eugene Roehlkepartain

9. Children in Wesleyan Thought--Catherine Stonehouse

10. Children's Spiritual Experiences and the Brain--Scottie May and Donald Ratcliff

11. How Shall We Study Children's Spirituality?--Chris J. Boyatzis and Babette T. Newman

12. The Co-construction of Spiritual Meaning in Parent-Child Communication--Chris J. Boyatzis

13. The Child's Concept of God--Joyce E. Bellous, Simone de Roos, and William Summey

14. From Doctrine to Practice: The Influence of the Doctrine of Original Sin on Puritan Child-Rearing--Timothy Sisemore

15. Six Children Seeking God: Exploring Childhood Spiritual Development in Context--Dana Hood

16. Children in Congregations: Congregations as Contexts for Children's Spiritual Growth--Joyce Ann Mercer, Deborah L. Matthews, and Scott Walz

17. Nurturing Children's Spirituality in Intergenerational Christian Settings--Holly Catterton Allen

18. A Narrative of Children's Spirituality: African American and Latino Theological Perspectives--Karen Crozier and Elizabeth Conde-Frazier

19. Narrative and the Moral Education of the Christian Child--Victoria Ford and Esther Wong

20. The Ecology and Social Dynamics of Childhood Spirituality--James Estep and Lillian Breckenridge

21. Using Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Faith-Based Early Childhood Settings--Joyce Ruppell

22. Spiritual Influences in Helping Children to Cope with Life Stressors--Sara Pendleton, Ethan Benore, Katherine Jonas, Wendy Norwood, and Carol Herrmann

23. Ministering to Unchurched, Urban, At-risk Children--Gary Newton

24. Looking Back, Looking Forward: Reflections on the Conference and Anticipation of the Future--Kevin E. Lawson

Appendix 1: Children's Ministry Models--Scottie May and others  

Appendix 2: Theological Life of the California Child--Earl Barnes with Miss Ora Boring (published 1892)  

 

Reich, K. Helmut; Fritz Oser; W. George Scarlett (Eds.) (1999). Psychological Studies on Spiritual and Religious Development: Being Human, the Case of Religion, Volume 2 (Pabst).

This book is one of a series published by Pabst Science Publishers in Lengerich, Germany, and is published in English but rather difficult to locate, even though a Scottsdale, Arizona outlet is mentioned (the company web page is located at http://www.pabst-publishers.de). Particularly noteworthy are contributions by Scarlett, Nye, Smoliak, and Oser's recent work on wisdom.

Chapters

1. Spiritual and religious development: Transcendence and transformations of the self--K. Helmut Reich, Fritz Oser, and W. George Scarlett

2. Spiritual development: Lessons from Lincoln--W. George Scarlett

3. The existential human situation: Spirituality as the way of coping--Pawel Socha

4. Relational consciousness and the spiritual lives of children: Convergence with children's theory of mind?--Rebecca Nye

5. What children's narratives tell us about their developing thoughts of God--Wendy Smoliak

6. Meaning-making and miracles: The creative inconsistency--Ingrid Josephs and Jaan Valsiner

7. Religious emotions and religious development--Hartmut Beile

8. Post-modern religiousness: A prerogative of the "New Religions?"--Brigitta Rollett and Anita Kager

9. Wisdom: An action-oriented approach--Fritz Oser, Dominik Schenker, and Maria Spychiger

 

Rizzuto, Ana-Maria (1979). The Birth of the Living God (University of Chicago Press).

This is a classic study cited by many researchers, involving psychoanalytic perspectives of how the concept of God develops in childhood. Heavily influenced by Freudian theory and object relations theory, the research involved a pilot study at Boston State Hospital and clinical research with twenty psychiatric residents at a private hospital.

 

 

Chapters

1. Introduction

2. Freud

3. Beyond Freud

4. The representation of objects and human psychic functioning

5. Introduction to the clinical research

6. A God without whiskers

7. A God in the mirror

8. God, the enigma

9. God, my enemy

10. Conclusions

 

Robinson, Edward (1977/1983). The Original Vision: A Study of the Religious Experience of Childhood (Harper San Francisco).

In the 1960's and 1970's Sir Alister Hardy, the director of the Religious Experience Research Unit at (Manchester College, Oxford) began collecting accounts of religious experience, and he eventually published The Spiritual Nature of Man which summarized major themes he found in those accounts. His successor was Edward Robinson, who concentrated his attention on the religious experiences of childhood as recalled by adults. The methodology employed is related to cultural anthropology, and suggests a significant alternative to cognitively oriented developmental approaches to religion and faith.

Chapters

1. What is childhood?

2. Vision and reality

3. "Nature mysticism"

4. The child that I used to be

5. The web of home

6. "Let 'x' equal the unknown"

7. Church God

8. "My own special reality"

9. Death

10. Morality and significance

11. Something more

 

Roehlkepartain, Eugene; King, Pamela; Wagener, Linda; Benson, Peter (editors). (2005).  The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence (Sage).

A landmark volume that summarizes most of the key research work to date on children's spirituality, with chapters written primarily by the researchers involved. The Forward is written by Robert Coles, and the board of review is essentially a Who's Who of Children's Spirituality.

 

 

 

Chapters

1. Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence: Moving to the Scientific Mainstream--Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, Peter L. Benson, Pamela Ebstyne King, and Linda M. Wagener

2. Toward a Developmental Analysis of Religious and Spiritual Development--W. George Scarlett

3. Stages of Faith From Infancy Through Adolescence: Reflections on Three Decades of Faith Development Theory--James W. Fowler and Mary Lynn Dell

4. Spiritual Development: Intersections and Divergence With Religious Development--David Hay, K. Helmut Reich, and Michael Utsch

5. On Making Humans Human: Spirituality and the Promotion of Positive Youth Development--Richard M. Lerner, Amy E. Alberts, Pamela M. Anderson, and Elizabeth M. Dowling

6. Philosophical Issues in Spiritual Education and Development--Hanan A. Alexander and David Carr

7. Measurement and Research Design in Studying Spiritual Development--Richard L. Gorsuch and Donald Walker

8. The Demographics of Spirituality Among Youth:  International Perspectives--Laura H. Lippman and Julie Dombrowski Keith

9. The Changing Global Context of Adolescent Spirituality--Suman Verma and Madelene Sta. Maria

10. Spiritual and Religious Pathology in Childhood and Adolescence--Linda M. Wagener and H. Newton Malony

11. Non-Western Approaches to Spiritual Development Among Infants and Young Children: A Case Study From West Africa--Alma Gottlieb

12. Spiritual Experiences and Capacities of Children and Youth--Tobin Hart

13. A Neuropsychological Perspective of Spiritual Development--Andrew B. Newberg and Stephanie K. Newberg

14. Attachment and Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence--Pehr Granqvist and Jane R. Dickie

15. Cognitive-Cultural Foundations of Spiritual Development--Carl N. Johnson and Chris J. Boyatzis

16. The Relationship Between Moral and Spiritual Development--Lawrence J. Walker and Kevin S. Reimer

17. The Relationship Between Spiritual Development and Civic Development--Thomas M. Donnelly, M. Kyle Matsuba, Daniel Hart, and Robert Atkins

18. The Relation Between Spiritual Development and Identity Processes--Janice L. Templeton and Jacquelynne S. Eccles

19. Personality and Spiritual Development--Teresa T. Kneezel and Robert A. Emmons

20. Ethnicity, Culture, and Spiritual Development--Jacqueline S. Mattis, Muninder K. Ahluwalia, Sheri-Ann E. Cowie, and Aria M. Kirkland-Harris

21. The Family as a Context for Religious and Spiritual Development in Children and Youth--Chris J. Boyatzis, David C. Dollahite, and Loren D. Marks

22. Mentors, Friends, and Gurus: Peer and Nonparent Influences on Spiritual Development--Kelly Dean Schwartz, William M. Bukowski, and Wayne T. Aoki

23. Congregations: Unexamined Crucibles for Spiritual Development--Eugene C. Roehlkepartain and Eboo Patel

24. Religious Coping by Children and Adolescents: Unexplored Territory in the Realm of Spiritual Development--Annette Mahoney, Sara Pendleton, and Heidi Ihrke

25. Resilience and Spirituality in Youth --Emily Crawford, Margaret O'Dougherty Wright, and Ann S. Masten

26. Delinquency: A Quest for Moral and Spiritual Integrity?--Ronnie Frankel Blakeney and Charles David Blakeney

27. Spiritual Development and Adolescent Well-Being and Thriving--Pamela Ebstyne King and Peter L. Benson

28. Religion, Spirituality, and Children's Physical Health--Doug Oman and Carl E. Thoresen

29. Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy With Youth: A Child-Centered Approach--Lisa Miller and Brien Kelley

30. Bridging the Gap: From Social Science to Congregations, Researchers to Practitioners--Dean Borgman

31. Integrating Spiritual Development Into Child and Youth Care Programs and Institutions--Daniel G. Scott and Douglas Magnuson

32. Bridging to Public Policy and Civil Society--Steve Hornberger, Roberta Furtick Jones, and Robert L. Miller Jr.

33. Childhood Spirituality: Strengthening the Research Foundation--Donald Ratcliff and Rebecca Nye

34. The Science of Child and Adolescent Spiritual Development: Definitional, Theoretical, and Field-Building Challenges--Peter L. Benson

 

Roehlkepartain, Eugene (1993). The Teaching Church (Abingdon).

While this fine book relates to church-based Christian education in general, many sections summarize research conducted by the Search Institute on children's ministry and church ministry that significantly influences children's lives. During the summer of 2003 the Search Institute received a major research grant to conduct additional research of the spiritual lives of children, a long-term project to be coordinated by Eugene Roehlkepartain.

 

 

Chapters

1. Moving Christian education to center stage

2. In search of faith maturity

3. Nurturing congregational and denominational loyalty

4. Promoting faith through congregational life

5. How churches shape their educational ministries

6. Managing an effective Christian education program

7. Leaders who make a difference

8. What should we study?

9. How do we study?

10. Faith in action: Educating for service and justice

11. Nurturing faith in families

12. Where have all the people gone?

Sisemore, Timothy (1998). A Theology of Children (unpublished).

Dr. Sisemore's manuscript constitutes a conservative Reformed theology of children. Sisemore concludes that children have both positive qualities reflecting the image of God as well as a bent towards misbehavior and breaking rules. Some of Sisemore's theology is included in his book Of Such is the Kingdom (2000, Christian Focus Publishers), although simplified and shortened for lay readers.

Chapters (from Of Such is the Kingdom)

1. Christian parenting in a hostile world

2. Blessings, not burdens

3. Innocents or devils?

4. How and when can children be saved?

5. Cultivating godly children: What's a parent to do?

6. The school of life: Parents are teachers

7. Disciplining disciples

8. Teaching children to honour their parents

9. Where do children fit in the church?

10. Children and the sacraments

11. From the mouths of babes

12. The spiritual nurture of children in the church

13. Practical steps towards change

 

Stonehouse, Catherine (1998). Joining Children on the Spiritual Journey (Baker).

Catherine Stonehouse has summarized many different areas of research related to children's spirituality. She includes an introduction to Jerome Berryman's Godly Play approach, on which she has conducted research for several years with both rural Kentucky and urban Toronto children--see her "Knowing God in Childhood" in the Christian Education Journal, Vol. 5NS, No. 2, Fall, 2001.

 

Chapters

1. Preparing for the journey

2. Children in the Bible

3. Foundations for faith

4. Young learners in action

5. The child's view on right and wrong

6. Knowing God in childhood

7. Growing in faith

8. Setting the stage for knowing God

9. Pilgrims together on the journey

 

Strommen, Merton (Ed.)(1971). Research on Religious Development: A Comprehensive Handbook (Hawthorn).

This classic, now more than thirty years old, includes notable contributions from many scholars who have become well-known in education, religion, sociology and other disciplines. More than 900 pages in length, it remains without question the most complete summary of the literature prior to 1970, the only serious rival in more recent years being the summary of the literature by Kenneth Hyde (see above).

Chapters

1. Psychological interpretations of religious experience--Peter Bertocci</font>

2. Religious development in historical, social, and cultural context--Martin Marty

3. Two issues in measuring religion--James Dittes

4. Some developmental tasks in Christian education--Andre Godin

5. Delayed gratification: A psychological and religious analysis

6. Development of internal moral standards in children--Martin Hoffman

7. The religious effects of parochial education--Andrew Greeley and Galen Gockel

8. The role of religion in public education--Lawrence Little

9. Religion, prejudice, and personality--James Dittes

10. Religion and psychological health--Russell Becker

11. Psychological characteristics of religious professionals--James Dittes

12. Religion and mental disorder: A research perspective--Bernard Spilka and Paul Werme

13. Research on religious beliefs: A critical review--Bernard Spilka

14. Intense religious experience--Walter Clark

15. Religious practices--David Moberg

16. Motivation and religious behavior--Annette Walters and Ritamary Bradley

17. The development of religious understanding in children and adolescents--David Elkind

18. The religion of youth--Robert Havighurst and Barry Keating

19. Changes in religious beliefs of college students--Clyde Parker

20. Religious development in adulthood--Paul Maves

21. Research in program development--Leonard Sibley

22. Selected problems in the study of religious development--Allen Barton

 

Tamminen, Kalevi (1991). Religious Development in Childhood and Youth: An Empirical Study (Finnish Academy of Science).

Kalevi Tamminen has spent much of his professional life studying the religious experiences, beliefs, concepts, and activities of Finnish children. Now in retirement, he preserved his legacy in one of the few English translations of his work. Published by the Finnish Academy of Science, this is a volume that includes Tamminen's methodological insights as well as what he discovered about children's religious development and spirituality. This book is not distributed through normal outlets, but can be obtained from the distributor (email address: tiedustelut@akateeminen.com) or from the publisher (web page: http://www.akateeminen.com).

Chapters

1. The starting points of the study

2. Religious experiences

3. Religious beliefs

4. Religious thinking

5. How does the concept of the Bible change?

6. The concept of God

7. The concept of Jesus' person and mission

8. The concept of prayer

9. The concept of death and life after death

10. The "effects" of religion: Religiousness and the day-to-day life of children and young people

11. The main results of the study

 

Weber, Hans-Ruedi (1979/1994). Jesus and the Children (Treehaus).

A key study of children and the ministry of Jesus.