In “Connections” Barbara Wendland summarizes the beliefs of James W. Fowler, an Emory University professor, on the developmental stages of faith. She describes this journey as a spiral path that goes around a mountain. We revisit the same issues over and over, but each time we do we seem them in a different way. The first two stages of faith occur in infancy and childhood. There is a pre-stage where the seeds of trust, hope, and love are planted. Then when thought and language come it brings on stage 1. Stage 2 is in elementary school years, but there are some adults who never leave this stage. It is when a person takes the beliefs and moral rules but interprets them literally. They see the world in the light of fairness, and they picture God to be like a human. Stage 3 occurs around adolescent years where they start thinking about how they experience life. They start to see God in a very deep way. They see their main authorities as custom and tradition, and what is valued by their family and friends. They don’t examine their system of beliefs and values. They are simply there in one whole package. They defend what they believe, but do not analyse them. Many Christians do not move from this stage, and churches…show more content… It most often occurs when there is a big shift in their life, such as moving out, or a change in an important relationship or job. This stage can have the feeling of being cut off from family and friends as they begin to move forward. They find identity and authority within the self at this stage, not by other people. This stage needs assurance from the church that they are in a safe place to analyze their beliefs and let go of assumptions that don’t make sense to them anymore. They also need to have mentors from stage 4 and stage 5 to meet with and discuss what they are processing. They need the church to support them and reassure them that what they are doing is good and