Open    Access



Erik Erikson and the Church: Corporate Worship that Sustains through Crises



Author(s)

Robert Pendergraft

Full-Text PDF XML     1022 Views

DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2017.06.001

The work of developmental psychologist Erik Erikson (1902-1994) has profound implications for understanding and ministering to the different generations represented in the church. Erikson has garnered attention from religious writers in recent years including Eric Geiger, Lee Steele, and Catherine Stonehouse because of the correlation of his work with religious thought and values. Though Scripture must remain the standard by which worship is governed, a congregation will benefit from consideration of Erikson’s work since it concretely represents the social and developmental interactions that are observable throughout the Bible and in society at large. The following paper will examine the eight life stages outlined by Erikson to discover how active participation in corporate worship meets the identity crises indicative of each stage. It will further give means by which corporate worship can be constructed to minister to those in the congregation at different life stages. Rightly understood, these crisis points should be viewed by the church as opportunities for spiritual development. When worship meets the needs of an individual going through one of the eight life crises, it can help him or her move to the next developmental stage as he or she grows toward maturity. Corporate worship is instrumental in forming the congregation as ever maturing followers of Christ and the theory of Erikson gives the local church a concrete framework to spur congregants on toward spiritual maturity.

Erik Erikson, worship, development, spiritual development, life stages