Activity: Models of Transformation: The Puppet Show

Objective(s): illustrate stages of Christian maturity

Time: 2 minutes of preparation, 5 minutes of presentation, 15 minutes to debrief/lecture

Materials: a few sock puppets, a sheet spread between chairs (or something similar) to create a sock-puppet “stage,” a prepared script

Sometimes a good stereotype helps us understand the dangers of certain ways of approaching things. And a sock-puppet play is a good way of expressing stereotypes, so I write out a script expressing a dialogue between classic approaches to sanctification or Christian growth: the Reformed (slow growth rooted in faith), the Wesleyan (entire sanctification), the charismatic (baptism in the Spirit), the mystical (stages prior to an infused contemplation), and/or other models depending on the needs of the class. I write the script as if the characters are all eager to mature in Christ but are in dispute about how to get there. What is the proper process? I try to use key language from each approach and to bring up the key issues that are front-and-center in discussion about the process of sanctification and Christian maturity. (For an example of this sock-puppet lecture, see https://vimeo.com/123691873.)

Then in class (usually before my lecture on the topic), I state that we will have a play about the topic. I tell them that the script is already written, so they don’t have to invent their lines. I show them the puppets and their parts. Students then volunteer to use the puppets. I give them some time to review the scripts and get set up (class break). We have the presentation and and then evaluate the puppets’ discussion in terms of the material presented in A Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation. I address, in lecture fashion, any points that were not brought up in the class discussion.

---

Assignment Set 1

Celebrating the Formational Seasons of Life

One of the aims of this course is to equip students to engage in activities and exercises related to Christian spiritual disciplines. Obviously there is not enough time in this class to let you explore seasons in terms of the annual rhythms of earth or church. But you can explore daily and weekly rhythms. First, decide how you will join with church and earth to observe the seasons of the soul. Choose a set of practices, moods, and so on that appropriately link the three distinct stages of church rhythm (repentance, resurrection, ordinary) with your own faith and faith community. Continue this practice for a full seven days (including Sunday, but you may want to start on a Tuesday or a Friday in order to experience this progression uniquely regarding how each day’s mood influences the rest). Then, when you are finished, write a brief summary of your experience addressing each of the following:

• Briefly describe what you chose to do. (For example, “I decided to celebrate weekly rhythms by making Friday a fast day [no meat, sugar, or internet] and a time where I reflect [reading the Ten Commandments and reviewing my week, confessing to God and my best friend], and by making a special point of taking Communion on Sunday and going out to lunch afterward. Monday through Thursday, I gave five minutes at the end of each evening thinking about the ordinary things of the day in light of both repentance and resurrection.”)

• Tell me what happened in the experience. (For example, “I started the week with a reading of the Commandments, but I found myself thinking of suffering in general, the pain in the world. I didn’t know what to do on Saturday, and that kind of brought me to thinking about how our world does not know what to do with its pain. Then it felt really neat to go to church, take Communion, and realize that Christ does bring renewal to it all. It gave me new hope for the stuff I had to face that week.”) Pay attention to your context, the content, and the consequences of the exercise. See if you can notice if or where you perceived any indication of the presence or activity of God in the midst of your rhythm.

• Finally, provide a short, integrative reflection on your experience. This is meant to be an exercise in formation and season. How were you (or could you be) formed through this kind of celebration of seasons? Draw from at least one of your resources for the week. Conclude with any ideas, thoughts, lessons, or questions you have gained from this exercise regarding the meaning of rhythm and season in Christian formation.

---

Assignment Set 2

1. Academic—Spiritual Formation in Diverse Contexts

As mentioned in the chapter, paying attention to contexts is important. But what does spiritual formation look like in different contexts? One element of context is our ethnic/social culture. The articles below present aspects of spiritual formation from multicultural perspectives. Jung Eun Sophia Park’s article reflects on the practice of cross-cultural spiritual direction in light of her experience as a Korean spiritual director and one who works with various ethnicities. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier’s contribution to A Many-Colored Kingdom: Multicultural Dynamics for Spiritual Formation speaks from the perspective of a Hispanic teacher and explores what multicultural living (and formation) could become by examining the images of hospitality and shalom. In the third sample, R. Neal Siler writes about the practice of spiritual direction in the African American community. Your assignment is simply to compare these three articles and ask yourself what is similar and what is different in Christian spiritual formation between people with cultural differences. (I could have given you examples of people from different denominations, different genders, different stages of growth, and so on.) How do people interact with the elements of formation (agent, process, means) that come from different cultural backgrounds? Write a brief summary of what you discovered while reading and prayerfully reflecting on these articles.

Park, Jung Eun Sophia. “Cross-Cultural Spiritual Direction: To Construct a Borderland.” In Embodied Spirits: Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color, edited by Sherry Bryant-Johnson, Therese Taylor-Stinson, and Rosalie Norman McNaney, 1–10. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 2014.

Conde-Frazier, Elizabeth. “From Hospitality to Shalom.” In A Many Colored Kingdom: Multicultural Dynamics for Spiritual Formation, by Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, S. Steve Kang, and Gary A. Parrett, 167–210. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.

Siler, R. Neal. “The Efficacy of Spiritual Direction in the African American Christian Community.” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 10, no. 2 (Fall 2017): 304–12.

2. Personal Assignment—My Portrait: Context, Stages, and Agents

Just as you had opportunity to reflect on your own thinking, feeling, and doing in the previous week, here you will have the chance to reflect on your context, stages, and agents. The point is simply to think about yourself—who you are—and then to see how that influences how you approach spiritual formation (your own and how you minister to others). You need not address all of these. Just see where you find yourself musing.

First, your context. Think about your culture. Where did you grow up? With whom? In what country? In an urban or rural setting? What does this say about you? What do you pay attention to because of your culture? Then think about your household, church tradition, and congregation(s). How does your history of family and church influence your way of approaching a relationship with God? Have you come close to groups that some might call “countermovements”? What was that like?

Now think about your spiritual development. Are you new to faith? Are you perhaps even unsure what faith you have? Have you been a believer for many years? Are you crawling, walking, jumping, resting? Just where are you in your faith development, and how does that influence what might be helpful or not so helpful for your own growth at this point?

Finally, think about those agents who have influenced your spiritual growth. When, where, and how has the Holy Spirit taken initiative in your life? How have you responded to the breath of the Spirit? How have you taken initiative yourself regarding your own growth in the Lord? When you think of yourself as an “agent” of your own spiritual growth, what comes to mind? What responsibilities have you embraced? Consider others. Are there key individuals or groups of people who have invested consciously in your spiritual development? What was that like? How does your configuration of agents affect your own approach to spiritual formation today?

3. Spiritual Practice—Sharing Testimonies

I don’t think we do enough sharing of testimonies. Some of us grew up telling our testimonies in a prescribed format designed to teach other people how to become saved so they could respond to a call after our testimony (and the sermon) was over. And yet God’s work and our stories are much richer than these prescribed formats can hold. And, as you have seen in the chapter, our salvation is much larger than a single event in time. We grow to appreciate the richness of the process of Christian spiritual formation by hearing others tell their stories. Yes, it is possible to recount that first entry into the faith, but it is also possible to tell other kinds of stories of our formation. What about getting a group of people together one night to share stories of conflict, or stories of healing, or stories of seeking and spiritual confusion, or stories of when our beliefs grew larger, or . . . ? Or you could just get together and share where God has been present this past month. The possibilities are endless.

So here is your assignment. Gather at least two other people for a time of storytelling and/or testimonies. You can meet at home, at a coffee shop, at a park, wherever. The point is (1) to pick a theme or topic relevant to Christian spiritual formation, (2) for each person to give a “testimony” for at least fifteen minutes, and (3) to share with each other. There should be no interrupting allowed during the testimonies. Just listen. If you want, you can choose to have a time of interaction and response after the testimonies are over (but keep the atmosphere safe). Then when it is all over, write a reflection describing what went on and what you learned about formation from this practice of sharing testimonies.

---