Way Through The Trees
An Introduction to Faith Development
Way Through The Trees
An Introduction to Faith Development
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Publisher: SCM Press
ISBN: 9780334066644
Number of Pages: 208
Published: 31/10/2025
Width: 15.6 cm
Height: 23.4 cm
Throughout history, Christians have reached for a variety of metaphors to try and understand and explain the journey of discipleship.
The Way Through the Trees presents a case for the concept of development in faith through engagement with scripture, the Christian Tradition and modern theology. In it, Sarah Brush also offers an important introduction to some of the multiple ways of understanding faith development which predominate today – from the single trajectory approach described by Fowler or Rohr, to the cyclical pattern identified by McLaren.
Demonstrating how scripture supports the concept of faith as not a simple, one-off conversion but of continuing discipleship, The Way Through the Trees explores the way faith grows through wisdom from the Christian Tradition alongside the most significant modern models of faith development, newly categorised in three groups according to the movement of faith within the models. Through exploring the various existing models and the new narrative metaphor, and culminating in a new model which draws from all that has preceded it, the book seeks to equip people in understanding their own faith journey and support others in theirs.
The Way Through the Trees should be the new starting-point for faith development theory and practice. Sarah Brush’s forensic analysis of the breadth of the existing literature, and her innovative, organic model, offer a deeply-rooted and richly fruitful way of moving beyond linear thinking, and doing justice to the complexity and seasonality of nurturing and growing faith, all the way from seed to composting.
-- Revd Al Barrett
I’m so glad Sarah Brush took my seed of a suggestion that she develop her short and exploratory MA dissertation into a substantial book. And what a book! At a time when faith development research and theory are, perhaps, somewhat on the decline, Sarah’s book brings them back into the centre of concern for researchers, teachers and ministers alike. Wide-ranging, well-researched and tested by experience, as well as highly readable, this is set to become a go-to handbook on faith development which will be of immense value to students, scholars and practitioners. I learnt a great deal from it and expect to return to it often. Sarah’s own model of faith development as a growing tree moving through the cycle of the seasons incorporates insight from many other models, while adding new wisdom.
-- Dr Nicola Slee
