CHILDREN'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH

Parents Responsibility of the Spiritual Growth of Children

Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of “spiritual growth of children” in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on “spiritual growth of children” and “the responsibility of parents” in the spiritual growth and development of their children. The research analyzes several procedures through which “parents influence the spiritual growth of their children” and tries to gauge its effect on “the spiritual learning process of the children”. Finally the research describes various “programs that enable the Church” and the higher education institutes to influence “the spiritual growth and development of children” and strives to analyze its impact on children's inclination towards their religion.

Table of Contents

Introduction4

Thesis Statement5

Discussion5

Issues Governing Children's Spirituality6

Children's Theology7

Responsibility of Parents in Spiritual Education of Children8

Parents Need to Build Trust with their Children9

The Cultivation of Freedom10

Parents Must Show Interest in Child's Life10

Resilience and Spirituality11

Initiation of Spiritual Information12

Impact of Church and Higher Education Programs on Children's Spiritual Growth12

Conclusion14

References15

Parents Responsibility of the Spiritual Growth of Children

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten and explore the role of parents in spiritual growth and development of a child. This paper enlightens diverse religious dimension in light of different perceptions of children. In addition, the paper will explore the process through which the parents must educate the children about their religion in order to enhance their spiritual growth. There are several phases in the life of an individual. In each phase of life an individual is influence by several characteristic of the environment surrounding him.

According to different religious scholars, the early phase of human life is the best stage for his religious and spiritual growth and development. The parents must construct adequate measures in order to educate their children about their religion and theological fact. Over the last two decades the topic of spirituality has become very popular among people of many faith traditions, and even with those who have no religious faith. There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of books on human spirituality, as this area speaks to some of the most significant issues in life: meaning, purpose, and destiny. There is great value in serious, academically rigorous, faith-based perspectives on this topic.

While all of these streams of thought are important, this paper takes as its beginning reference the relatively neglected research-based work of psychologists, sociologists, and religious educators in the late nineteenth and twentieth century, who studied children's religion, faith, and spirituality using the simultaneously evolving methodologies of research, as scholars attempted to adapt the procedures of natural science to the study of humans. The large majority of this work reflects the analysis by developmentalists using a naturalist research paradigm and quantitative procedures, although there was a shift towards qualitative work during the most recent phase of this history.

Thesis Statement

The contemporary era has enhanced the possibilities of materialism. The external environment of a child has an excessive impact on a child as compared with the internal environment. A significant number of children become materialist or atheist ...