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Erikson's life cycle theory and the local church

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Abstract

This paper recommends the use of Erik H. Erikson's life cycle theory to clarify the dynamics of the corporate life of the local church. To support this recommendation, it illustrates how an incipient institutional crisis in an inner-city church reflects the conflict ofinitiative vs. guilt. In the analysis of this case, the initiative vs. guilt conflict is broken down into four basic themes. Each of these themes focuses on a different form of interaction between participants in the conflict, and each theme provides specific recommendations for the resolution of the crisis. While only one of the eight life crises has been applied in this study, the paper concludes that there is genuine merit in the application of the life cycle theory to the corporate life of the church.

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Reference Notes

  1. Robert A. Evans and Thomas D. Parker, eds.,Christian Theology: A Case Study Approach (New York: Harper and Row, 1976), pp. 192–211. This case was coauthored by Robert A. Evans and Alice Frazer Evans.

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  2. Erik H. Erikson,Identity and the Life Cycle (New York: International Universities Press, 1959), pp. 74–82; andInsight and Responsibility (New York: W.W. Norton, 1964), pp. 120–122.

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  3. Erik H. Erikson,Childhood and Society, rev. ed. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1963), pp. 223–224.

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  4. Paul W. Pruyser,The Minister as Diagnostician (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 96.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Graduate Seminary, Phillips University, USA

    Donald Capps Ph.D.

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  1. Donald Capps Ph.D.
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Dr. Capps is Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Psychology of Religion at The Graduate Seminary, Phillips University, Enid, Oklahoma 73701. This article reflects research done for Dr. Capps' forthcoming book,Pastoral Care: A Thematic Approach (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1979).

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Capps, D. Erikson's life cycle theory and the local church. Pastoral Psychol 27, 223–235 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01020432

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01020432

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