In groundbreaking fashion Donald Capps builds on the previous work of Erik Erikson and James Fowler on the eight stages of life and faith development by focusing on the decades of life. This important modification allows developmental theory to be applied to the way people actually discuss life stages, which is in ten-year periods of peoples lives. Capps integrates the insights of psychology with those of pastoral care to show pastors and students how the decades of life impact churches and create situations and contexts for ministry.