Spiritual Formation

Spiritual formation is central to fostering ministerial authenticity and maturity in the practice of ministry. Many things make for good ministry in the 21st century. There are abundant and varied resources across the spectrum of schools in the Boston Theological Institute that focus on spirituality and the spiritual formation of persons, particularly persons training for ministry.

Each school in the Boston Theological Institute offers a different variation in a common pattern of spirituality as shaped by the history of the churches. Schools vary as university divinity schools, schools of theology and seminaries. In general, seminaries tend to offer the most defined understanding of Christian spirituality. For example, the following might be said of Saint John’s Seminary:

Pope John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis #60:

“In its deepest identity the seminary is called to be, in its own way, a continuation in the Church of the apostolic community gathered about Jesus, listening to his word, proceeding toward the Easter experience, awaiting the gift of the Spirit for mission. Such an identity constitutes the normative ideal which stimulates the seminary in the many diverse forms and varied aspects which it assumes historically as a human institution, to find a concrete realization, faithful to the Gospel values from which it takes its inspiration and able to respond to the situations and needs of the times.” 

Good ministry is about formation. Spirituality can be defined as “a growing intimacy with God” through the “otherness” of life, marked by a transformation of consciousness (Brian McDermott): lectio divina, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio, and finally actio. It comprises the schooling of the religious imagination. It is a spiritual practice, a form of the lectio divina as appropriate for modern cultural consciousness, contemporary generational issues, imagination, desires, and faith. We are becoming something – and we have somewhere to go.

Ministry is about people. Persons, not abstract justice, are at the heart of ministry. The revolution in psychology in the twentieth century has brought many changes to the practice of pastoral ministry. Whether in patters of correlation (Anton Boisen, Seward Hiltner, and Wayne Oates), prophetic challenge (Jay Adams), or patterns of correlation in psychology and pastoral care and offers a way of reading and integration (Bernard Spilka, Richard Gorsuch, and Larry Crabb), the challenge for pastoral care – and for ministerial rhetoric – is to find the way to balance perspectives on the psyche, or soul, found in forms of Christian spirituality with the conflicting demands of culture and scientific endeavor (Armand Nicholi).

Each of the BTI schools provides resources for individual assistance and spiritual direction. See the school websites. The following may be helpful as well.

American Academy of Preaching The Academy of Preachers is a fresh initiative, underwritten by the Lilly Endowment, designed to identify, network, inspire, and support young people who sense a call to Christian preaching. See: http://www.academyofpreachers.net

Field Education and Mentored Ministry in BTI Schools

Retreat Centers in the Greater Boston Area

Resources on Sabbath Spirituality

The Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith The Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith (www.practicingourfaith.org), a Lilly Endowment project based at Valparaiso University develops resources to help contemporary people live the Christian faith with vitality and integrity in changing times.