ACT Masters’/Doctor of Ministry, Adelaide, September 22-23, 1999. Welcome to our class! Rowland Croucher

Definitions: Spiritual theology is the search by humans of a relationship with the living God. Systematic theology is the _study_ of God and God’s ways. Moral theology is the study of ethical human behavior. Practical theology is the study of how humans enhance each others’ lives in the church and in the world… That is, Spiritual theology is an activity primarily of _heart/spirit_; other theologies of the _mind_.

Here’s a definition which arose from a conference I conducted with clergy in India: Spirituality is the search to live out our understandings of how all realities relate: enlivened, enlightened and empowered by the Spirit of God.

Implicit in these definitions: 1. Spirituality is much more than simple ‘understanding’. 2. Spirituality is _dynamic_ whereas academic theology may be _static_. 3. The life and teachings of Jesus are central to a Christian spirituality. He was critical of ‘theological exactness’ divorced from justice, compassion and faith. 4. Today, courses in spirituality seek to understand how those who are passionate about prayer and compassion view spiritual reality. In other words: is it possible to be orthodox and (spiritually) dead? The unanimous answer, from the prophets and Jesus onwards: ‘Yes’. 5. Spirituality courses tend to major more on the insights of the prophets and Jesus than creedal belief-systems or the axioms proposed by human institutions. Creeds and institutions may err: hence the ongoing quest for the _prophetic_ in Christian spirituality.

Introduction:

Because Spirituality is primarily relational, we begin with an offering to each other in this class of ourselves: who am I that I want you to know? Who is God for me?

And because Christian Spirituality is about our relationship with God, we will encourage one another in the life of prayer. (Prayer is to Spirituality what bread is to hunger). And prayer is more than verbal: it is also meditative and contemplative. Prayer is also more than a _system_: we pray as we can, not as we can’t. In our reading of the Bible, we are _under_ the Word: it is our critic; rather than _over_ the Word with us as its critic. We go deeper, rather than broader, in our reading of the Bible (which is why ‘spiritual’ people tend to linger in one phrase or verse: reading for transformation rather than information).

Topics:

1. Spirituality and the challenge of religious ‘mindsets’. (‘Was Jesus a Christian?’)

2. Spirituality and stress/burnout. (Who/where am I, and who God is for me in our life/ministry)

3. Spirituality and justice. (With Jesus we move towards others: particularly those who are ‘least, lost and last’)

4. Corporate Spirituality. (Spirituality and the Church: what does a spiritually healthy church look like?)

5. Spirituality and Leadership (particularly the notion of leadership as empowerment of others for ministry)

6. Spirituality and prayer

7. Spirituality and Spiritual Direction. (The role of others as mentors for us)

[Use the search facilities on the John Mark Ministries website for articles by Rowland Croucher and others on these topics].

Related Articles:

• PRAYER OF A HUMBLE SERVANT
• Solidarity in Weakness
• 25 LISTS OF EVERYTHING INTERESTING/IMPORTANT
• Braco’s Enchanting Gaze (what do you make of this?)
• God’s love (by Richard Rohr)

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.