801.515 Spiritual Formation | Booth College of Mission

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801.515 Spiritual Formation

Credits: 15

NQF Level: 5

Year: 2018

Delivery Mode

Upper Hutt Campus: School for Officer Training; School of Bible and Mission

Course Description

TThis course examines spiritual formation as the basis of Christian life and ministry. It presents a range of historical and contemporary models of personal and corporate spiritual formation and offers the student opportunities to experience and participate in a variety of spiritual disciplines with the aim of integrating them into a personal quest for Christlikeness. Historical and contemporary examples of how God guided people and how they discerned that guidance are explored, as are ways of engaging in the leadership of spiritual formation in a local Salvation Army corps.

Indicative Content

  1. What is Spiritual Formation?
  2. Biblical Images & Historical Streams
  3. Spirituality and Spiritual Formation
  4. Real Me, Real God
  5. Prayer and the Bible
  6. Prayer, Creation and Creativity
  7. Prayer and the Secret Place
  8. Prayer and the Marketplace
  9. Holiness
  10. Spiritual Disciplines
  11. Guidance & Discernment of God's Will
  12. Integrating care for the whole person - physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing
  13. Leading the spiritual formation of a Salvationist Community
  14. Personal spiritual development – The 12 Steps Retreat
  15. Service as a Spiritual Discipline

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course students will be able to:

  • Understand the relationship between traditional practices of spiritual formation in the Christian setting and their theological and Biblical roots, and, demonstrate an ability to integrate these practices into the student’s personal formation, reflecting critically on the process.
  • Evaluate different practices of spiritual formation in the communal setting with attention to both the student’s own spiritual experiences and the spiritual, cultural and other context-specific needs of a community of faith.
  • Use insights gained through the student’s experience of spiritual practices as well as their theological and Biblical understandings of them, to provide culturally and ethically appropriate leadership and direction.