The Christian Educator's Handbook on Spiritual Formation

This handbook is a collection of essay's on various issues of christian spiritual formation & discipleship. I had this as a text at Lee University for my Spiritual Formation & Discipleship class, and largely enjoyed it. There is nothing I'd consider "great" in this book, however, there are a few good articles that are informative for those who wish to gain a good understanding of many issues today, with a nice bibliography that can lead to further research.

I used this and read it extensively for a Master-level Christian Education/Christian formation class.Highly recommended for thinking through the issues of discipleship and creating and implementing a church program to help with Christian Education and Christian Formation. The writers are Evangelical, although there's only one or two chapters I have minor disagreements with. As a book about practicals though, I don't doubt that they are not really dealing with the theology as much as they are trying to find some good practical applications. I don't believe this book will become a classic, as it does not have the "timeless" qualities of classics.The book is rather contextualized for this present timeframe, and deals with a lot of current issues. Largely, it lists a lot of practicals (like goal setting), hiring and staffing, finding the right people (e.g., director of Christian education, and other volunteers), making Christian Education/Christian Formation a priority, setting times of evaluation, and so on. There are some other issues dealt with, like home-schooling, context of Christian Education (in the family, home, church, small group, etc.).You will find this most useful if you are thinking about setting up a Christian Education or Christian formation program, or you're a seminarian studying this issue, or a lay-person thinking about the role of Christian Education and Christian formation. It's probably one of those books you'll read and put on the shelf and probably refer to once in a blue moon as needed.There are a variety of great contributors for this book, including Dallas Willard, and the two editors of the book.

The popularity of authors such as Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster and Dallas Willard, and a renewed interest in practicing age-old traditions (spiritual disciplines) have perhaps thrust the concept of spiritual formation into the collective conscience of evangelicalism - at least as a catchphrase. A collection of twenty-five essays on " . . . the nature, responsibility, and means of spiritual formation . . . " gives this book the feel of a panel discussion. This impressive panel line-up is loaded with articulate Christian thinkers who communicate their understanding of how God shapes a human soul and the work that is entrusted the Church to affirm and promote this transformation.A word of warning - this is neither a panacea nor an easy to read how-to-grow manual. Definition-wise, there is a wide array of thoughts and reflections; however, there is a commonality or theme that underscores the notion that the responsibility for the Christian is to respond to God's formation and transformation of one's soul. This book may prove useful for educators or anyone who is serious or even intrigued about growing spiritually. The various contributors to this book flush out the reality that believers need to engage the creator of their souls. As one of the writers summarizes, spiritual maturity is a gift of God. "The disciplines serve as catalysts, but [they] are not the cause of spiritual transformation."