ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on contextualized pedagogical methodology, using spiritual formation as educational method for holistic training in theological colleges. The foundation for theological colleges is holistic spirituality therefore without spiritual formation as a core study; it becomes a contradiction of theological education. Spiritual Formation helps to develop character, nurture spiritual growth, the renewal, and the revival of future church leaders, and sets them free from the encumbrances’ of the world, flesh, and satanic encroachments. Character needs modulation and this is best achieved in a complementary relationship between theological education and spiritual formation.

Transforming power is significant in shaping a humane personality whose style of church leadership is laced with servant-leadership, humility, justice, equity, fairness and compassion; attributes of Christ. Spiritual formation in theological colleges is to develop the graduates who would push for the construction of a workable paradigm for theological-spiritual awareness where the irreducibility of Scripture is fundamental to theological education; contextualization process, and contextual ecclesiology along spiritual growth. This paper’s prose is for spiritual formation in theological colleges for apostolic injunction, and spiritual exercises in producing graduates to uphold ‘Christian worldview’ in spite of hypocrisies, occultism, and fake spiritualists abound in Modern Society.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Theological education is not achieved simply within the context of academic courses; it involves spiritual formation. This is the organic process entailing the full spiritual transformation through learning, and developing relationships (with God and fellowmen). Spiritual formation in Theological colleges, and Seminaries should survey the core convictions, contentions, and concerns that have marked the theology of the Church from the Reformation till now.

Spiritual formation is rooted in the corporate prayer and public liturgy;  It then behooves on every student in the theological colleges to strive for disciplined personal spiritual life consisting of regular times for prayer, meditation, spiritual retreat and direction. God made man in His image, in His likeness and innate desire to worship Him. The Old Testament and New Testament reveal and accentuate only two important kingdoms – ‘LIGHT & DARKNESS’. This Light is the light of God, and the Darkness is the darkness of Satan. A desire to become a disciple of Jesus Christ comes from intentional spiritual transformation hence you cannot become the light of the world. You can not follow Christ’s footsteps without being spiritually formed. Satan and his demons are out to wage war with mankind. It is within Satan’s ability to launch systematic, well-organized, and non-ending assaults against theological educators and students through his vast army of co-devil workers of evil spirits. Consequently Jesus ministry on earth was principally that of attacking the dominion of Satan and delivering men and women from the power of evil – Col. 2. Spiritual Formation is therefore the liberation of people from Satan’s rule and power. Theological Colleges were born out of the revivals of the 19^th century which Edwin Orr called “the second evangelical awakening” and were the main suppliers of candidates for the new faith missions. The great evangelist, Henry Grattan Guinness – one time temperance preacher in Dublin, founded the first in 1872, the East London Institute for Home and Foreign Missions. Guinness’s address The Training of Missionaries[1] to the London Conference on Mission in 1888, spoke movingly of spiritual formation as the key to mission’s effectiveness.

2.0 CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF TERMS:

These operational terms, Modern Society, Theological Education, Spiritual Formation, and Formation are defined in this paper for the purpose of clarity.

Modern Society

Modern Society is defined as people living together in the current time.[3] A move away from spiritualism and traditional religion and toward secularism, atheism and agnosticism, are also factors in modernity (Modern Society). This is most notably seen in modern societies that have education as a top priority for citizens. Additionally, modern societies tend to have more superfluous personal possessions[4].

Theological Education

Theological Education is the training of men and women to know and serve God. It is distinguished from Christian Education in that it is usually done in preparation for special service or leadership in the Christian Church or Mission. Theological Education is not for all, usually takes place in a college or in a Theological Education programme centred beyond the Church.[5] Bible Colleges, Ministry Training Colleges, Anglican Theological Colleges and Seminaries are Theological Education.

Spiritual Formation

Spiritual Formation is the Holy Spirit inspired intentional transformation of the inner person to the character of Christ[6]. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) encapsulates the totality of Spiritual Formation. Spiritual Formation is an intentional Christian practice that has its goal the development of spiritual maturity that leads to Christ-likeness[7]. One definition of spiritual formation found in a World Council of Churches publication states “the intentional processes by which the marks of an authentic Christian spirituality are formed and integrated”[8]

3.0.    RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW

Thomas A Kempis’ Imitation of Christ[9] was not written directly on the subject, but represents the spirituality of the Brethren of the Common Life, a reform movement of the 13^th Century in what is now Holland. “Of what use is it to discourse learnedly on the trinity if you lack humility and therefore displease the trinity?” is typical of his advice to theological educators, especially in book one.

Pietism was well represented in Philip Jacob Spener’s dissatisfaction with the neo Lutheran scholasticism of Luther’s successors. It was a return to Christianity with personal experience of Christ at the centre rather than doctrinal exactitude – so the University of Wittenberg accused him of 264 doctrinal errors and proved his point. Spener’s most famous work, the Pia Desideria[10], has a whole chapter on how we should train Godly ministers to promote personal religion. It is delightfully fresh to read in the situation today, which Lessie Newbigin has described as the “Babylonian Captivity of theological education” by academia.

The “Brotherly Agreement”: penned by Ludwig von Zinzendorf for the community at Herrnhut is another Pietist document useful for colleges seeking to construct spiritual communities. Both the Pietist and Puritan concerns for “Godly Ministers” find delightful expression in a little book by Benjamin B. Warfield called The Religious Life of Theological Students[11].

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the head of the seminary of the confessing church in Finkenwalde, Germany from 1935, while the Nazis rose to power and, as was well known, eventually died at their hands. Two years after being appointed, the Gestapo closed down the college and the following year, in 1938, he wrote a beautiful little book entitled Life Together that is a description of what Christian community and spiritual life should be like in a theological school. It is simple and deep.

The largest body of literature available comes from the growing dissatisfaction with theological education (expressed by the churches and increasingly the educators themselves) as it was in the 1970s onwards, and the resultant new search for a greater emphasis on the spiritual formation of the student. This “new look” at the subject is traceable in the ATS North American seminary movement, the Roman Catholic Church, the World Council of Churches affiliated colleges across the world and the Evangelical Accrediting Movement. In 1972, an initial “Taskforce on Spiritual Direction” reported to the bi-annual meeting of the Association of American Schools. It was the first of a number of fascinating studies.  According to Graham Cheesman[12]; it painted a bleak picture, recommending a new emphasis on corporate worship and community, the evaluation of a student’s spiritual progress and, magnificently, the spiritual development of the faculty as the key. Following a significant debate in the schools, a large conference was convened in Denver in 1980 to hear a second substantial report. It tackled the great issue of the relationship of spiritual formation to the academic programme of a college and called for greater integration. In 1987, the Basic Issues Seminar took place on Theological Education as the Formation of Character. It attracted top theologians such as Tracy and Lindbeck as contributors, a sign of the growing status of the debate. However, it is the contribution of Douglas John Hall with his emphasis on grace and his re-inserting of the word “discipleship” into the debate that is most memorable. All these reports and conference papers can be read in various editions of Theological Education and, since they have certainly not been widely and deeply acted on is essential reading for today.

Soon after the Sixth World Council of Churches Assembly in Vancouver, Dr. Samuel Amirtham turned the focus of the programme for theological education towards spiritual formation. In 1987, a small but very significant workshop was held on the little island of Iona off the Scottish mainland. It produced a consultative document which triggered conferences around the world and ended in a great conference in Indonesia in 1989. All the main documents of the process are published in the book Invitation to the Feast of Life: Resources for Spiritual Formation in Theological Education[13] which should be on every theological educator’s bookshelf. It works in the three tension areas of; internal and external spirituality; academics and spiritual formation; and personal and communal spirituality. It is a pity the process is flawed by a lack of emphasis on evangelism as an expression of discipleship, but otherwise it is an important and fascinating process. The Roman Catholic seminaries have, in general, been more interested in spiritual formation than their Protestant counterparts. A good outline of the history can be found in John O’Malley’s article Spiritual Formation for Ministry; Some Roman Catholic Traditions – their Past and Present and Optatan Totius of Vatican II is interesting reading. The apostolic exhortation of Pastores Dabo Vobis[14] came about as the result of a bishop’s synod in 1990, following the period post-Vatican II which was so disastrous for priestly vocations, at least in the west. Chapter five especially founds the training of a priest in the Gospel, the life of Christ, and communion and fellowship with Him. Interestingly, it emphasizes personal human formation as an important parallel process to spiritual formation (a link Lindbeck argued against in 1987).

The growth of the evangelical accrediting movement from the 1970s to today owes much not just to the organizational skills of its founding fathers such as Paul Bowers but also to their willingness to engage with the big issues of theological education. Bruce Nicholls addressed spiritual formation in an excellent article in 1982 and in the Manifesto for the Renewal of Theological Education[15] of 1983. The manifesto was widely welcomed among evangelical schools all over the world, but a little known study by Roger Ferris in 1990 demonstrated that it had produced few changes in the schools.  Henri Nouwen taught spirituality at Yale and Harvard in the 70s and 80s and wrote 40 books (or one book 40 times) on spirituality. In Reaching Out, he addresses the issue of theological education, its current inadequacies, and suggests a new model based on the biblical idea of hospitality. It is deeply frustrating because you wonder how on earth you can work like that within our present constrictive programmes, but deeply refreshing.  Finally, there is an excellent article by Gordon T. Smith, Spiritual Formation in the Academy; a Unifying Model[16] as a conference speaker at EEAA. In it he constructs a model for understanding the place and role of spiritual formation within a school which after all that has been written in the last 40 years on the subject, is greatly needed, and excellently done. Much time is spent as theological educators reading books, articles and conference papers. If only that time could be channeled into works that address what students need in the area of spiritual formation, the ministry as tutors would be so much the richer. If this is done together as academic staff in a college, theological colleges would surely become more effective for the kingdom of Christ.

4.0.      WHOLENESS OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION

Spiritual Formation is designed to ground students in the basic spiritual principles that balance theological education with personal spirituality. Lamoureux explains the wide range of competencies and traits of spiritual formation that include conversion of mind and heart, fostering, integrative thinking, formation, promoting authentic discipleship, personal appropriation of faith and knowledge, and cultivating a spirituality of the intellectual life.[17]

The focal point of discipleship is the sov­ereignty of God. The sovereignty of God is the source from which faith is generated. In a very real way sovereignty and faith are the reverse sides of the same coin. Faith transforms sovereignty (from philosophy or theology) into reality. Faith is the character quality and an attitude of the heart or mind that causes a per­son to believe in God; this faith can only be developed through spiritual transformation given credence to the supremacy of spiritual formation. Faith is like a spiritual muscle that must be exercised through spiritual formation. In modern English, Belief is Faith and without belief or Faith in Christ, there will be no Christendom, and no theological colleges for theological education. The ma­jor consideration in determining the goals and content of spiritual formation is to honour the expectations the Church has of its priests and leaders. At the end of the theological education, worthy candidates should be recommended for ordination or other church ministries. The predetermined goals are:

1. Cultivating Communion with Christ
2. Personal Spiritual Development through articulation and practice of personal spiritual disciplines
3. Knowledge of Biblical Spiritual Warfare Principles
4. Balancing the Great Commandment with the Great Commission
5. Pursuing Holiness through Reading, meditation and practicing.
6. Practical obedience as accentuated by Banks[18]; and scholarship, training and piety.[19]

The six aforementioned goals could be grouped as the cognitive acquisition of appropriate knowledge, com­petence in required ministerial skill and personal character development. It is essential to note the formation of ministerial identity in the conceptualization of spiritual formation as integral to theological education.

Basic Methods

The basic methods implored in spiritual formation are through structured lectures and book reports. The basic objectives implored include:

1. Character building: Becoming a person whose integrity imparts holiness and credibility to Ministry.
2. Content/Conviction: Having an in-depth understanding of Spiritual theology, direction and warfare.
3. Competence: Transforming into the image of Christ through the development, articulation, and practice of a theology of personal spirituality disciplines.

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS FOR SPIRITUAL FORMATION

A minister of God that lacks an integrated ministerial training is more likely to approach the ministry like a secular job, rather than something that calls upon his/her formation spiritually. Some basics assumptions are:

1. You cannot just tell people to behave them-selves; they just have to be formed to behave themselves
2. Human beings are formable i.e. the longing for the transcendence
3. Formation includes our world and environment.
4. Formation is about paying attention and listening to one’s life
5. Conscious cooperation with what God is doing.
6. God invites you to be changed
7. Formation is not just theological but also experiential
8. Getting to know that you are the beloved of God
9. Formation is gentle invitation from God. It is not striving to be loved but knowing we are loved
10. Spiritual Formation involves the whole community of Faith.

TYPES OF SPIRITUALITY

1. Relational: Loving God completely, yourself correctly and others compassionately. God is a complex Being. Every language man uses for God is ‘Anthropomorphic’ – human  God is more than you know Him or call Him. God belongs to a different order    because He is Holy – a transcendent God. Another aspect of God is far away yet near. In   God there is no contradiction but there are things that are ‘Paradox’ but no contradiction.  Tritarian dimension (Nicene Creed & Athanasius Creed) presents what is known as the     ‘Relational’ dimension of God. It is a challenge loving a God that is complicated but God      broke the barrier himself.
2. Paradigm: Cultivating an eternal versus temporary Perspective
3. Exchanged life: Based on believers’ new identity in Christ, Who Does God says I am? Your old and new Nature; Love & Acceptance; Significance & Identity; Competence & Fulfillment; and your response to God’s Plan: Knowing, Reckoning, Yielding, New nature plus new power = transformation.
4. Motivational: Discerning the motivational gift God has assigned to you.
5. Devotional: God’s World, God’s Word, God’s Work, and God’s Ways
6. Process: This spirituality is concerned with faithfulness during the ongoing journeyrather than living from one product to the next. It also focuses on what it means to abide in         Christ and to practice his presence.
7. Warfare: This includes tearing down strongholds of the devil. The difference between deliverance and spiritual warfare is that deliverance is dealing with demonic bondages,          and getting a person set free, whereas spiritual warfare is resisting, overcoming and defeating the enemy’s lies (in the form of deception, temptations and accusations) that he       sends your way.
8. Spirit-Life: Seeks the infinite Light and the eternal Truth
9. Nurturing: Christ lived out through the Church, and through each believer. Total surrender to Christ is spiritual formation. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega of spiritual nourishment.
10. Corporate: The past decades have seen significant growth in what is called ‘workplace spirituality’ in the modern society; Spirituality and Corporate Social Responsibility;  Spirituality as a firm basis for Corporate Social responsibility.
11. Holistic: The foundation for Holistic spirituality defines ‘Spirituality’ as ‘the natural human connection with the wonder and energy of nature, cosmos and all existence; and  the instinct to explore and understand its meaning.” To celebrate the diversity and            connection; and to maintain emotional wellness and personal development through         spiritual formation.
12. Disciplined: This type of Spirituality can be developed in five ways

• Solitude, Silence and Prayer
• Journaling, study and Meditation
• Fasting, Chastity, and Secrecy
• Confession, Submission, and Guidance
• Simplicity Stewardship and Sacrifice; and Witness

5.0.      ESSENCE OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION 

Spiritual formation has always been a central concern of the best theological educators ever since Jesus walked Galilee with his disciples. The certificate in spiritual formation offers the graduates an exploration of community-grounded Christian spirituality that is rooted in scripture, theology, a history of Church tradition, reading in the spiritual classics, prayer especially warfare prayer and meditation and acquiring skills for assisting others in their spiritual growth. The course contents of Spiritual Formation enables experiential spiritual practices, and at the same time, develop skills for helping the students in their spiritual journey to maturity.

The essence is inward development of spirituality in-line with Lectio Divina practice. Lectio Divina is concerned with reading for transformation; wholesome transformation of body, soul, and spirit. A spiritual man is transformed by the Word of God, and begins to reflect the very mind of Christ. He learns to allow the Holy Spirit to totally control the inner-most parts of his life. He dies to himself, so that God is able to live His life through him, Galatians 2:20. The spiritual Man lives his life from the inside out; meaning from the internal to the external. The Spirit of God controls and allows him to live out the principles and commands of God. Without the Word, Prayer and Obedience to God’s commandments, a spiritual man easily slides to the middle chair of carnality, hence the need for spiritual formation in theological colleges. Spiritual formation in theological colleges trains a person-in-process who is eager to learn and apply the truths that Jesus is teaching him. These truths result in an ever-deepening commit­ment to a Christ-like lifestyle and a life of winning and discipling others. The new spirit in a believer needs training, and guidance through learning and education. The discipline of study is an integral part of spiritual formation. Lectures on ‘Justification by Faith’, and study of the nature and character of evil are parts of spiritual formation. These highlight the importance of class room experience in theological colleges as an important venue for spiritual formation.  Westerhoff[20] states that the major weakness of theological education is the emphasis on knowledge and skills rather than on the spiritual development of the priest and the formation of priestly character. He argues that the status as clergy lies not in the fact that they are professionals like any other profes­sionals, but that they are extraordinary persons. A professional minister is one who has acquired knowledge and developed particular skills but an ordained priest should be a sacramental person fully spiritually formed.

6.0.      CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION

The 20^th Century witnessed a phenomenal growth of what is known as the Classical Pentecostal Movement associated with spiritual formed Christians. Some Orthodox Church leaders and theologians had negative reaction towards Pentecostal in the first half of this century. Some judged Pentecostals to be emotionally disturbed, mentally limited, sociologically deprived and/or concluded that the pneumatic unction claimed by the Pentecostals was not genuine. Some have not abandoned these views and yet the ecclesiastical landscape has been sufficiently rearranged that many traditions have re-evaluated their opposition to the movement. This is due in no small part that it has spread its influence to much of world-wide Christianity. The Framework for spiritual formation in theological colleges must be careful not to go to the extreme end of western Christianity nor attempt a total Africanization of the gospel. The contemporary issues of homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, epidemics etc. that the Church has a duty to address and not leave them for NGOs can only be frontally confronted when people are spiritually formed and transformed. The contextualization endeavour is fraught with danger and difficulty that over thirty years after the term was first coined; there is still substantial confusion in contemporary scholarship.[21] The observations of Gilliland, Hesselgrave and Rommen are accurate in that varying contextualization outcomes are a result of the specific framework within which different theological perspectives are set.[22] The orientation that informed contextual theologizing is that in which the processes of acceptability or suitability of a particular contextualization outcome have usually derived from either theological judgments or novel re-constructions. The concern here is to further push the construction of a workable paradigm for contextual ecclesiology in these colleges, wherein the spiritual formation is fundamental to the contextualization process. In order words, the contextualization continuum must give priority to spiritual formation in Anglican theological colleges. It is a fact that scripture, church and context are related to one another as three concentric circles. It is in this reflection that spiritual formation in  theological colleges stands as an affirmation and corresponding appropriation of this claim.

7.0.      CHALLENGES, CONCLUSION, & RECOMMENDATIONS

CHALLENGES

Other perspectives including their environment, self-beliefs, traditions and various cultures from modern society, have initially formed students enrolled in theological colleges. They have been exposed and probably influenced by worldly values with personal views on race, gender, social class, economic class and religious diversity; so they are formed in their natural way. The previously held views lead to resistance or subversion of spiritual formation tenets.

A pedagogical challenge also lies in the task of helping students to out­-grow their naïve, ­or critical or fundamentalist piety before admission into these theological colleges. Paul Ricoeur[23] called this “second naïveté.” Students would be moving from naïve, unquestioning belief to critical faith and will feel the deprivation of their piety. Theological educators are unable to achieve total spiritual transformation in the face of conflicting cultural and societal values that reflect on truths in other religious traditions[24]. The most pressing challenge to spiritual formation in theological colleges is the consensus of con­temporary literature that theological education is in crisis with inability of these colleges to produce the desired spiritually formed church leaders.[25] The challenge, this writer notices, as a lecturer of students from the seven Anglican theological colleges in Nigeria is language barrier and adaptation. Most of these students do not understand English Language very well to be able to grasp the lecturer’s intent on spiritual formation; whereas the lecturer’s communication language is English, so also the scriptures and class notes are written in English. They can identify with the practicability but barely understand the full teachings of spiritual formation syllabus. Some of the students are fixed in their personal opinion of what spirituality means because they barely understand the core teachings in the Bible. A minimum standard of educational qualification should be required before enrolment in theological colleges. Theological colleges should not be for school drop-outs. Students must have the requisite qualification that could give them admission into other secular colleges including credit in English language. It is different from Christian Bible College where anyone can attend to learn about God and be equipped to serve in ministries or other areas in the Church. Theological colleges must become citadel for academics in theological education. In Theological colleges, spiritual formation is not just a goal among others rather it should be seen as a priority or permeation of their theological educational goals.

CONCLUSION

The paper argues the need for Theological colleges especially in Nigeria to provide deepening spirituality that is sacrosanct for future church leaders using spiritual formation for a holistic approach to theological education. This paper justifies a total paradigm shift towards the priority of spiritual formation in theological colleges because of its importance. Most denominations have their own peculiar theologies due to the history, worldview, societies and religious experiences. The contemporary developmental discourses have overtaken the Churches; examples are cases of homosexuality (gay/lesbianism), Hiv/Aids, abortion, and human trafficking etc. The NGOs have taken the opportunities of these contemporary issues as front liner campaigners. On the contrary the church leaders rather than impact on the societies on these germane issues are put under pressure by the NGOs to conform to the demands of the NGOs. Some of these contemporary issues especially homosexuality within priesthood led to formation of GAFCON. The participants in the Global Anglican future met in the land of Jesus’ birth and made what is called “The Jerusalem Declaration”. GAFCON began in 2008 when moral compromise, doctrinal error and the collapse of biblical witness in parts of the Anglican communion had reached such a level that the leaders of the majority of the world’s Anglicans felt it was necessary to take a united stand for truth.[26] The peculiar theologies of churches’ include the reality and existence of the devil and demons, the efficacy of curses, the practical omnipotence of God, the efficacy of prayer and fasting, faith-healing, exorcism and pneumatology (emphasis on the activities of the Holy Spirit) and these are part of the challenges of the Modern Society.

Spiritual formation as a compulsory course in theological colleges will help to implement a new vision to resuscitate a meaningful theological awakening in the Universal Church. The Theological-Spiritual Formation Framework for a Biblical and Contextual Ecclesiology in theological colleges is very important. The early Christians possessed contextual presuppositions that enabled them to maintain the essence of biblical truth while applying this truth to specific place and people. Whether in the misunderstanding of the Christian way of life (Corinth and Rome), or in the inability to postulate the starting-point of a new paradigm of redemptive history (Jerusalem), apostolic responses negotiated the delicate balance of context and Scripture in such a way that nothing of the essence of Christian truth is ever omitted in the contextualization process. The clarion call in the success of Spiritual formation in theological colleges is the growth continuum of the Church and the establishment of a theological-spiritual formation framework not only for comprehending biblical truth but also for manifesting an authoritative base in the contextualization process. Cultural contextualization at times is needed for things to work well in the modern society. Culture is the integrated system of acquired behavioural patterns which are characteristic of the members of a society and which are not the result of biological inheritance[27].

The adaptation of compulsory spiritual formation in  theological colleges is an assurance of spiritual renewal and growth. The Church is called to respond to the challenges of the African world such as entrenched poverty, corruption, ill-health; spread of epidemics, homosexuality and importantly the breakdown of core-values, cultural and social systems that require a spirit-filled Assembly to arrange their members in order to confront these contemporary issues. Spiritual formation fully incorporated in theological colleges will actualize the growth of the Church

RECOMMENDATIONS

Spiritual Formation must be a separate faculty or department in theological colleges. The spiritual standards of students must be very high. Students must be spiritually formed to live exemplary Christian lives when they graduate. A hunger for the fullness of the Holy Spirit is to be instilled in them to an extent that a student who is not ready to conform to the Christian spiritual standards of the colleges must be expelled. Theological educators must also be subjected to spiritual formation. To this extent, there must be a ‘Dean of Spiritual Formation’ or ‘Head of Spiritual Formation Department’. Devotional training is one of the most important parts of the curriculum. The first lesson in this subject area trains the student from God’s Word in how to manage the resource of time. PSM Aid is hinged on a tripod of three parts; one part deals with the students’ personal devotions – day by day spending time with God, preparing their hearts to walk with Him, and receiving direction for what God wants them to do during the day. The second part focuses on the basics of the Christian life; Bible reading, Bible study/meditation, Prayer, Scripture Memory, Witnessing, Follow-up, and Caring for God’s temple, the body of Christ. The final part is a time management aid on which students make out a ‘do list’ rearranging their activities in keeping with Biblical priorities.

The central truth is a call to Discipleship. Each student would be attached to a mentor, who will use evaluation system to record the progress report of the student. This might or might not replace academic examination. The student must meet with the mentor at least 5 times in a semester. The mentor then gives progress report on spiritual growth of the student to the Head of Spiritual Formation Department. Jesus was very clear about His standards for discipleship. Certain things are to characterize the life of every follower of Christ; without these, Jesus said, a man could not be His disciple. A disciple is characterized by a continuance living of his life in the Word of God – John 15;5. So the initial spiritual formation starts with the teacher – the theological educators. The learning progress of the disciples is not evaluated by their retention of information or knowledge taught rather it is to be demonstrated in their daily living.

 

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Warfield, Benjamin, Breckinridge, The Religious Life of Theological Students, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P& R   Publishing, 1992),

Westerhoff, J. H., Theological education and models for ministry, (Saint Luke’s Journal of Theology, 1982), 25

Wilhoit, James C.,& Howard, Evan B., Discovering Lectio Divina: Bringing Scripture into Ordinary Life, (IVP Books, 2012)

http://www.htpp://ask.com

www.http://theologicaleducation.org

www.http://en.m.wikipedia.org

www.http://fca.net/about

Foot Notes

[1] H. Grattan Guinness, The Training of Missionaries, an address given by Rev H. Grattan Guinness, on the first day of the General Missionary Conference, June 1888, http://theologicaleducation.org/2010/09/29/the-training of-missionaries-by-grattan-guinness-june-1888, accessed 11 April, 2015

[2] Efforts to grow and develop the church in lands outside of the British Isles began with the society for Promoting    Christian knowledge (1698) and Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (1701) but received a significant boost from the Church Mission Society (1799); J. Gordon, Melton, Encyclopedia of Protestantism, (Infobase Publishing, 2005), p.28

[3] YourDictionary definition and usage example, copyright @2015 by LoveToKnow Corp, yourdictionary.com

[4] http://www.htpp://ask.com

[5] www.http://theologicaleducation.org

[6] J. O., Soboyejo, working definition in her class notes @ 2014

[7] http://www.http:/En.m.wikipedia.org

[8] S. Amirtham, & R.P. Pryor (Eds), Resources for Spiritual formation in the theological education, (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1989), p.17

[9] Thomas, A. Kempis, The limitation of Christ, (Google eBook, Letcetera Publishing, Jan 01, 2015) “Without the Way, there is no going, Without the Truth, there is no knowing, Without the Life, there is no living.”Thomas A. Kempis

[10] Philip, Jacob, Spener, Pia Desideria, trans. Theodore G. Tappert (Phladelphia, PA:Fortress Press, 1964), pp.87  122

[11] Benjamin, Breckinridge Warfield, The Religious Life of Theological Students, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P& R Publishing, 1992), an address to seminary students by one of the America’s greatest theologians on how to approach their theological studies.

[12] Graham, Cheesman, The Spiritual Formation of Students – a personal selection from the literature, (Article  published in the Theological Educator, March 2007), (2.1)p.4

[13] Amurtham, Samuel (Editor) and Pryor Robin (Editor), Invitation to the Feast of Life: Resources for Spiritual Formation in Theological Education, (World Cncl. Of Churches, Dec. 1991)

[14] Pastores Dabo Vobis, Apostolic exhortations of his holiness John Paul II on the formation of priests, (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1992)

[15] Bruce, J. Nicholls, (Editor), Manifesto on the Renewal of Evangelical Theological Education, Vol.19. No. 3, July            1995

[16] G. T. Smith, Spiritual formation in the academy: A unifying model, (Theological Education, 1999), 33, pp. 33-51

[17] P. A. Lamoureux, An integrated approach to theological education, (Theological Education, 1999), 36, p.142

[18] R. Banks, Revisioning theological education:Exploring a missional alternative to current models, (Mich.:           Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1999), p.144

[19] G. T. Smith, Spiritual formation in the academy: A unifying model, (Theological Education, 1999), 33, pp. 33-51

[20] J. H. Westerhoff, Theological education and models for ministry, (Saint Luke’s Journal of Theology, 1982), 25,  p. 155

[21] For examples of such debates see Sam Schlorff’s work, The Translational Model for Mission in Resistant Muslim  Society: A Critique and an Alternative, (2000:305-328); and Dean Gilliland’s response, Modeling Incarnation for Muslim People: A Response to Sam Schlorff, (2000:329-338).

[22] For details on the works cited, see Dean Gilliland’s Limits of Contextualization and the African Independent      Churches, (1999:2); and David J. Hesselgrave and Edward Rommen Contextualization: Meanings,        Methods, and Models, (1989:144-157).

[23] P. Ricoeur, Essays on Biblical Interpretation, (Philadephia, Fortress Press, 1980), p.8

[24] C. R. Foster, E.L. Dahill, L. A. Golemon, & B. W. Tolentino, Educating Clergy: Teaching practices and pastoral        imaginations, (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2006), p.102

[25] R. Banks, Revisioning theological education: Exploring a missional alternative to current models, (Grand Rapids,          Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999), p.113; L. Cannell, Theological education matters: Leadership education for the Church, (Newburgh, In.: Edcot, 2006), pp. 35-43; J. E. Paver, Theological reflection and education for ministry, (Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing, 2006), pp. 7-15

[26] www.http://fca.net/about

[27] Adamson Hoebel (1906-1993) was Regents Professor Emeritus of anthropology at the University of Minnesota    Edward, Adamson, Hoebel, Anthropology: The study of Man, (California, McGraw-Hill, 1972, digitized 27 June 2008), p.7