The Spiritual Practices of South African Clergy - by Shaun Joynt (Hardcover)

About the Book

Spiritual Practices of South African Clergy: State of the Clergy explores five denominations from the Global South who participated in a study focusing on how clergy practice the disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and Bible study, and the impact those disciplines have on them and their ministry.

Book Synopsis

Clergy play an important role in the spiritual wellbeing of their congregation. They are entrusted by the Great Shepherd to shepherd his flock which entails leading them to green pastures and still waters, for example, pastoral care, and defending them from predatory animals, for example, heresy. However, clergy are sheep before they are shepherds and are also in need of the green pastures and still waters of meditation, prayer, fasting, and Bible study. These are known as inward spiritual disciplines (exercises) and have been practiced for centuries. Spiritual Practices of South African Clergy: State of the Clergy discusses these inward spiritual disciplines' mental, physical, spiritual and social benefits. The volume explores how clergy from five diverse denominations practice these specific inward spiritual disciplines. They include the Methodist, Netherdutch, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic faith traditions. This book focuses on clergy in the Global South and how they practice these spiritual disciplines within their context. Clergy, congregants, academics and lay-persons alike will benefit from the research conducted.

Review Quotes

"My key takeaway from this well researched and much needed study by Dr Shaun Joynt of the spiritual practices of clergy within the South African was twofold: One the one hand, if clergy want to live faithfully in the house of their own proclamation, we need to explore what a meaningful practice-based faith looks like in our lives. On the other hand, in exploring what a practice-based faith may look like, clergy will find that they have more in common than they realize with clergy from doctrinal streams other than their own. I warmly commend this study to all who have concern for clergy spiritual well-being." --Trevor Hudson, Methodist Church of Southern Africa

"I feel like I will endorse any book about the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual wellbeing of clergy! Should it not be as clear as daylight that if we are called "to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up..." (Eph 4:12 NIV) that we should be equipped too? This is the point of Ephesians 4: whatever gift one may have, one needs equipping to do what that gift was given for! This book is an honest attempt to help the academic and the ministering community to assess where we are and how we are doing. I am convinced that the publication will help / encourage everyone of us who is serious about our calling to grow and take care of our Biopsychosocial-Spiritual wellbeing." --Malan Nel, University of Pretoria

"In an era that is marked by a renewed "turn to spirituality", members of faith communities are increasingly searching for a way to practice their spirituality in a holistic and meaningful way. Clergy, by way of openly engaging in their own "rule of life" (in reference to St Benedict of Nursia), are able to demonstrate both the active and contemplative dimensions of spirituality, thereby facilitating the development of authentic spiritual practices in their respective faith communities. This publication provides evidence of how that is already taking place and is an important contribution in a context (Africa and South Africa) where faith and spirituality are ways of interpreting one's reality." --Tanya van Wyk, University of Pretoria

"When spiritual life becomes work, much is lost. When the clergy lose, the people also lose. In this book, voices from the South explore the healing, enriching and fulfilling potential of spiritual practices from the perspectives of different Christian traditions, denominations and academic fields." --Yolanda Dreyer, University of Pretoria

About the Author

Shaun Joynt is research associate at the University of the Free State, lecturer at the University of South Africa, and postgraduate supervisor at the South African Theological Seminary.