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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.
List of contents
Introduction: Clergy, Luke 25:2, and the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Model,
Shaun JoyntChapter 1: Clergy, Spiritual Practices and Their Benefits,
Shaun JoyntChapter 2: A Wesleyan-Methodist Perspective and Practice of Spiritual Disciplines,
Derek L. OppenshawChapter 3: Spiritual Practices in the Nederdutch Reformed Church of Africa,
Annelie BothaChapter 4: Pastors of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa and Spiritual Disciplines: An Empirical Study,
Marius NelChapter 5: The State of the Clergy in South Africa: The Presbyterian Tradition,
Graham Alexander DuncanChapter 6: The Spiritual Life of South African Catholic Clergy,
Anthony EganChapter 7: Findings and Recommendations,
Shaun Joynt
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.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.
