Community & Early Methodism

Spiritual direction is defined by Barry and Connolly as "…help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God's personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of this relationship" (Moon 15).

John Wesley's connexionalism, as described in the book Covenant Discipleship, appears to serve the same goals. Connolly describes the bands as "a process of mutual confession" (Lowes 30). The class meeting is explained as a "supportive structure for discipleship, grounded in the realities of daily living in the world, and undergirded by common sense" (Lowes 41). I get the impression that connexionalism blurred some of the lines between mentoring and spiritual direction. That is perhaps a consequence of its more rigid structure.

I won't say that spiritual direction and connexionalism are twins as much as cousins… But anyways, early Methodism rocks!!!

The Mulholland and Johnson texts last semester helped me recognize the importance of others in my spiritual development. This class is examining the theme in greater detail and I find myself with a desire for corporate spirituality that is quite unlike anything I've experienced before. (Which is really saying something—remember, I'm so introverted I'm actually invisible.)

I find that I'm agreeing with much of what Lowes is writing about in Covenant Discipleship, but don't have a clue how to implement any of it in today's church. The extent of individualism in the Christian experience today is staggering. (And I type this realizing that I'm often part of this problem.)

I would guess that there is a lot of spiritual direction that goes under the radar in our churches. Many "spiritual directors" probably have never heard the term. It's got me thinking about ends and means. New trends continually snake through our churches. It's often hard to remember a few years later why a particular program or method was even attractive. But if we keep the ends in mind—discipleship and service—much spiritual direction will occur no matter what it's called.


Works Cited

Watson, David Lowes. Covenant Discipleship. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 1998.

Moon, Gary W. and David G. Benner (eds). Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 2004.