Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community [Paperback]

James C. Wilhoit (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2008

The yearning and restlessness of our souls drive us toward God. This hunger and homesickness is the beginning of spiritual formation, according to James C. Wilhoit. In Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered, Wilhoit takes a unique approach to the topic. Whereas most books focus on the individual's spiritual transformation, this one intentionally concentrates on how the local church itself is the seedbed of spiritual growth and how the process is a community effort. This book's short chapters, sidebar material, and concluding prayers fit well with readers' busy lives without sacrificing quality and depth of content.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The title of this tightly woven, consistently challenging meditation on Christian spiritual formation serves notice that this book is going to be more than another self-help manual. Indeed, Wheaton College professor Wilhoit, author of The Christian Educator's Handbook on Spiritual Formation, asserts that although developing Christlikeness in its members is the church's main job, many congregations have either abandoned old practices without developing new ones or have relied on stratagems instead of on God's grace. Because he views spiritual growth as a lifelong process, Wilhoit delineates a communal perspective on responding to Jesus' invitation to love God and neighbor, emphasizing shared practice and learning. His four pillars of formation include receiving, or being open to God's grace; remembering, or understanding who we are and why we were created; responding in service to neighbors and the world; and building relationships in the context of community. In alternating chapters, Wilhoit gives readers theological and biblical foundations for each principle, then suggests a set of practices. While it would be easy to get lost in the sober volume, this skilled writer uses many pedagogical tools to keep his audience focused. Clearly written from an evangelical perspective, this cogent and passionate book deserves to have wide appeal. (Feb.)
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From the Back Cover

"James Wilhoit has written a book of special urgency for our times. . . . With a warm heart and a gentle and intelligent manner, [he] helps us see, in great detail, what we can do to relocate spiritual transformation at the center of what we do in gathering as disciples of Jesus. He helps any serious person engage the project from where they are, discover what really works for Christlikeness and what doesn't, and assess outcomes realistically to make needed adjustments as they go."--Dallas Willard (from the foreword)"Clearly written from an evangelical perspective, this cogent and passionate book deserves to have wide appeal."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Wilhoit presents an exciting paradigm for spiritual transformation in the community of faith--God's setting for transformation. It is a seminal work that I trust will be taken seriously."--Larry Richards, author and distinguished educator, North American Professors of Christian Education"Theologically grounded, educationally sound, and gracious in tone, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered is a robust response to Dallas Willard's challenge to the church to give greater attention to congregation-wide spiritual formation. Pastors and church teachers will appreciate this rich resource--well versed in the spiritual formation literature, with its summaries, stories, and practical steps--to guide and discern growth toward Christlikeness."--Klaus Issler, author of Wasting Time with God: A Christian Spirituality of Friendship with God"Wilhoit offers a means for the church to provide an accessible pathway for growth in the ordinary events, relationships, and brokenness of our lives. This lovely work nourished my heart, instructed my mind, and opened my spirit to the Spirit of Christ."--Adele Calhoun, pastor of spiritual formation, Christ Church of Oak Brook, IL"Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered is the mature fruit of a devout scholar. Here Jim Wilhoit weaves theory, passion, and practice together into a rich re-presentation of the gospel for the local church. He takes the discussion about spiritual formation an important step forward, shifting the emphasis from private pursuit to corporate culture. Sensitive to the seldom-noticed dangers along the path of growth toward Christlikeness, this book is loaded with wisdom for those who desire to facilitate communities of formation."--Evan Howard, author of The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Baker Academic (February 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801027764
• ISBN-13: 978-0801027765
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Pastoral Counseling
  • #81 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Ministry

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Church does matter, September 2, 2008

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Alex Tang "the reader" (Malaysia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community (Paperback)

Spiritual formation has become a catchphrase in churches and is gathering as much attention as churches that are `emerging.' Unfortunately, different people understands spiritual formation differently. To some, it is the practice of spiritual disciplines, to others the introduction of ancient spiritual practices, while in yet other churches, it is adding candles to the church service. James C. Wilhoit is the Scripture Press Professor of Christian Formation and Ministry at Wheaton College. He explains that "Christian spiritual formation refers to the intentional communal process of growing in our relationship with God and becoming conformed to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit" (2008, 23).

The key words of note are Christian, intentional, communal, process, Christ-likeness, and the Holy Spirit. Wilhoit proposes a `curriculum for Christlikeness' which have the following dimensions (1) receiving, (2) remembering, (3) responding, and (4) relating. Each dimension has a few `community practices' to achieve it. This curriculum is for community spiritual formation. Receiving is to be open to the grace of God and involve `worship, confession, sacraments, and prayer' as community practices. Remembering means `tranformational teaching' leading to knowing that we are part of God's community. The community practices are `teaching, preaching, evangelism, meditation, spiritual guidance, and small groups'. Responding is in service and involves `discernment, honouring relational commitment, setting aside prejudices, ministries of compassion.' Relating is living in a faith community and involves `hospitality, handling conflict well, honouring relationships, Sabbath observance, (and) attending to pace of life.'

The community practices are similar to that of the Christian practices as suggested by Dysktra, Dorothy Bass and Diana Bass (Bass 1997; Bass 2004; Dykstra 2005). Wilhoit recognises that we are all being spiritually formed all the time and that formation through the work of the Holy Spirit occurs before conversion (2008, 27). He builds upon and interacts with Dallas Willard's work on spiritual formation (1988;1998; 2002). However he did not interact with Willard's psychosocial transformation of the soul as spiritual formation (2002,38-39).

Instead, he uses the concept of the `imitation of Christ' as the means and ends of spiritual formation (Meye 1994). Also, he did not expand on how different this is from discipleship. Growing in Christlikeness through community implied that community is the matrix in which spiritual formation takes place. However, aside from naming the community practices, Wilhoit did not explain how the community become the means of spiritual growth. Are the community practices the only means of spiritual formation? Are there any weightage to the community practices? Are any practices more important than others? Who is to practice these community practices? Does it involve only the pastors, leaders or everyone? It must be recognised that it is unrealistic to expect all the members of the church to practice all the community practices.

Community practices are also spiritual disciplines practiced by individuals (Foster 1989; Whitney 1991; Tan and Gregg 1997). Whitney has shared on some ways how some of these disciplines can be used for both individual and the church (1996). However both Wilhoit and Whitney has not indicated whether there is a critical level of participation of members of a community before that community becomes a context for spiritual formation. What is this critical level? The weakness of this model based on community practices is the danger of legalism. The Pharisees in the bible epitome legalism in spiritual practices. Though theologian Roy Zuck has written in length on the role of the Holy Spirit and educator Parker Palmer of the importance of the teacher, the danger is real as the community practices become the end rather than the means (Zuck 1984; Palmer 1998). It may become another `church activity.'

It will have been useful if Wilhoit has explained how his community spiritual formation model can be sustained. Baptist Jeff Woods concludes from his meta-analysis of recent congregational studies done in the United States that there are five factors of influence in a congregation that is spiritually vital. They are (1) a willingness to change, (2) right theological thinking, (3) appropriate organisational metaphors, (4) clarity of purpose, and (4) missional leadership (2003). Wilhoit in his survey of the bible discovered that there are three families of images or metaphor for spiritual formation; nurture, journey and resurrection (2008, 24-25). These organisational metaphors are appropriate as church does matter in spiritual formation. Spiritual formation is not about a lone wanderer but a people journeying together.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual Formation, January 13, 2012

By 

erinbaileyWBU - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community (Paperback)

Wilhoit does a good job of expressing the importance of community within a church. He gives specifics that will enable a church to grow as one, instead of a few individuals thriving on their own. The two great invitations Jesus gives are to love and obey God, and to love one another. Wilhoit builds on these invitations throughout the book. Spiritual Formation is important for individuals, but in the fact that individuals must grow together in order for the church to grow as a unit. The book is written for churches that seek to grow in order to disciple to more people. Wilhoit addresses what sinful yearnings can do to a relationship and how to deal with the unconscious desires that we as humans carry with us. Another main part of the book is the importance of remembrance. Remembering what Christ has done for us is the way we begin the formation process.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spot On in Spiritual Formation, May 27, 2011

By 

Morgan - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community (Paperback)

This book is the best one I've read yet on spiritual formation. This book has excellent substance and is thoughtful and thought-provoking. The writer has an engaging, easy to read style. I highly recommend it to those who are seeking to understand the nature of spiritual formation in the church today.