Spiritual Competence: Analysis of a Key Term in the Training for Ministry

In the wake of the latest reforms which the Bologna Process has brought about, "spiritual competence" has become a new key term in the professional training for ministry in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. It is valued as a prerequisite for ministers, promoted through staff development plans and assessed in evaluations. This training novelty has implications for pastoral theology, educational theory as well as the spirituality discourse that call for clarification. The project addresses this in three steps. 1. Empirical analysis of the current approaches to spiritual competence in Germany, Switzerland and Austria The project analyzes the occurrence of "spiritual competence" in the training regulations of the churches in the German-speaking countries by employing the Grounded Theory. Guided by analysis questions, the project asks which contents and objectives are intended when the term "spiritual competence" is used. 2. Historical-hermeneutical analysis: case studies on spiritual formation in the history of training for ministry In a historical-hermeneutical analysis the project examines which traditions of spiritual formation can be discerned in the new approaches. To this end case studies are conducted on the basis of texts drawn from five eras which are of fundamental importance for Reformation theology and pastoral theology or have introduced new impulses for spiritual formation (Zwingli, Luther, Spener, Schleiermacher, Bonhoeffer, Lindbeck). 3. Analysis of the benefits and limitations of a training practice aiming at "spiritual competence" Finally, we assess the benefits and limitations resulting from a training practice aiming at "spiritual competence". Three discourses are taken into account and held in a productive tension with one another: a. the pastoral theological discourse: the functionality of ministry, b. the religious education discourse: competence - education (Bildung) and c. the spirituality discourse: the freedom of propose of spirituality.

In protestant formation for church ministry in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, spirituality is understood as a functional concept. The underlying question is: Which abilities and competences do pastors in order to successfully accomplish their professional tasks? This is the result of the analysis of training guidelines in the German language area. The project analyzed die guidelines of all of the 44 Lutheran, Reformed and United (Regional) Churches in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. It inquired whether and how the texts discuss spirituality and which concepts of spirituality they contain.The result of the analysis is: The texts discuss spirituality almost exclusively in the context of capabilities and competences. This is in accordance with educational background of these texts and is paraphrased in the project by the term spiritual competence. However, the comparison with training guidelines of other denominational traditions (Roman-Catholic priests, priests of the Anglican Church of England of ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) showed that a comparable functional perspective on spirituality does not exist in these churches. They discuss spirituality in terms of being, not of being able. That the protestant guidelines of Switzerland, Germany and Austria discuss spirituality as a competence corresponds to the fact that these traditions see the pastoral ministry in general rather in terms of functionality instead of ontology. Integrating spirituality into a functional perspective, however, entails some potential for conflict. This is due to the fact that spirituality can be put forth as a counter concept to functionality. The projects discussed this conflict and made some suggestions as to whether and in which respect an interplay between spirituality and functionality might be possible and what its limits are.