MN: First of all, some “retroactive congratulations” to Dr. Angela Reed, who with Richard Osmer and the late Marcus Smucker, received the 2016 Dallas Willard Research Center Book Award for their book, Spiritual Companioning: A Guide to Protestant Theology and Practice Paperback (Baker 2015).
AR: Thank you! It was an honor to receive the award, especially as it came from the Center named for Dallas Willard. One of the highlights was the opportunity to visit the Center and interact with staff, students, and faculty on the topics that continue to be a major focus of my work and calling – spiritual formation and companioning in congregational life.
MN: A little background for our readers: what is your current position, and how long you have been there?
AR: I have been a faculty member at Truett Seminary at Baylor University since 2010 in the areas of spiritual formation and practical theology. I have always been involved in administration at the seminary as well, most recently serving as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. This gives me an opportunity to explore spiritual companioning in new ways as a leader and to think about the place of spiritual formation across the curriculum. One of my great joys these days is to offer a spiritual direction training program that brings together seminary students, university faculty and staff members, and ministers and lay people from across Texas. This year, we will celebrate the 100th graduate of our program.
MN: For people who don’t already know your work, could you summarize your prize-winning book in 1-3 sentences?
AR: Our book was a collaborative project with two of my spiritual mentors who shared the vision for reframing spiritual direction in a Protestant context with particular attention to congregational life rooted in Protestant biblical and theological commitments. We were serving as professors and spiritual directors in three different denominations, and we recognized the need for the students we taught and the churches we served to be able to explore the historic tradition of spiritual direction in practical and theological ways for their own contexts. In the process of writing, we tried to “practice what we preached” by prayerfully reflecting together on the key ideas of every chapter.
MN: Your co-author, Marcus Smucker passed away shortly before your book was published. What was his contribution to the book? More generally, how would you like people to remember him and his legacy?
AR: Marcus’ death was such a heartbreaking and unexpected event for Rick and me as we were finishing this project. I remember feeling the shock of it and then, later, the gratitude that a pioneer in the development of spiritual direction for so many people was able to convey his wisdom in print. Marcus introduced spiritual direction to congregations at a time when few knew what it was and there was more than a little suspicion about the practice and about spiritual formation in general. He did the slow, contemplative, and challenging work that created a foundation for people like to me to build upon.
MN: It seems as if that book broke new ground for a lot of people. Were you at all surprised by that? Is spiritual companioning such a new idea? If not, where can we find this in Christian history?
AR: Good question…I guess I would say that spiritual companioning has always been part of the life of the church in some shape or form. We see this, for example, in the biblical stories, such as Jesus and his followers on the road to Emmaus, and in historic Christian practices, such as the Wesleyan bands. In the book, we tried to make the case that the people of God have always been encouraged to come alongside one another to watch for the presence activity of God in their lives together. Perhaps what has surprised me most is how much pastors and other ministers seem to grow in freedom and peace in their complex and demanding work when they do the simplest things – listen to peoples’ stories, ask good questions, and pray with them. There is something here about releasing others to the One who is the spiritual director that brings much needed relief.
MN: What happens to us (collectively) when we don’t have spiritual companions? Do you observe this in contemporary North American church life?
AR: I suspect that the privatization of faith and our difficulty with vulnerability and honesty about faith make it hard to want to trust others with our true stories and questions about life with God. When we don’t have spiritual companions, we don’t have safe and encouraging spaces to wonder about God’s personal engagement with us and hear another person say our name in prayer aloud before God. God may become less “real” to us when we don’t have spiritual companions. I think the trends toward loneliness and isolation in North America in our time only exacerbate these issues in the church. The ministry of spiritual companioning helps to meet these kinds of needs.
MN: Have you noticed any changes or developments in this field since the publication of your book? If so, could you tell us about them in a sentence or two? If not, what developments would you like to see?
AR: At one time, I thought that spiritual companioning would mostly stay under the radar among leaders and lay people in Protestant congregations. I expected that some would be drawn and called to participate, but that there would be no strong movement in this direction. What is actually happening, in our training program, at least, is that we cannot accept all of the people in our area that want to be trained in this ministry. It is especially surprising to note that this spans denominations and traditions. What we need now, I think, is to learn from those who are introducing spiritual companioning in congregations and adapting it for their contexts. This kind of congregational research and storytelling would help us better understand how the Spirit seems to be shaping spiritual community in our time. I would be excited to learn from others who are taking steps in this direction!
MN: Your award was from the Dallas Willard Research Center, which exists partly to stimulate and recognize scholarly work about the sorts of things that Dallas Willard taught about, such as moral & spiritual formation. Just out curiosity: were you familiar with the work of Dallas Willard before you received the award? If so, how?
AR: I began to read books by someone named “Dallas Willard” in my early twenties and was quickly drawn to ideas about spiritual formation, discipleship, and prayer that made sense to me and helped to shape my calling to ministry. In as much as an author of a book can be, Willard was something of a spiritual companion to me decades ago – I was truly amazed to hear about the award years later.
MN: Are there any connections between his work and yours?
AR: I hope so! I think the end goal of formative relationships with God and others that we envision in spiritual companioning are very much what I have understood from Dallas Willard. He clearly believed that the church ought to be a home for training in spiritual formation and discipleship, and I think that is what we have tried to say as well.
MN: Likewise, is there a passage of scripture that is much on your heart these days?
AR: I have long been drawn to the letters of Paul because they seem to offer the beginnings of a structure or foundation for thinking about the theology and practice of spiritual formation. I am particularly drawn to Colossians 3:12-17 in these polarizing times, and I pray that we would treat those we disagree with in the church and beyond as persons made in the image of God, beloved of God. I hope that I will grow in bearing with others just as they are certainly bearing with me.
MN: Dr. Angela Reed, thank you for your work and for taking the time to talk with us today!