Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership Discourse
This article offers a theological reflection on the leadership discourse of four senior evangelical leaders in the Church of England. The justification for a discourse-led approach within the discipline of practical theology is that discourse is itself a socially informed practice. Discourse is cons...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/1/79 |
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| author | Hadley Bennet |
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| author_sort | Hadley Bennet |
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| description | This article offers a theological reflection on the leadership discourse of four senior evangelical leaders in the Church of England. The justification for a discourse-led approach within the discipline of practical theology is that discourse is itself a socially informed practice. Discourse is constructive for meaning-making and has ongoing constituting effect for practice. Thus, any theological bias found in evangelical discourse is of interest since that discourse has a practice-shaping effect. Using the method of content analysis, I undertake an audit of four leadership texts to find out how often God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are referenced. The content analysis reveals a quantitative disparity. The Person of the Spirit is referenced far less, and any references to Spirit are qualitatively limited. These quantitative results offer evidence to suggest that a full account of the Divine Move that is Spirit, and the leading activity of the Spirit, fails to be disclosed in these texts. I suggest that these findings indicate an imbalance in the discourse which I hope prompts evangelicals to further reflect on, and explore, the place of the Spirit in their theology and practice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6c1f8139ed19431aa470ea7401100f44 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj-art-6c1f8139ed19431aa470ea7401100f442025-01-24T13:47:32ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-01-011617910.3390/rel16010079Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership DiscourseHadley Bennet0Regents Park College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UKThis article offers a theological reflection on the leadership discourse of four senior evangelical leaders in the Church of England. The justification for a discourse-led approach within the discipline of practical theology is that discourse is itself a socially informed practice. Discourse is constructive for meaning-making and has ongoing constituting effect for practice. Thus, any theological bias found in evangelical discourse is of interest since that discourse has a practice-shaping effect. Using the method of content analysis, I undertake an audit of four leadership texts to find out how often God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are referenced. The content analysis reveals a quantitative disparity. The Person of the Spirit is referenced far less, and any references to Spirit are qualitatively limited. These quantitative results offer evidence to suggest that a full account of the Divine Move that is Spirit, and the leading activity of the Spirit, fails to be disclosed in these texts. I suggest that these findings indicate an imbalance in the discourse which I hope prompts evangelicals to further reflect on, and explore, the place of the Spirit in their theology and practice.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/1/79evangelicalleadershipdiscoursespiritpractice |
| spellingShingle | Hadley Bennet Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership Discourse Religions evangelical leadership discourse spirit practice |
| title | Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership Discourse |
| title_full | Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership Discourse |
| title_fullStr | Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership Discourse |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership Discourse |
| title_short | Disclosing the Spirit in Evangelical Leadership Discourse |
| title_sort | disclosing the spirit in evangelical leadership discourse |
| topic | evangelical leadership discourse spirit practice |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/1/79 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hadleybennet disclosingthespiritinevangelicalleadershipdiscourse |