“Theological Education and Ministerial Formation: Coming to Terms with the Hidden Curriculum”

In this article, I take Anderson and Scanlon's observation about clergy malaise and pastoral vulnerability as the starting point for my own reflection on supervision and formation in the context of theological education and ministerial formation. Using a number of insights derived from the recent work of Robert Kegan, In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life, I offer an alternative attribution theory for understanding clergy malaise and go on to explore the implications of this theory for those of us involved in theological education and the formation of candidates for ministry. In accord with Anderson and Scanlon, I agree that clergy malaise is a symptom of a heightened sense of vulnerability. I am somewhat hesitant, however, to identify the cause of such vulnerability as an inadequate formation for ministry. Thought I readily acknowledge that an inadequate formation may exacerbate the phenomenon, I believe Kegan's analysis alerts us to a more probable cause, namely: the limited capacity of the individual minister to meet the mental demands of modern life.