Tracing the Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement: A Social-Historical Analysis

The Protestant Spiritual Formation Movement refers to the heightened emphasis on and increased receptivity to Christian spiritual formation among Protestants in the U.S. and Canada beginning in the late 1970s and continuing into the present. This article traces the history of the movement across three developmental waves, situating it within a broader account of social and spiritual renewal movements and clarifying the value of studying such movements. We interpret this movement as one shaped by the Spirit’s convicting and illuminating work, while attending to the dispositions and sensitivities of those who have responded to God’s leading and stewarded the movement and to its evolving organizational dynamics, in order to discern how to respond to the Spirit in our own time and place. The article concludes by turning to our cultural moment and considering what might constitute a fourth wave of the movement.