81 but is instead a characteristic that makes positive use of a variety of personal and community resources to help an individual “bounce back” to a state of general well-being.11 Much work has been done to understand resilience in leadership. However, little research has focused on the specific role of spiritual disciplines in developing resilience in Christian leaders.12 The late Dallas Willard reveals the pertinence of spiritual disciplines to resilience when he writes, “Discipline, strictly speaking, is activity carried on to prepare us indirectly for some activity other than itself.”13 Thus, the very heart of the disciplines is for the development of capacities or a state of being distinct from the discipline itself.14 Since resilience is a desirable quality that overlaps with self-efficacy as well as emotional and social intelligence, and since it has both trait-like and state-like qualities which can be enhanced or developed over time, it is worthy of consideration how spiritual disciplines may have a positive effect on the overall resilience of persons. The role of spiritual disciplines has traditionally held an integral place in the training and development of pastors and Christian leaders. Biblical literature addressing the disciplines or practices includes Scripture, the early church fathers and primitive catechisms of early Christianity, as well as the monastic and contemplative traditions. In recent years, a renewed focus on the spiritual disciplines for the Christian life has been heralded by authors such as Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and Donald S. Whitney.15 The literature on spiritual disciplines, being formational by nature, also has great overlap with Christian virtue ethics.16 TO BE FRANKENSTEIN: SEARCHING FOR THE SOUL OF LEADERSHIP Any discussion that touches upon spiritual or ethical leadership, as well as spiritual disciplines (also called “practices”), necessitates a perspective on virtue and goodness. One common pitfall of modern leadership studies is a lack of agreement on a moral philosophy.17 There is a growing emphasis in the leadership literature on spiritual leadership, but it is noticeably void of exclusive religious claims. This is to be expected since leadership theories operate within a pluralistic presupposition. Southwick & Charney state, AN ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY: EXPLORING SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES AS POTENTIAL PREDICTORS OF RESILIENT PASTORAL LEADERSHIP
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