The Effect of a Men’s Initiation Weekend on Authenticity, Assertiveness, and Forgiveness: A Pilot Study

American men experience worse outcomes on a wide range of health and well-being variables compared to women, including disease, educational problems, violence, addiction, suicide, unemployment, and life expectancy. Because of this, organizations have created programs that focus on helping men both psychologically and spiritually; however, it is important to assess the effectiveness of these programs. The Crucible Project, founded in 2002, attempts to facilitate the development of integrity, courage, and grace in men using a weekend retreat format. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the effect of the weekend retreat on participants’ authenticity, assertiveness, and willingness to forgive (i.e. empirical constructs analogous to integrity, courage, and grace, respectively). Participants ( N = 22) completed measures before the weekend retreat (Time 1), immediately after the weekend retreat (Time 2), and at a 1-month follow-up (Time 3). Results indicate that weekend retreat participants demonstrated a significant increase in scores on measures of authenticity and willingness to forgive and a trend toward increased scores on the measure of assertiveness over time. We conclude by discussing limitations of the study, areas for future research, and implications for spiritual and character development.

Assessing Character in Mentored, Contextual Learning

This article is concerned with the complex role of assessment in the character development of graduate students in seminary education. It presents the current curricular approach of Denver Seminary to mentored, contextual formation and the variety of assessment strategies that support the growth of individual students and a culture of integrated learning in the institution. Rather than directing assessment strategies on individual character qualities, we argue for the efficacy of assessing the enabling conditions for character growth expressed in the andragogic elements of adult learning skills. Within this model, learning proves to be expansive enough for the contemporary seminary student who has a sense that it is up to them to prepare for and create the work they dream of within a changing culture.

Ecumenical and Traditioned Measurement: Measuring Christian Maturation Across Distinct Traditions of Christian Spirituality

The aim of this article is to explore some of the challenges of measuring Christian spiritual development across distinct traditions of Christian spirituality. This presses into questions of what might be universal and what might be particular when it comes to Christian spirituality in how it is understood and practiced. We address the feasibility of a general, ecumenical measure by hearing from representative voices of five traditions of Christian spirituality: African American spirituality, Anglican spirituality, Benedictine spirituality, Pentecostal spirituality, and Reformed spirituality. After noting some of the distinctives of these traditions, we conclude with four strategies for navigating the unity and diversity of Christian spirituality in conceptualizing and measuring Christian formation.

You Can’t Measure That…Can You? How a Catholic Seminary Approaches the Question of Measuring Growth in Human and Spiritual Formation

The question of measuring growth in human and spiritual formation in Catholic seminaries has a history. In this article, we walk through three recent stages of that history to illuminate the potential of current approaches and clarify what still remains to be done.