Hinson emphasizes need for spiritual formation

By Sue H. Poss

CBF Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C. - We should do our "dead level best" to help a whole society afflicted with a deep malaise experience the transformation which only the love of God can affect, said Glenn Hinson, keynote speaker for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's (CBF) Bountiful Feast event June 27.

Hinson, senior professor of church history and spirituality at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, a CBF-partner school, spoke to more than 170 at the event sponsored by the Fellowship's Spiritual Formation Network.

"The life of contemplation is not simply a life of human technique and discipline, it is the life of the Holy Spirit in our souls," Hinson said. "The whole duty of the contemplative is to abandon what is base and trivial in this life and conform to the promptings of the spirit of God."

Following Hinson's remarks, Rick Bennett, the Fellowship's congregational life specialist, announced that an initial gift of $5,000 had been made to establish a scholarship in Hinson's honor at the Academy for Spiritual Formation, which is sponsored by Fellowship partner Upper Room. The gift was made by one of Hinson's students.

"We are fortunate to have Glenn Hinson here for this," Bennett said. "It's one more way to get his knowledge into the institutional memory of the Fellowship. He is the leading figure in spiritual formation. He has modeled it for us. He has modeled the spirit of Christ for us."_ The Spiritual Formation Network provides resources in the area of spiritual formation, including retreats for pastors and associate pastors.

"I feel spiritual formation is such an important part of our growth as Christians," said Amy Joyner, associate pastor of Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss. "We need the outward journey - the acts of compassion and social justice - but we need to be grounded and spring forth from a deep spiritual life. That is the only way to maintain the outward journey."