I’m excited that more and more Christian spiritual leaders are embracing emotional development and integrating it into the fabric of their churches and organizations. One of the pioneers is pastor Peter Scazzero, author of The Emotionally Healthy Church (which was extremely helpful for me) and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (which I haven’t read but have heard good things about).

Scazzero’s philosophy is this: It’s not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.

In the mid 90’s, Scazzero’s marriage almost collapsed, and that prompted he and his wife Geri to seek help. They both realized that they were emotionally immature in some ways and they began to heal and grow emotionally. They repaired their marriage and then set out to help repair the church they were leading, New Life Fellowship in Queens, New York City.

For the past twelve years or so, Scazzero and his wife have worked hard to integrate emotional development into their church (which is no easy or simple task!), and they’ve also been creating and hosting conferences for pastors on emotionally healthy spirituality.

Here are some resources that might be helpful:

+ The 2009 Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Conference | The conference takes place May 1-2. Here’s a blurb from their brochure: “[The conference is] designed for men and women in leadership eager to be equipped in the application of emotional health and contemplative spirituality. In this two day intensive conference we will provide biblical background and practical experiences that will launch you on a pathway of deep transformation and equip you with tools to take emotionally healthy spirituality into your church, leadership, and ministry.”

+ Free Online Video of Peter and Geri Scazzero Telling Their Story | In this short, well-done video, the Scazzeros vulnerably share their story. This may give you an even better understanding of where they’re coming from. (Note: On the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality home page, in the right-hand column, you’ll find a link to the video, “Pete and Geri’s Testimony.”)

+ Peter Scazzero’s Blog | Great stuff. I really enjoyed his two most recent posts: “Top 10 Turning Point Lessons” and “Jesus the Lord of Delight.”

+ Finally, see below a great video of Scazzero giving a brief overview of “emotionally healthy spirituality.” He produced this video for his church.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 am and is filed under Emotional & Spiritual Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.