Humility among seminarian women: A qualitative study

Abstract

Humility is a salient virtue for Christian formation with demonstrated relevance for religious leader effectiveness and well-being. However, humility is complex for religious leaders, as role-related factors promote and challenge healthy humility. Practicing healthy humility might be particularly complicated for religious leaders who hold non-dominant identities, such as women or Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Using reflexive thematic analysis, this study reports on humility experiences among eight women, most of whom were BIPOC, enrolled in an Evangelical seminary. Four overarching themes were constructed: (1) Humility is essential for Christian life but can be difficult to define, (2) Humble leadership involves negotiating intersecting identities across time and context, (3) Ministry pressure and personal tendencies challenge authentic humility, and (4) Authentic humility can and should be cultivated. Discussion includes implications for these findings and recommendations for seminarian formation.

Keywords

Gender humility religious leaders seminary students spiritual formation

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