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Even a cursory survey of scholarly literature in these various contexts reveals that the notion of “transformation” remains ambiguous as a technical term. In some contexts, it implies a shift in beliefs and values and in others a structural change in personality. In the context of disciplines such as nursing, medicine, and management, the term carries implications for mental, physical, and organizational health. Among those disciplines that seek to understand “spiritual transformation,” such as religion, theology, psychology, and educational theory, there is often even greater variety and less clarity in the usage of the term. The study of human development is clearly not the same as the human experience of spiritual development or transformation, although it is obviously related to it. Debate continues as well over whether the spirit of the human person does “develop” in a manner that is distinct from intellectual, moral, affective, and faith development. This question leads naturally to a further query regarding the relationship between development, healing, and transformation. While such distinctions might seem to be splitting hairs, there is much at stake in their clarification not only for theorists in theology and Christian spirituality but also practitioners in the fields of religious and theological education, pastoral care, and other ministries such as spiritual direction and spiritual formation.
My present hope is to make a contribution to the academic discipline of Christian spirituality and its understanding of spiritual transformation by focusing on a unique instance of it within the context of a particular Christian community. This study reflects the three main influences that have shaped my own theoretical approach to human development and spiritual transformation. The first is my theological and spiritual formation in Byzantine-rite Catholicism with its emphasis on the Trinitarian ground of theology and notion of theosis or “deification” in the Christian life. The second is my academic background in the psychology of religion with a special interest in personality theory and its relationship to Christian spirituality. The third is my own experience of pastoral ministry in community with learning-disabled persons during several years in L’Arche, an international network of communities where those with disabilities share life together with their caregiver assistants. All of these