Religiosity and recognition: multiculturalism and British converts to Islam

Abstract

are offered at the end of each chapter (except the last), and I can see this book being well used by a group, perhaps by those in training for spiritual direction or more experienced accompanists seeking to reflect on their ministry together. The two authors note at the outset that they are writing as ‘white male Anglican priests firmly in the second half of life’ (p. 2), although they draw upon considerable cross-cultural knowledge and experience, as well as many years’ experience both as directors and directees, and a commitment to ecumenical theology. Inevitably, their own location and biases have shaped the text in a range of ways, not least in a shared Anglican ecclesiology but also, perhaps, in a lack of attention to issues of ethnicity and why spiritual direction (at least in my knowledge and experience) remains a largely white preserve. Presumably this is not because black majority churches do not exercise something akin to what is recognised as spiritual direction in other traditions, but because it is named otherwise and, importantly, may be exercised in distinctive ways? Whilst the authors are keen to relate spiritual direction to the public mission of the church – and this is one of the considerable strengths of the book – I would have liked to see them address issues of power in the spiritual direction relationship rather more, particularly where there is disparity of power in terms of age, ethnicity, gender and other factors, and how this may serve – or hinder – the mission dei. How does spiritual accompaniment as a practice and a process need to change to challenge such disparities of power and to liberate itself from unconscious collusion with the status quo?