A Mixed Methods Study of Leading International Teachers – this PhD was successfully defended on December 15, 2025
Contemplative spiritual practices are not commonplace within the majority of Protestant churches in Ireland, the UK or North America. Many Protestant Christians have no conceptual frame of reference for practices such as contemplative prayer, lectio divina or spiritual accompaniment, as they are not overtly obvious in Scripture or in post-Reformation doctrinal aids. Yet, there is a definite ‘turn to the contemplative’ within Christianity, and influential Protestant spiritual teachers are present in the teaching field.
For the researcher, a Protestant Christian, this has, in recent years caused a ‘holy envy’ and led to the research question of what could contemplative practices offer Protestant Christians in their daily life and social practice?
The study employs mixed methods. Phase One is a collective case study of three elders in the field, who respectively work in the areas of listening and presence in Northern Irish peace and reconciliation, Wisdom teaching and Centering Prayer, and public theology and contemplatively informed activism. Each teacher has published multiple books and both the relevant texts, and an interview provide the data sources for each case study. The cross-case conclusions from these three case studies will present a wide-ranging and meaningful understanding of the transformative effects of contemplative practices in relation to these teachers.
Phase Two employs a strategy from the Critical Transformative Dialogue method. Three ‘next generation’ contemplative teachers will engage with the findings of the case studies, before being interviewed by the researcher. These deeply reflective interviews will critique the cross-case analysis, in order to identify any shortcomings in teaching practices, and envision how contemplative practices can be presented as an accessible, transformative and vital part of Protestant Christian faith now, and in the future.