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While a positive view of calling has been ubiquitous since its introduction into the literature over two decades ago, research remains unsettled about the extent to which it contributes to various aspects of the good life: an optimal way of living well via worthwhile endeavors. Further, scholars have identified two conceptual types of calling, marked by internal versus external foci; yet their differential impact on outcomes indicative of the good life, such as eudaimonic and hedonic well-being (characterized by the experience of purpose and meaning versus pleasure and happiness, respectively), is unknown. Through a meta-analysis of 201 studies, we provide the first systematic review focused on these two fundamental theoretical issues in the calling literature: how strongly related callings are to outcomes in the domains of work and life and which type of calling (internally or externally focused) more strongly predicts these outcomes, if either. We find that callings more strongly relate to outcomes indicative of the good life than recently argued. We further find that callings are more strongly linked to work than to life outcomes and to eudaimonic than to hedonic outcomes. The two types of calling converge in being associated with many similar outcomes, but they show some divergence: internally focused callings are more positively related to hedonic outcomes and less positively related to eudaimonic outcomes, relative to externally focused callings. This finding supports a view of callings as hierarchically structured, with a higher-order calling factor composed of two correlated yet distinct lower-order calling types. Integrating our meta-analytic findings with relevant literatures, we propose a theoretical model that addresses psychological and social need fulfillment through which different types of callings contribute to the good life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strong implications of career calling for individuals' attitudes, behaviors and well-being have promoted a sustained growth of studies on this topic in the last few decades. However, recent systematic reviews reveal that this phenomenon remains largely understudied in Latin America mostly due to measurement reasons. This study contributes to this line of research by developing a Spanish Version of the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire– Short Form (the Sp-CVQ-6) and a Spanish version of the Living a Calling Scale (the Sp-LCS). More specifically, by using a large, multi-occupational sample of Argentinian workers from a broad variety of industries, levels and positions (N = 710), this paper examines the psychometric properties of both instruments in terms of their internal consistency, factor structure, convergent validity and empirical validity. The results reveal that the Sp-CVQ-6 and the Sp-LCS are valid instruments to assess career calling in Argentina and, hopefully, in other Spanish-speaking countries. Moreover, since both instruments are brief, theoretically grounded and psychometrically sound measures, we are confident that these scales will be helpful, on the one hand, to promote research on this topic in Latin America, and, on the other hand, to facilitate accumulation and comparison of evidence across countries and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management educators have developed a wide variety of approaches to ensure students develop job-ready skills, resilience, and other forms of career capital to gain and retain employment in an ever-changing, competitive job market. Yet, concerns about the employability agenda's consequences for students' self-concept and wellbeing have gained urgency amid a crisis of confidence in capitalism. Humanistic approaches to management education map an alternative path, starting from students' unique values, voices, and experiences, and leading to the pursuit of a personal purpose. In this essay, we explore the tensions and potential synergies of the career capital and personal purpose approaches to career preparation and support. Building on our experiences at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Business and Economics, we discuss how integrative learning experiences can combine these two approaches to (1) encourage students to recognize the mutual influence of career capital and personal purpose; and (2) provide rich opportunities for external stakeholder involvement to contribute to students' career capital and personal purpose development efforts. We believe that our proposals for embracing both career capital and personal purpose considerations can help management educators recalibrate their efforts to help students develop personally meaningful and sustainable careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, career development scholars and practitioners are increasingly interested in the concept of career calling. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying the process of its discernment remain obscure, and intervention research is scarce. In this study, we implemented a quasi‐experimental pretest–posttest design with intervention (n = 42) and control group (n = 66) to test a 9‐week elective course designed to help college students find their callings. The course included an investigation of strengths, values, and interests, followed by their integration into personal mission and finding occupations that allowed to implement that mission in real life (potential callings). The study was conducted in a major Russian university located in Moscow. Be the end of the course, the participants had a stronger sense of calling, perceived more meaning, and felt more authentic. The results of this study can be used by university career services, as well as private counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research on calling has highlighted its nature as a 'double‐edged sword' that—while conferring benefits generally—may create vulnerabilities in some cases. We suggest an explanation that complexifies our conceptualization of what calling is. Traditional conceptualizations of calling focus on differences in degree, measuring calling on some numerical scale to answer the question, 'To what degree do you perceive a calling?' Our proposed conceptualization of calling argues for differences in the shape of calling, arguing that calling can take different shapes based on three facets: scope (callings can differ between narrow and broad), time proximity (callings can differ between immediate and distal) and duration (callings can differ between short‐term and lifelong). We present a new model depicting these shapes of calling, explain how each advances our understanding of calling above and beyond existing conceptualizations and taxonomies and offer propositions as to how this new conceptualization provides insight into individuals' experiences of pursuing their calling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although internships are increasingly important to business students as part of their education, Christian professors can often find it difficult to integrate a Christian perspective throughout the teaching and academic supervision of interns. This article presents a model that focuses the internship experience through a process of reflection on the concepts of vocation and calling. The article also includes descriptions of assignments used in an internship course taught at a Christian college, including practices for journal writing and a list of books and films that are used in the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calling is a very important concept in Christianity. In the medieval era, calling was restricted to ecclesiastical work alone, a devotion to the life of contemplation. Ordinary work or physical labour was not considered qualified to be a calling. Martin Luther was the one who taught that the ordinary work of the ordinary people was also God’s calling and equally spiritual as the ecclesiastical work. However, Miroslav Volf, a Croatian theologian, criticised Luther that his view of calling was too static and irrelevant to the modern context where people often choose to quit a job because of its negative effects and some people have to do multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. While recognising the validity of Volf’s critique, this article seeks to demonstrate that even in the modern context, calling is still a very important theological concept to reflect upon work. Luther’s vocational view of work could be retrieved in discussing the theology of work by putting it in dialogue with Calvin, Kuyper, and other theologians. Contribution: This article seeks to show that the concept of calling is indispensable in constructing a sound theology of work for the modern context. By understanding work as calling, Christian workers are enabled to see how they are participating in God’s redemptive work through their jobs.

For the progressive Mennonite pastors I met, the process of becoming a pastor is a lengthy and challenging personal journey of recognizing, accepting, and enacting a call to a pastoral vocation, which occurs in conjunction with institutional requirements. Their stories follow a pattern, which I term a 'call narrative', in which a person's call begins with a presentiment that God is guiding in a particular direction. The potential pastors and church leaders face internal and external resistance to fulfiling the call. Other people, purposefully or unwittingly, affirm the call, until the person feels compelled to accept God's call to formal church ministry. This article addresses factors that impede people from responding to the call and considers how they overcome resistance by receiving affirmations from individuals and institutions. Throughout each phase of the calling, I explore the element of embodiment as people describe various physical and emotional reactions to the call. The discussion is based on personal interviews and focused group meetings with credentialed Mennonite leaders, and it proceeds in four parts. First, I examine how persons define and acknowledge a call, often with noticeable bodily reactions. Next, I consider personal, social, and institutional factors that hindered individuals from fulfiling that call. Then, I explore how people received affirmations from various sources that enabled them to pursue their calling. The article concludes with a case study of one congregation where pastors and staff responded to the call in different ways based on their interactions with people in the congregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of a lived calling for Christian variety performers. A basic qualitative study method was employed to explore vocational meaning-making among thirty seasoned Christian variety performers (jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, clowns, and other similar entertainers) who claim to live out a life calling through their vocations. Based on the findings from this study, the major themes were named as journey, joy, community, and oblation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiencing work as a calling has been described as the ideal of a truly positive experience of work. But what we know about how called professionals construct identities as people who are called to their work is incomplete. Discussions about callings are often framed as narratives—stories of people's callings—yet little is known about how professionals incorporate a wide variety of life events into coherent stories that support their identity claims. To understand this process, we analyzed the narratives of 236 individuals from four professions. We found two ways our participants identified their callings: discernment and exploration. Discerners journeyed toward their destiny, which was their one true calling. Explorers actively searched for work they loved, but destiny played no role. Through a series of lived experiences, called professionals' identities took shape as they were enacted, with their callings strengthening over time. After identifying their calling, each of these professionals engaged in two crucial processes for integrating self and work as they lived their calling. Like other professionals, called professionals sought legitimacy in their fields by demonstrating mastery and receiving affirmation. Yet their sense of calling simultaneously propelled them to craft personal authenticity through tailoring their own unique enactment of the role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much attention in the meaningful work literature has been devoted to calling as an orientation toward work characterized by a strong sense of purpose and a prosocial motivation beyond self-gain. Nonetheless, debate remains as to whether individuals change or maintain their calling, and especially whether they live their calling differently in different occupational stages. In this article, we respond to this conundrum through an analysis of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) occupation—substantiated by interviews with 57 CSR practitioners from Swedish international companies who are living their calling. We demonstrate that social/commercial tensions affect these CSR practitioners, fueled by a divide between their social aspirations and the commercial goals, and prompt them to respond in a way that impacts how they construct the purpose of their work. Subsequently, we induce three stages of the CSR occupation—early-, mid- and late-stage—and conceptualize three types of purpose in each stage—activistic, win–win and corporate purpose. By uncovering how and why CSR practitioners respond to social/commercial tensions and construct different types of purpose in each stage of the CSR occupation, we show that individuals can live the same calling in multiple ways. Hence, our article advances the meaningful work literature as well as studies of micro-CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contends that a figural reading of Luke's passion narrative, influenced by Barth's account of vocation, offers a heuristic for discerning contemporary callings. The first part of this study examines Barth's theology of vocation. For Barth, one's vocation is a dialectic of the concrete circumstances of the disciple and the dynamic, event-like nature of the call itself. Together, a disciple's vocation is primarily a form of witness to the Christ who calls. The article then deploys Barth's account of vocation to inform a figural reading of Luke's passion narrative. This reading generates a renewed perception of prevailing vocational forms in the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core paradigm of the role of the phenomenon of vocation in being of a human as a spiritual mystery and a rational choice at the same time is emphasised. We consider the problem of the mystery of vocation in the spiritual-axiological (Christological) context of consideration and secular (so-called profane) understanding with a logical approach to modern-rational, research, and empirical paradigms of understanding and representation. The work analyses the results of the study of the guidance and actions of Ukrainian psychology students regarding the realisation of one's vocation in the field of spiritual searches, in real life and virtual life space. The phenomenon of vocation is considered as a significant personal construct, which becomes a factor in its successful life self-realisation and achievement of psychological well-being. It is stated that a conscious vocation is a key to the successful professional self-determination of a young person and a factor in the effectiveness of their further professionalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research evidencing the consequences of the experience of 'calling' have multiplied in recent years. At the same time, concerns have been expressed about the conceptual coherence of the notion as studies have posited a wide variety of senses in which both workers and scholars understand what it means for workers to be called, what they are called to do and who is doing the 'calling'. This paper makes both conceptual and empirical contributions to the field. We argue that Bellah et al.'s (Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life, University of California Press, 1996) contrast between tradition-based and expressivist understandings of 'calling' highlights a fundamental but neglected fissure in the literature. Expressivist accounts amongst both scholars and research participants require only that 'calling' be deeply felt by those who experience it. However, tradition-based accounts require an external caller. Exemplifying this, workers who attest to a divine call and scholars who write about 'calling' in the context of particular Christian traditions understand 'calling' in terms of a relationship with God. These accounts cannot but be in radical tension. We suggest that this conceptual confusion can be understood in terms of MacIntyre's notion of 'tradition-constituted rationality.' The implications of this argument for practice are evidenced in our report of a study of adherents to one such tradition, workers at a Christian organization that supports people in poverty. Through in-depth interviews with long-term volunteers, we seek to assess if tradition-based 'calling' can be evidenced in unpaid work for the lack of pay and career progression opportunities strongly suggest the presence of 'calling.' This study demonstrates that even in the context of work that exhibits duty and altruism associated with expressivist accounts of 'calling,' these workers' understanding of the relationships between themselves, their clients and Jesus Christ dominate their work choices. It is the meaning derived from a divine caller, understood in terms of Christian tradition, that accounts for their decision to begin and to continue this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the social actors and interactions that facilitate seminary students' sense of calling. Drawing from 36 in‐depth interviews with first year Masters of Divinity students, we introduce six ideal typical social others who play a formative role in the early stages of a call to ministry: instigators, exemplars, interpreters, affirmers, challengers, and codiscerners. Together, these findings demonstrate that the call to ministry, while deeply personal, emerges through social interactions that facilitate and make plausible a person's sense of calling and that sustain it over time. Extending Richard Pitt's conceptualization of the "horizontal call," this paper argues that social others help evoke and solidify—not merely legitimate—a personal sense of call. This research also highlights differences in the social structuring of call by gender. Despite considerable gains in the ordination of women, we find that many still face obstacles to experiencing and embracing a call to ministry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This philosophical and field-based article draws together two conceptions of teaching that have not been linked, as yet, in the scholarly literature: teaching as a calling or vocation, and teaching as the enactment of care ethics. We draw upon Hansen's extensive work on calling and juxtapose it with Quek's recent work on care ethics in teaching. While differences exist between the concepts calling and caring, with respect to the work of a teacher, we conclude that no adequate account of the practice can do without them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on work as a calling is gaining momentum, and work-as-a-calling theory is providing a helpful deductive structure to the consistent evidence that people who view their work as a calling and can actively live out that calling usually experience both career-related and general well-being. What is less clear are the key processes that may lead people to perceive a calling in the first place. By bringing work identity into sharper focus, we propose an especially promising framework for constructing a sense of calling, one that uses a cognitive approach. This cognitive approach to eliciting a sense of calling builds on four key work-identity precursors: effort calculation, reflection, appraisal, and fusion. These forward-looking processes are supported by extant research and are promising areas for future research that can illuminate how people may come to perceive a calling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess if an evidence-based educational program focused on vocation and calling could improve undergraduate nursing students' sense of meaning in life and sense of calling/vocation. Using a mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design, a statistically significant increase occurred in sense of meaning in life and calling/vocation. Qualitative responses revealed growth in self-knowledge, importance of individual pathways, and recognition of nursing as one's calling. Courses on calling may encourage nursing students to commit to nursing as a calling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses current ambiguities and potential confusion around the language and nature of vocation to ordination, focusing specifically on the process by which that vocation is discerned by the individual and by the church. It suggests that the particular shape of ordained ministry differentiates the process of vocational discernment to ordination from career choice. Drawing on the Ordination rite of the Church of England, the distinctive Christological, pneumatological and ecclesial elements of ordained ministry are expounded and offered as a theological framework for articulating and discerning a call to ordained ministry. Although the focus of this article is on vocational discernment for ordained ministry within the Church of England, the theological framework presented will be of wider relevance as churches reflect on how they identify those whom God is calling to ordained ministry and on how this may be constructively communicated with those who are discerning this vocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is a broad way to the individual, collective and societal success and independence: it consists of pedagogical efforts, learning and upbringing. All these components are united in educational communication that revealed personal vocation to some job and future profession, on the one hand, and spiritual strategic calling of life. The vocation itself is a challenge for the individual, local community and for the state, because it often requires the effort of all forces and the full revealing of one’s creative potential – to get a good citizen and successful member of community. At the same time, it is through the implementation of his or her vocation that the individual receives the resources and abilities giving him or her the strength and ability to respond to numerous external challenges. To give a proper answer for these challenges personality should find own core, reveals oneself and choose priority values. To get some benefits from job as a vocation it is necessary to find your calling in life – its main, strategic purpose, its intrinsic meaning: our calling gives us goals and our vocation gives us means to achieve these goals. Friedrich Nietzsche called for a genuine academic freedom as only honorable aim for student and researcher and gave a radical critique for the university bureaucracy and academic officialism. Such systematic and total criticism, not as nihilism, but as a component of the systematic search for an authentic vocation and sacred calling, is taught by education, and best of all, by academic education. Independence is not a gift or a trophy, it is a state of searching for one's own authenticity and a sense of pleasure in the struggle for it. Therefore, independence can and should be both personal and common – because human is always no less a social being in unity with others than in gaining his or her own autonomy through others.

While capstone courses are popular among psychology programs, the capstone course design at a small private Midwestern university seems less conventional.Along with meeting five course objectives, the course addresses understanding vocation, identifying academic and career strengths and weaknesses, identifying talents and gifts, articulating goals, defining servant leadership, knowing what it takes to persist in college and what career to pursue, and understanding purpose and calling.Students completed a 10-item questionnaire addressing the aforementioned items on the first and last days of class during four consecutive fall offerings of the Senior Capstone in Psychology course.Analysis of pre and posttest data revealed high confidence in positive change from the beginning to the end of the semester on every item measured.Significant perceived student growth among each of the 10 questionnaire items was evident.Institutions that wish to aid in the development of students related to vocation, servant leadership, and calling may want to consider the course design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative research study used the pedagogy of reflection as faculty guided undergraduate nursing students in self-reflection and critique while on a mission trip to South India. Working through a dichotomy of emotions, students began to view nursing as a calling and themselves as global citizens embracing cultural diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ) is one of the most widely used multidimensional scales of career calling. We developed a short version of the CVQ in Italian (CVQ-I) and investigated its validity in a large sample of college students (N = 5886). Confirmatory factor analyzes supported a six-factor structure, which was shown to be invariant over time, gender, and study domains using multi-group measurement invariance analyzes. Scale scores were found to possess adequate internal consistency and convergent validity. These results demonstrate validity for the use of the CVQ-I in cross-cultural and longitudinal research and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. During the last decade, life calling has become an areas of dynamically developing research in psychology, management, and counseling. However, it has not been empirically investigated in Russia, despite Russia’s rich intellectual and spiritual tradition, and abundant research on related constructs, such as personal meaning. Objective. The aim of the present study is an initial qualitative exploration of the concept of calling in Russian culture. Design. We employed qualitative document analysis to examine openended responses from 104 college students regarding their definition of calling, and the actions they undertook to discern and implement that calling. Results. We found that the students saw a calling as something more than a mere job; were intrinsically motivated to find and dedicate themselves to it; associated a calling with the use of their abilities; and at the same time expected it to make them more energized and successful without considerable effort. While some participants felt called to a specific domain, the majority indicated abstract other or self-oriented callings. Regarding the implementation of their calling, the participants fell into two groups: those who did something specific, such as study and practice, and those who did something vague, such as “everything” or “nothing”. Conclusion. These results are largely in line with similar findings in other cultures. The results can be used in career guidance in educational institutions, as well as in private counseling. Specific recommendations for practice, as well as directions for future research, are explored.

This article argues for a rediscovery of a theology of work in South Africa that is based on the Protestant notion of calling and vocation. Such a view has the primary intention of emphasising obedience and faithfulness to God rather than self-fulfilment or achievement as the intentions of work. Such an approach can empower and equip the church and individual Christians for effective and faithful living in all spheres of life – both private and public. The article shows that the influences of theological dualism, an unbalanced view of the clergy as primary agents of ministry and mission, and a structures-centred view of ministry and mission detracted from the importance of the church’s ministry in numerous spheres of society. A consequence of this was the introduction of a subtle dualism between faith and work. In response to this, the article considers how the church could become an agent of mission and transformation in the world of work. The conclusion of this article is that the South African church could benefit from revisiting and rediscovering a theology of work that is based on the Protestant emphasis of calling and vocation in the public sphere. Contribution: While this article engages the traditional protestant theological notions of calling and vocation, it argues that reconsidering these notions in relation to the contemporary world of work can renew a theology of work and ministry for South African churches to serve their members in achieving God’s will in society.

What do we pursue as we seek success in academia? For most, the path to academic success focuses narrowly on A-level journal publications, which has caused a stealthy but steady erosion in the very essence of academia. In this essay, we explore that erosion by drawing on the poem by William Butler Yeats titled "What then?" to highlight the questions, doubts, and perils that lie at each of the four stages of academic life: doctoral student, junior professor, senior professor, and professor emeritus. We then offer a new set of questions that academics may ask at each stage to remain true to their sense of scholarly identity and calling. Our hope is to shine a critical spotlight on the modal journey and inspire a confident and courageous few to deviate from that well-trodden path and chart a course that is truer to the essence, purpose, and potential of academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship between calling, organizational commitment, and innovation behavior among 302 current teachers. The main results are as follows. First, calling had a positive effect on the organizational commitment. Second, calling did not significantly affect innovation behavior. Third, Organizational commitment had a statistically significant positive effect on innovation behavior. The result of the study suggests that in order to enhance the teacher's innovation behavior, it is necessary to clarify the calling of the teacher's own work and make him/her feel so that it can lead to the desire and willingness to actively realize the organization's goals and values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study examined perceptions of calling among 35 U.S. mid-career missionaries. Participants indicated that calling is a lifelong process of listening to God. They also emphasized ongoing personal and spiritual formation as foundational to living a calling. Current theological and theoretical research is discussed and evaluated to develop an integrative Christian perspective on the source(s), nature, means, and enactment of calling. Findings argue for the development of a robust spiritual theology of calling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational calling is a transcendent summons that originates externally to carry out a particular life role (work) in a manner that demonstrates meaningfulness and holds other-oriented values and goals as the main sources of motivation. The aim of the current study is to advance the study of individual differences in achieving occupational calling at workplace. Every individual varies in the extent of his psychological capital, proactivity, and curiosity; hence we aim to investigate the role of these variables as the predictors of occupational calling. In addition to the antecedents and mechanisms, we also explore a possible behavioral manifestation of calling at workplace in terms of employees' flourishing. Results are obtained from a heterogeneous sample using a time-lagged study design comprising of two waves. Significant linear relationships between study variables are established. Moderated mediation takes place between psychological capital and occupational calling through proactive personality and curiosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the significant transformations underway in academia, it is pertinent to ask whether the traditional notion of entering the profession in response to a calling is still relevant. This article draws together hitherto unconnected strands of German and Anglo-Saxon literature on callings, then analyzes biographical narratives of 40 social scientists in Germany and the United States. The comparative analysis of the timing, sources, and nature of the respondents' decision to become academics finds that almost all exhibit a calling orientation. However, their responses no longer correspond to the classical, passive notion; instead, callings in academia have become agentic. In the context of a wider societal trend to self-realization, academia has been transformed to an activity that people pursue because they want to rather than because destiny or an external force pushes them to make such a commitment. The recognition of the social nature of callings is underscored by the significance of professional mentors and family. The unexpected predominance of similarities in the cross-national comparison of calling orientation suggests that the internationalization of academic standards and procedures and the high level of competition for few positions in both contexts may outweigh the effects of culture and tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the current study was to examine the interactive effect of perceiving a calling and meaningful work on employee attitudes. Specifically, we explored the multiplicative effect of perceiving a calling and meaningful work on work engagement, affective, and normative occupational commitment using a prospective design. Results indicated that meaningful work moderated the relation between perceiving a calling and affective occupational commitment. Specifically, the effects of perceiving a calling on affective occupational commitment were stronger for those who perceived less, but not more, meaning in their work. The interactive effect of perceiving a calling and meaningful work did not predict work engagement or normative occupational commitment. Implications and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of servant leadership with its key concepts of servanthood and leadership has emerged during the last few decades. A person who has a heart for people and serves them whilst leading them practices servant leadership. Servant leaders are not motivated by attaining higher positions but by serving people. Leaders call people to follow a set vision. In the church, that vision ought to be a God vision, premised on the Word of God. Leaders in the church should lead people according to the guidance of the Bible and inspiration from God. He is the one who calls people, gives them an assignment and will require an account from them. The church has been in the spotlight in recent times because of the conduct of their leaders, who are the pastors assigned with the task of leading believers. Understanding the principles of servant leadership can contribute to spiritual formation of theological students in contextualisation of 21st century theological training. The article begins with a reflection on the findings of an empirical study, followed by a short view on the servant leadership of Moses, David, Paul and Jesus Christ. Thereafter, the article focuses on servant leadership characteristics and competencies or skills according to contemporary scholars, and the article concludes with a proposed model for servant leadership as part of spiritual formation of theological students. Contribution: Although the article is context specific to the Faculty of Theology, Mahikeng campus, the principles of servant leadership can contribute to the spiritual formation of all theological students and is especially relevant to the discourse of contextualised 21st century theological training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues for a rediscovery of a theology of work in South Africa that is based on the Protestant notion of calling and vocation. Such a view has the primary intention of emphasising obedience and faithfulness to God rather than self-fulfilment or achievement as the intentions of work. Such an approach can empower and equip the church and individual Christians for effective and faithful living in all spheres of life – both private and public. The article shows that the influences of theological dualism, an unbalanced view of the clergy as primary agents of ministry and mission, and a structures-centred view of ministry and mission detracted from the importance of the church's ministry in numerous spheres of society. A consequence of this was the introduction of a subtle dualism between faith and work. In response to this, the article considers how the church could become an agent of mission and transformation in the world of work. The conclusion of this article is that the South African church could benefit from revisiting and rediscovering a theology of work that is based on the Protestant emphasis of calling and vocation in the public sphere. Contribution: While this article engages the traditional protestant theological notions of calling and vocation, it argues that reconsidering these notions in relation to the contemporary world of work can renew a theology of work and ministry for South African churches to serve their members in achieving God's will in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this article is to highlight some of the inherent gender injustices experienced by the female pastors within the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFMZ). Drawing insights from the field research conducted in pursuance of a doctoral programme, the study foregrounds some of the barriers that women have had to endure when it comes to the issue of being ordained as a pastor. The article also interrogates the reasons used as a basis to exclude female pastors from the key decision-making bodies and to deny them the opportunity to preach at the national conference, which is the biggest gathering within the AFMZ. This is a qualitative study utilising interviews, focus group discussions and the observation method. The main findings emerging from this study reveal that whilst some positive changes have been made towards the inclusion of women in the pastoral ministry, however, there are still many gaps needing urgent attention before the AFMZ becomes a gender-inclusive and gender-equitable faith community. Contribution: This article foregrounds the challenges faced by female pastors in the AFMZ. It advocates for gender mainstreaming and gender inclusive policies in the AFMZ leadership structures. This is in sync with the focus of this collection, for which the main thrust is on women and religious leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his 1917 lecture "Science as a Vocation," Max Weber challenged current and aspiring scholars to abandon any pretense that science (Wissenschaft) bears within itself any meaning. In a disenchanted age, he argued, science could at best offer "knowledge of the techniques whereby we can control life... through calculation," and any meaning or moral direction to scientific research—including religious meaning—must be imposed on it from without. Weber presciently anticipated that many present-day health care practitioners would struggle to find meaning for their work within complex "state-capitalist" health care systems, along with predictable quasi-religious responses. But how are Christian practitioners to practice faithfully in a disenchanted age? The authors of this special issue lean deeply into the loci of Christian theology and Christian practice, some challenging the views of the body and of nature that informed Weber's theory of disenchantment, and all offering resources and paths by which practitioners might "look the fate of the age full in the face" with courage and wisdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that an account of vocation that ties one's work with divine calling stands counter to the biblical witness of calling in the New Testament. Rather than calling to a particular profession, the biblical account of calling is to a unique way of living that is to exemplify the followers of Christ. Therefore, the re-enchantment of medicine is not accomplished when one makes the practice itself sacred simply by imagining it as one's divine calling. Rather, the sacredness of medicine is rooted in the character of the physician whose daily decisions and patient interactions are the outcomes of virtues inculcated in worship, prayer, Bible study, and all other practices that mark the life of faith. Thus, the practitioner avoiding burnout asks not "Am I called to be a physician?" but "How as a physician in the daily practice of medicine might I exemplify my calling to Christ-likeness?" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on work as a calling has proliferated within the last decade, but researchers continue to conceptualize the construct in diverse ways, potentially creating confusion and a lack of coherence as research accumulates. This study applies two typological research strategies to better understand the latent structure of calling, and differences among people who find the construct personally relevant. First, using a sample of 588 U.S. undergraduate students who self-identified as having a calling, the taxometric method was used to test the presence of discrete types or categories within calling's latent structure. The indicator set was analyzed using three statistically non-redundant taxometric procedures (i.e., MAXEIG, MAMBAC, and L-Mode). Results revealed that calling is not represented by discrete taxa (categories), instead the differences in calling lie along a continuous (dimensional) latent structure. While having a singular latent structure, evidence suggests calling is likely a multidimensional construct, which allows for different points of emphasis expressed by people who perceive a calling. A two-step cluster analysis was then applied to examine participants' vocational identity characteristics. A two-cluster solution was supported, differentiated by the relative importance placed on work and self-enhancement values versus religion and prosocial work values. Implications for research on calling and career counseling practice are discussed. • Differing conceptualizations of calling by researchers may cause confusion. • 2 typological methods clarified identities of those with calling, and its structure. • Calling was dimensional rather than typological in latent structure. • The 2 clusters differed on work/self-enhancement vs. religion/prosocial. • Calling may resonate differently for those with different identity characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Research on work as a calling has rapidly increased in recent years, yet the lack of consensus regarding the construct's definition presents key challenges to researchers, most notably the potential lack of coherence as research on calling accumulates. We begin with a brief overview of current definitions in the literature to illustrate the overlapping yet distinct conceptualizations of the construct, placing them along a continuum of "neoclassical" to "modern." Next, we explore strengths and shortcomings of the two most commonly employed methodological strategies for studying calling, the "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches. We invite researchers to adopt a third strategy, the typological approach (and the taxometric method in particular), to offer much-needed conceptual clarity by empirically investigating whether there are distinct types of calling or whether the construct is best conceptualized as dimensional in nature. Finally, we present recommendations to guide researchers, reviewers, and consumers of research related to work as a calling on a path that reduces its ongoing conceptual murkiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the mediating role of psychological capital and work–family enrichment in the relation between calling and life satisfaction. Moreover, the moderating role of boundary management strategy, the tactics individuals utilize to manage role boundaries, in the relation between calling and work–family enrichment was investigated. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from members of the South Korean navy (N = 195). As hypothesized, people who have a calling obtained more psychological capital (hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism) from their work experience, which in turn positively related to work-to-family enrichment and life satisfaction. Although a statistically significant moderating effect of boundary management strategy was found, the pattern of the interaction was different from our original prediction; the positive relation between calling and work-to-family enrichment was stronger among those who strive to separate the work and family domains (i.e., separators) than among those who aim to integrate the two domains (i.e., integrators). The theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]