While the emphasis of the SSCS is clearly on
Christian spirituality, it also seeks to foster creative dialogue with
non-Christian traditions of spirituality. The Society’s membership
includes scholars active in a wide range of academic communities as
well as artists, pastors, practitioners, and those in the helping
professions—all those interested in reflecting critically on the life
of the Spirit. Founded in 1991 at the American Academy of Religion
(AAR) meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, the SSCS was established to
facilitate the scholarly examination of spirituality and to maintain
spirituality as a regular part of the AAR program. The SSCS received
recognition from the AAR as a Related Scholarly Organization in May,
1992, and held its first annual meeting in San Francisco in November,
1992. The SSCS meets annually in conjunction with the AAR meeting. In addition to an
annual meeting, the SSCS has launched Spiritus, a refereed, scholarly
journal that aims to foster dialogue about critical issues in the field
of spirituality.
The Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality is the single most important opportunity for scholars in the field whose primary focus is on Christian tradition to reflect deeply on both how we teach Christian Spirituality as well as share our cutting age research and writing in our field. As we approach our 20th anniversary as a society, we are proud of our journal, Spiritus, that has consistently covered wide-ranging issues in our field as well as provoked thoughtful interdisciplinary reflection among us and readers beyond our face-to face annual meetings at AAR for the last ten years.
Janet Ruffing
President
of the Society for the Study of Christian
Spirituality, 2010-11
Professor
of the Practice of Spirituality and Ministerial
Leadership at