This study explores relationships between spiritual resources, job resources, and work engagement among 496 Australian religious workers at three time points over a period of 18 months. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources theory and Job Demands‐Resources model, spiritual resources are conceptualized as a distinct category of personal resources significant for this occupational cohort. Results of structural equation modelling analysis did not support the hypothesis of reciprocal relationships between spiritual and job resources and work engagement. Instead, spiritual resources had a positive cross‐lagged effect on work engagement, and work engagement had a positive cross‐lagged effect on job resources. When the high stability of spiritual resources over time was accounted for, work engagement had a negative indirect effect on spiritual resources over time mediated by a negative effect of job resources on spiritual resources (suppression effect). Spiritual resources emerge as an important category of antecedent resources for work engagement among religious workers. However, it appears that motivated religious workers may prioritize energy investments into increasing job resources at the expense of maintaining and developing spiritual resources. Practically, this research provides evidence for the promotion of initiatives to foster spiritual resources that enhance resilience and well‐being among religious workers. Practitioner points Spiritual resources are an under‐researched category of personal resources that positively predict work engagement among religious workers. Religious organizations and individual religious workers need to invest energy in the ongoing development of spiritual resources to maintain motivation for this unique type of work. Managers need to be aware that a focus on enhancing job resources and work engagement can have deleterious effects on religious workers' spiritual resources and so threaten their ongoing work engagement.

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The present study investigates the role of spiritual resources in the motivational and health impairment processes of the job demands-resources model. Spiritual resources are operationalized as a distinct category of personal resources. Results of item-level structural equation modeling on data from 835 Australian religious workers support the hypotheses that spiritual resources promote work engagement and lower exhaustion, which in turn fully mediate the influence of spiritual resources on reduced turnover intentions and emotional ill health. However, spiritual resources were not found to moderate the relationship between job demands and exhaustion. Cross-validation of the measurement model and structural relationships were assessed using a split-half technique. Limitations, future directions, and practical implications for improving the well-being of religious workers are discussed.

This article argues that contemporary theories of attachment to God lack a clear and coherent theological basis. The absence of theological argument weakens attachment theory as applied to relationships with God on three main grounds. First, cognitive social models easily slip into reductionism. Second, these models fail to consider fully the attributes of God to whom the individual attaches. Third, these models overlook that relationships with God and humans could include inter-subjectivity. Trinitarian theology as proposed by Colin Gunton is discussed and its usefulness for attachment theory examined. It is argued that models of attachment to God based in trinitarian theology can provide a coherent account of the origins of human relationship with God and of human inter-subjectivity. They can also suggest reasons for the existence of compensatory motivation, offer developmental models of spiritual maturity and draw attention to the importance of relationships with the Christian community for spiritual development.