This course gives the student an opportunity to do focused study in a specialized area of Spiritual Formation.  Spiritual formation is the process by which our lives are joined to the kingdom story within the community of faith, by the work of the Holy Spirit, for the sake of the world and to the glory of God. It involves both an inward journey of a deepening life with God and the outward expression of that life in compassion and witness.  This course will focus on developing spiritual formation practices within congregational life/Christian leadership and exploring elements of the outward journey.  The elements of spiritual formation for congregations to be explored will include:  deepening a congregation’s connections to the Biblical narrative, engaging corporate spiritual practices, the role of discernment as a leadership practice and creation care as a valuable expression of the outward journey.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Participate, with a congregation, more fully in the Kingdom story
2. Identify corporate spiritual practices useful in your ministry context
3. Deepen the spiritual practice of discernment in your ministry context
4. Learn to lead in ways that helps a congregation to be increasingly attentive to God, oneself and others
5. Carry a deeper biblical vision for integrating creation care issues into congregational life.