Division of Spiritual Formation/Direction Studies (SFD)

3 credits

This course invites students to integrate spiritual care, sustainability, theology,  in their work for service and change in God's world. Service & Sustainability means illuminating how action and contemplation work together to inform the health and sustainability of one’s vocational call in order to imagine a lifelong commitment to beauty and justice in community. The question explored in this course is how the Christ call of self-denial does not become a self-deprecating denial of self in this sacred service in the world.  

1 credit

As we grow, learn and change, it is important to pay attention to how we want to be formed. The rhythms, relationships and practices of our lives can contribute to the ways that we are formed, integrated and sustained. We will experiment with practices of body, mind, and soul to craft unique Ways of Life for each person at this moment of their life and moments beyond.

2 Credits

This course is about discovering and recovering your creative self. It is for anyone interested in practicing the art of creative living. It is about both being creative and putting that creativity into practice. We will explore what it means to be an artist and a spiritual being and how the practice of creativity unblocks spirituality in our lives and can inspire and transform humanity's relationship to God, community and culture. We will also discover how creativity can enliven our academic study and vocational practice. 

This course begins with an artist’s retreat; students then continue coursework asynchronously throughout the term, including regular engagement with previously established reading groups.

1 Credit

This is an introduction to a period of history in which Christianity developed somewhat differently in the British Isles and somewhat independently from the Church on the Continent. The “Golden Age of Saints and Scholars” which characterized the 5th-8th centuries in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall and The Isle of Man continues to have an impact on the Church today. We will examine the ethos, worldview, and values of the Christian culture of that era, and how it speaks across the centuries to the Christian Communities of today.

1 Credit

Pilgrimage has historically been understood as sacred travel that integrates body, mind, and soul. How might pilgrimage also provide a formative model for our everyday lives and the lives of those whom we serve? The practice of pilgrimage invites us as seekers to become agents of change on our journeys of transformation. In this course, students will learn about pilgrimage through study, reflection, local practice, and shared experience and develop an understanding of how the archetypes of pilgrimage - whether to distant lands or right outside the student's door - can be applied in everyday life.

1 or 2 Credits

A full course description is available on individual course syllabi and is particular to each course.