Who Should Apply?
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Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program is for people who have experienced the mystery of God working in their own lives and who:
- Now companion others on their spiritual journey.
- Know others who see in them spiritual maturity and a gift of spiritual companioning.
- Desire personal spiritual deepening for themselves as enrichment for this ministry.
- Seek spiritual community and mutual support with other spiritually open directors
Each program class is comprised of approximately 20-25 carefully selected
men and women who feel called to deepen their ministry and experience
of spiritual guidance and to further the integration of their personal
spiritual awareness. They include lay people, clergy, vowed religious,
and professionals representing a wide variety of vocations and faith
traditions. People who have informally found themselves
sought out by others for attention to prayer and spiritual life may be
eligible.
Shalem’s program is also appropriate for those who
have received professional spiritual direction training and who desire
the enrichment that the contemplative disciplines bring to individuals
and those they companion.
Ideal Criteria
Ideal candidates for this program are individuals who...
- Feel called to spiritual companionship for others, i.e., attention to the mystery of grace moving through a person's life, and its implications for their ministry, discipline, and appreciation of life unfolding in the image of God. This involves specifically focusing on prayer/meditation experience and discernment of and response to God's activity in a person's life.
- Have experienced a validation of this call by the fact that others have come to them to attend God in their lives.
- Have had experience with a spiritual director or companion for themselves.
- Have life experience and history which reflect an on-going caring for God.
- Desire
a serious experiential and academic program with an ecumenical mix of
peers in a Christian context, open to learning from other faith
traditions.
- Actively express commitment to and seeking of the Truth of God through a religious tradition and are open to learning from other traditions.
- Have evidence of their faith community's support for their ministry of spiritual direction.
If you would like to apply for this program or need additional information, contact Katy Gaughan the Program Registrar at 301-897-7334 x202 or download the application form (PDF) now.
Contemplative Leadership