The Iona Collaborative announces the inaugural cohort of students for the Certificate in Congregational Spiritual Direction, offered in partnership with Seminary of the Southwest. A first-of-its-kind certificate program designed to prepare leaders for the ministry of spiritual direction for congregations, this new offering will equip leaders to embed spiritual direction practices at the heart of congregational life. Rooted in seminary-level formation and accessible through Zoom-based learning, the Certificate in Congregational Spiritual Direction (CCSD) program brings rigorous training to small-church leaders who feel called to cultivate spiritual depth in their communities.
Iona Collaborative Program Director, Rebecca Hall, says, “The CCSD is an exciting opportunity to make a deep and lasting impact on the spiritual vitality of the church. Spiritual direction has long been recognized as a way to grow individuals’ faith and spiritual development. It only makes sense that it could also help our churches become communities of greater depth.”
Fourteen students, representing eleven Episcopal dioceses, will begin their studies in August. The three-semester sequence includes coursework offered in conjunction with Seminary of the Southwest’s M.A. in Spiritual Direction program, an in-person intensive at Camp Allen, a congregational fieldwork practicum in a church or diocesan setting, and ongoing evaluation and feedback using Iona’s Congregational Spiritual Director Assessment Matrix to ensure ministry readiness. Students will learn adaptable tools and practices that turn ordinary decision-making into opportunities for discernment, reflection, and renewal.
The Certificate in Congregational Spiritual Direction program is generously funded by a grant through the Thriving Congregations Initiative of the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although the gifts of stock remain a financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A primary aim of its grantmaking in religion is to deepen the religious lives of Christians, principally by supporting efforts that enhance congregational vitality and strengthen the leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment values the broad diversity of Christian traditions and endeavors to support them in a wide variety of contexts. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion by encouraging fair, accurate and balanced portrayals of the positive and negative effects of religion on the world and lifting up the contributions that people of all faiths make to our greater civic well-being.
About Seminary of the Southwest
Rooted in the reconciling ministry of Christ, the mission of Seminary of the Southwest is to form people for vocations of ministry, service, and healing. This formation is done with great intention and care, with active and accessible faculty members who not only challenge the students but challenge each other. The seminary continually updates its curriculum to provide fresh answers to old questions, while maintaining a tradition of excellence and faith that is the cornerstone of Southwest’s identity.
Established in 1952 by the Rt. Rev. John Elbridge Hines, the fourth Bishop of Texas and eventual Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Seminary of the Southwest was born from the need to educate more Episcopal priests during a period of rapid postwar growth in The Episcopal Church. Bishop Hines’ vision was expansive: he sought to create a seminary for “the whole church … centered around dialogue between the Christian faith and culture.”
Seminary of the Southwest stands boldly at this intersection of tradition and innovation. Rooted in the celebration of the theology, liturgy, and rich history of The Episcopal Church, Southwest lives within the fertile conversation among the creative solutions and powerful opportunities that will help the church thrive for generations.