SFAD Course Descriptions

Table of Contents

SFAD 510 Identity and Purpose in Christ

1 hour

Provides an opportunity for students to identify their deep longings and giftings as they discern their vocational way of being in the world for the sake of others. This discernment is rooted in a growing knowledge of the biblical and theological roots of identity and belonging. Students will be invited to integrate their way of being in the world with the God who calls them.

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SFAD 511 Community and Belonging in the Life of God

1 hour

Provides an invitation for students to embrace the calling to belong within a faith community as an essential of Christian spirituality. Locating their past and present sources of belonging, students will integrate those experiences in order to grow in their understanding of self in relation to community. Students will support this awareness by reflecting on the cultural forces and narratives that shape both individuals and communities.

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SFAD 512 Prayer and Practices in the Contemplative Life

1 hour

Provides an invitation for students to engage in prayer and other spiritual practices for greater awareness of self, others and God. As students practice they will be introduced to the gift of a contemplative life and will begin to experience a groundedness in Christ’s presence. This groundedness helps them embrace themselves, God, and others. As students learn to experience this space, they will be able to invite others into a more contemplative life.

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SFAD 513 Listening and Spiritual Discernment

1 hour

Introduces students to the concept of three-way listening: listening to another, listening to themselves, and listening to the Spirit with hospitality to all. Quaker, Wesleyan, and Ignatian spiritualities help shape this understanding of listening and discernment. Part of this journey is to begin to notice the barriers that arise in listening this way. Growth will occur as students learn how to sift through their interior and exterior experiences to determine their origin and the movement of the Spirit in themselves, their community, and the world.

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SFAD 514 Sacramental Pathways: Ritual, Mystery & Beauty

1 hour

Introduces students to the rhythms of ritual, mystery, and beauty as pathways for Christian formation. Moving from the specific to the general, students will cultivate the ability to experience the sacred in the ordinary through tangible practices. These practices will be guided by theological reflection on the implications of the Incarnation, thus allowing students to both explore and notice God’s recreative presence in the arts, creation, and all of life.

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SFAD 516 Spiritual Leadership for Life and Community

1 hour

Leaning deeper in reflection on areas of disintegration and integration, students will be invited to practice self-acceptance, generosity of spirit, boundaries, and to recognize invitations of growth. Analyzing the theology of spiritual leadership and reviewing elements which invite leaders to sustain a leadership role with integrity and health, students will reflect and create a rhythm of life that will serve as a fluid document to sustain them as they live out their vocational call within the communities they serve.

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SFAD 517 Christian Mysticism for the Everyday

1 hour

Invites students to experience and explore images of God and understandings of spirituality through Scripture and the writings of the mystical traditions of the Church. Studying the spiritual writings of others through history opens one to consider their own image of God and concept of spirituality. This recognition, often shaped from childhood and life experience, offers an invitation to an expanding understanding of God. Mystics invite us to move beyond knowledge about God into an experiential relationship with God that impacts everyday life.

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SFAD 518 Restorative Justice and the Shalom of God

1 hour

Invites students to explore God’s transformative action and desire for restorative justice and Shalom through the writings of the biblical prophets, Christian mystics, and activists. Students will broaden their awareness of unjust systems while considering their personal participation in oppressive structures. Reflective practices and discussion will invite students to actively join with God and create practices for response and reconciliation that extend God’s hospitality and restores the humanity of all.

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SFAD 520 Mystical Exper/ Images of God

1 hour

Gives students opportunities to explore images of God portrayed in the Scriptures and in the mystical traditions of the Church. Students compare these images and traditions to those that have shaped their own thoughts, emotions, and actions. Students are able to inform, strengthen, and transform their images and experiences.

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SFAD 530 Christian Prayer

1 hour

Provides an opportunity for students to develop deeper and more satisfying prayer lives in the context of a global environment. As the essential relational discipline of the Christian journey, prayer is examined and experienced in its diverse ecclesial, ethnic, and cultural forms as found in Scripture, Christian history, and the Church.

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SFAD 551 Awareness and Identity I

2 hours

Gives students the opportunity in a seminar format to come to a deeper awareness of who they are and why they do what they do. Through practices and tools such as centering prayer, the enneagram, and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, students will become healthier servant leaders through an intentional formation of their identities. (Note: it is required that students take both SFAD 551 and SFAD 552).

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SFAD 552 Awareness and Identity II

2 hours

Gives students the opportunity in a seminar format to come to a deeper awareness of who they are and why they do what they do. Through practices and tools such as centering prayer, the enneagram, and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, students will become healthier servant leaders through an intentional formation of their identities. (Note: it is required that students take both SFAD 551 and SFAD 552).

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SFAD 555 Seminar in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship I

2 hours

A small group of students study a specially selected topic with a professor in a seminar format. (Note: students are required to take both SFAD 555 and 565).

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SFAD 560 Spiritual Leadership

1 hour

Examines the unique nature and responsibility of spiritual leadership. It analyzes the theology of spiritual leadership and reviews elements such as accountability, boundaries, devotional habits, life balance, retreats, solitude, and emotional, spiritual, and physical health. The course also delves into some of the things that inhibit the exercise of spiritual leadership.

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SFAD 565 Seminar in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship II

2 hours

A small group of students study a specially selected topic with a professor in a seminar format. (Note: students are required to take both SFAD 555 and 565).

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SFAD 571 Becoming a Spiritual Director I

3 hours

This course focuses on hosting spiritual conversations for soul companions. Generous listening is a core practice for intentionally guiding persons in their spiritual growth and at the center of training for spiritual directors. This course explores the historical, theological, biblical, and psychological premises for soul companionship and introduces students to core practices. Students will reflect on meaning and definitions of hosting spiritual conversations in light of their own experience and the course teachings and personal discernment regarding vocational spiritual direction. Note: it is required that students take SFAD 571 & SFAD 572.

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SFAD 572 Becoming a Spiritual Director II

3 hours

This course continues the students’ training in the discipline of spiritual direction. It addresses professional issues related to being a spiritual director and gives students practical experience in being spiritual directors, under the guidance of certified supervisors. (Note: it is required that students take both SFAD 571 & SFAD 572. Additional fees: The cost of personal spiritual direction is covered by the student.)

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SFAD 576 Spiritual Direction Certification I

1 hour

For those already trained as spiritual directors, this course along with the second course SFAD 577 and the Praxis course SFAD 578 are designed to prepare a student for certification as spiritual directors. This occurs through an intensive exploration of one’s spiritual life and its intersection with one’s spiritual direction practice with the guidance of a trained spiritual direction supervisor. Additional course fee is required. Students take SFAD 576 and 577 in sequence and complete SFAD 578 in a separate semester. Pass/No Pass.

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SFAD 577 Spiritual Direction Certification II

1 hour

For those already trained as spiritual directors, this course along with the first course SFAD 576 and the Praxis course SFAD 578 are designed to prepare a student for certification as spiritual directors. This occurs through an intensive exploration of one’s spiritual life and its intersection with one’s spiritual direction practice with the guidance of a trained spiritual direction supervisor. Additional course fee is required. Students take SFAD 576 and 577 in sequence and complete 578 in a separate semester. Pass/No Pass.

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SFAD 578 Certification Praxis

1 hour

The praxis course involves doing spiritual direction with the guidance of a trained spiritual direction supervisor. A student may either take the course before SFAD 576 or after SFAD 577. Final certification for spiritual direction occurs at the end of 3 semesters with a summative assessment interview given by the course instructor upon recommendation of the student’s supervisor. Additional course fee is required. Pass/No Pass.

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SFAD 585 Spiritual Formation Elective

1 hour

Explores topics of spiritual formation that support the deep work of transformation of students, communities, or cultures.

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SFAD 595 Special Study in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship

1 hour

A specially designed and individually tailored course of research involving in-depth study of a particular question, problem, or issue presented by the student. The student must make application for the study prior to registration for the semester in which the study will be carried out. The application must be approved by the faculty member overseeing the study and the departmental chair.

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