Academy Faculty Members say ...

The Academy fulfills a unique place in the lives of Christians reaching for deeper spiritual growth, whether clergy or lay, whether leader or participant. I have never known a spiritual frontier which combines such a wide spectrum of Christian experience: the academic teaching, the spiritual guidance, the liturgical experience, the small group depth encounter and sharing, and silent reflection -- not only balanced, but interwoven through the days. Yes -- it changes lives, including mine.
   -- Flora Wuellner

Without Christian formation in spirituality there can be no Christianity at all. Though there are many ways format can take place, for large numbers of people, the Academy offers a structured, supportive community in which Christians can learn Christian history or a resource for their own growth in the love of God and neighbor, take risks spiritually, and find the courage to submit to God for healing the very parts of themselves they most would reject. I am committed to support it.
   -- Roberta C. Bondi

As I have said on numerous occasions in various contexts, The Academy for Spiritual Formation process enables some of the most significant learning that I have ever been involved with -- regardless of the educational setting.
    -- Michael G. Cartwright

It is refreshing for me to engage in the discipline of Academy sessions, to learn from the other lecturer, and to set my studies of the Hebrew scriptures into the context of a training program for spiritual directors. The silence and the worship are always rich and renewing.
   -- Walter Harrelson

The Academy is a carefully designed program in spiritual formation that has proven its value for hundreds. It gives participants an opportunity to deepen their spiritual life in a manner unequalled by other programs in spirituality that I'm acquainted with.
    -- E. Glenn Hinson

The Academy has become for me a trustworthy companion on the faith journey. It has helped me remain faithful to God in Christ as events in my life have threatened to pull me under. The Academy has acted as an anchor point, a place from which the pounding of the waves and the current of the tide could not cast me out too far from our living God.

To me, the community has become a miracle in progress. They are continually being transformed into something new and vital and exciting. It is like a great awakening after a long slumber. I greet each day at the Academy with such anticipation as I wait to see what God is going to do in our lives. I'm always surprised by God's grace and love and by the struggle of God's people to be truly faithful.
   -- Linda Vance

The Academy is a unique and life-transforming experience for both leaders and participants. Attention to serious scholarship and devotional life provide an uniting of mind and heart. It is an honor to lead and participate.
   -- Andy Langford

The Academy for Spiritual Formation consistently models a balanced, well-integrated approach to the shaping of Christian leaders for the spiritual formation of their faith communities. The broad scope of study combined with covenant group experience gave me important skills and perspective for my ministry to individuals, small groups, and churches. The two-year program is a great gift on a national level to the Church.
   -- Dan Prechtel

The Academy for Spiritual Formation model and the rhythm of the days create a climate in which God brings about transformation in the lives of many participants. The presentations -- followed by an hour of silence and a time of shared reflection -- free folks to reflect deeply and to share much of what is happening within them, even as they are discovering it themselves. Such unguarded speech is sacred and the group recognizes the presence of the Spirit in its midst. We come face to face with the Presence and we are changed. There are very few places where this can happen today, and that is why those of us who have been privileged to be part of Academies, come to them as though we are coming home.
    -- Hazelyn McComas

I wholeheartedly believe in the approach to spirituality as structured in the two main components of both the two-year and five-day Spiritual Formation Academies. The title is indicative of the holistic integration of these two components in the spiritual and academic formation of the participants. The spiritual formation is effected through daily communal prayer (Liturgy of the Hours), Eucharist, class covenant sharing of their faith journey, lectio after lectures. The academic is nurtured and realized in two daily lectures by different adjunct faculty. Topics covered over the two-year period constitute a comprehensive synthesis of Christian spirituality.
    -- Sr. Miriam Schmitt

I have been enriched by my past participation in the Academy and enjoy fond memories of the good people I met and of the fine work that was done. The Academy provides a unique opportunity for deepening one's spiritual sensitivities and for experiencing spiritual companionship. Through the sharing of fresh ideas, intuitive insights and friendship in an atmosphere of prayerful reflection, the Academy has turned out spiritually alert individuals who can have a quiet but significant and positive influence on our contemporary world.

There is a very real difference between being "self-centered" and being a "centered-self." The Academy experience helps one know that center, nurture that center and move out from that center into true discipleship.
   -- Gwen White

It has been my privilege to be part of two two-year Academies. The programs were worship-centered. Each developed a strong, caring, and supportive community. The core staff was exceptionally fine, bringing an unusual array of gifts and experiences. The other guest teachers I met taught through both remarkable lecture content and through their own lives and commitment. The program created a wonderful opening for God's formation work in and among the participants. The movement of the Spirit was a palpable experience. I brought back insights and new understandings to my own community, after my time with the Academy.
    -- Sandra Cronk

The two-year Academy provides one of the richest programs available in the resources of spiritual formation.
    -- Dwight Judy

The Academy provides one of the most holistic programs of spiritual nurture available today.
    -- Bob Mulholland

The Academy provides: (1) an immersion of the total person in a spiritually formative community centered on Christ for sufficient duration for spiritual growth. (2) exposure to faculty who have gained knowledge and experience helpful to others while on their own intentional journey of spiritual formation.
    -- Charles R. Gipson

I have been deeply impressed and inspired by the sincere dedication of Academy members and participants to the spiritual life and to learning and growing in it.
   -- Rita Anne Houlihan

The Academy has been a wonderful means of renewal and strengthening for pastors. You have helped people to deepen their faith and strengthen their vision.
    -- R. Wade Paschal, Jr.

[The Academy] is a wonderful time to focus on spiritual formation, a dimension which has been neglected in our denomination. It also enables participants to see spiritual formation not only as individuals but also as an integral component of who we are together as the people of God.
    -- Yolanda Pupo-Ortiz