Certificate in Spiritual Transformation

Overview

The Certificate in Spiritual Transformation identifies the completion of a learning process that guides leaders in an experience of spiritual transformation in the context of a Transforming Community.  This two year process seeks to develop a holisitic approach to spiritual transformation in the life of the leader so that spiritual leadership will flow naturally from the transformation they are experiencing in their own life.  We believe that real change takes place incrementally over time with others.  Thus, the method of learning is highly experiential and includes substantive teaching, readings and written reflections on spiritual formation themes, guided experiences in classic Christian disciplines, and significant engagement in community with other leaders. 

Admission

Ideal candidates are men and women in Christian leadership:
•    Pastors and pastoral staff
•    Directors of spiritual formation, discipleship,
      and Christian education
•    Denominational leaders
•    Business leaders
•    Elders and deacons and other key lay leaders
•    Para-church ministry leaders

The process includes an application form and registration fee.  Please refer to www.thetransformingcenter.org/join.php for details.  Contact the Transforming Center to request an application form.

Cost

Registration fee – $250 non-refundable, one time registration fee is due upon acceptance to secure a spot.
   
Retreat - $450.00 per retreat is due two weeks prior to each retreat.  For completion of the program 8 retreats are required with the cost totaling $3,600.  This covers all tuition, retreat materials, private room and accommodations at a retreat center, five meals, and refreshments.  Travel cost and books are NOT included.
    
Transforming Center Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for $50 per 45 CEU’s for the entire two year process.  CEU’s are given by the Transforming Center and can be used to document your continued development as a spiritual leader.  45 CEU’s will be awarded upon completion of the 8 retreats and the requirements associated with all 8 retreats.  To be awarded the CEU’s you must submit a CEU request form and pay the additional $50 fee.   

Certificate Requirements

Certificate in Spiritual Transformation
•    Attend 8 retreats*
•    Complete required readings
•    Complete and submit written assignments
•    Participate in group spiritual direction (assigned
      groups remain consistent throughout the two years)
•    Complete and submit final project that clearly
      outlines one’s personal rule of life
•    Engage in spiritual direction or spiritual friendship

*If one retreat is missed, the participant will be allowed to substitute a five-page reflection on the discipline of that retreat in order to demonstrate their completion of the assigned readings and their practice of the disciplines taught and experienced at that retreat.  Guidance will be offered for the written reflection.

Program Content

All retreats are held in the Chicago area and include:•    Teaching sessions on the personal and community
      aspects of each theme.
•    Reflections on the psychological dynamics of the
      spiritual formation process.
•    Fixed hour prayer in community (morning, mid-day,
      evening and night).
•    Practical guidance for practicing spiritual disciplines
      personally and in community, with specific application
      to your own life in leadership.
•    Group Spiritual Direction with six or fewer members
      who will remain consistent throughout the two year
      experience.
•    Guidance for meeting with a spiritual friend/spiritual
      director in between retreats.
•    Quarterly assignments that provide guidance for
      integrating the disciplines in your ministry context plus
      substantive reading assignments and written reflections.
•    Community Forum that offers the opportunity to
      communicate with the community on-line in between
      retreats.
•    Final project that clearly describes and articulates
      ones personal rule of life

Retreats

Year one
1.    Retreat #1: Invitation to Transforming Community
       (program launch)
2.    Retreat #2:  A Leader’s Invitation to Solitude and Silence
3.    Retreat #3: Prayer: Deepening Our Intimacy with God
4.    Retreat #4: Engaging the Scriptures for Spiritual
       Transformation

Year Two
5.    Retreat #5: Experiencing Transformation through
       Self-Knowledge and Self-Examination
6.    Retreat #6: Flesh and Blood Spirituality: Honoring the
       Body as a Spiritual Discipline (Living within Limits,
       Sabbath-Keeping, etc.)
7.    Retreat #7: Discerning and Doing the Will of God:
       The Heart of Spiritual Leadership
8.    Retreat #8: A Rule of Life: Arranging Our Lives
       for Spiritual Transformation

Teaching and Support Staff

The Transforming Community is guided by a leadership team made up of those who have completed the two-year community experience and are committed to an ongoing process of spiritual transformation in their life and leadership.  Ruth Haley Barton is the primary teacher and spiritual director with significant contributions from other presenters and practitioners in the field. 

Ruth Haley Barton is founding president of the Transforming Center.  A seasoned spiritual director, teacher and retreat leader, she was trained through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and The Pathways Center for Spiritual Leadership.  Educated at Wheaton College, Northern Seminary and University of Loyola Institute for Pastoral Studies, Ruth has served on the pastoral staff of several churches including Willow Creek Community Church. She has  authored numerous articles and books including:  Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation, Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence, Longing for More, An Ordinary Day with Jesus:  Experiencing the Reality of God in Your Everyday Life (co-author), Equal to the Task:  Men and Women in Partnership, and Ruth:  Relationships that Bring Life.

Rev. Dr. J. Taylor Haley is senior pastor/head of staff at First Presbyterian Church, LaCrosse, Wisconsin.  Jonathan holds a Master of Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and a Doctorate from McCormick Seminary. He serves on the board of the Transforming Center.

Rev. Dr. David Hughes is senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where he has served for eighteen years.  He holds and M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is a member of the third Transforming Community. 

Rory Noland is director of Heart of the Artist Ministries and serves as worship leader for the Transforming Center.  Rory served for twenty years as music director at Willow Creek and is a composer, song writer, speaker, and author of several books on worship and the arts.

Rev. Cole Griffin is Pastor for Congregational Care & Counseling in the Milwaukee area where he has served for 13 years.  He graduated with an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.  Prepared as a spiritual director, retreat leader and Christian Conciliator, he has a passion to care for the souls of those serving in ministry.    He serves as the host for the Transforming Center’s Transforming Community experience. 

For additional information please contact us at the Transforming Center offices:
Dalene Strieff, Registrar
dstrieff@thetransformingcenter.org
(630) 588-8133