Hometown: Quezon City, Philippines

The strongest takeaway from Dr. Angela Harkins’ Prayer and Ritual class is the understanding that the biblical texts are living resources for spirituality studies and practices today. By deeply diving into the foundational events that shaped the Jewish and Christian communities and how those events were retold and ritualized, contemporary communities of prayer can continue to identify how our own rituals bring us closer to each other and to God.

Moreover, this class emphasized spaces like wilderness, mountaintop, and sanctuary as places that give meaning to and transform prayer practices for the people in scripture. In my own work in contemporary liturgical and contextual theologies, I keep in mind this appreciation for scripture as a living liturgical and contextual resource. This spirituality class helps ground not only my theology, but also my own prayer practices.

Hometown: Denver, Colorado

The courses in spiritual formation have given me a language for and a capacity to recognize the movements and realities of the human spirit; something not always sought nor honored in our world. The coursework in the art of spiritual direction particularly, has deepened my appreciation for this ancient Christian practice of accompanying others who seek to find meaning in the vastness of a loving, kind yet mysterious Creator who unfolds in all of our lives. I am more capable of honoring that and assisting that growth in all persons.

Hometown: Rochester, New York

I continue to be amazed at the unique ways God is at work in people's lives and that is the story of our faith. Spirituality studies has helped me appreciate this mystery in a deeper way. In the future, whatever ministry I am involved in, these courses will help me be more aware of, and listen more deeply to, God's continued action in the lives of people I am accompanying.

Hometown: Cleveland, Tennessee

Spirituality studies have helped me better grasp the utter dependence of the human person and her simultaneous openness to transcendence. To answer the call to become genuinely human, I must embrace the gift of my innate poverty of spirit, which is my dependence upon others, the world, and God. Simultaneously, I am created for a deep fellowship with the infinite abyss of love which is the Triune God; therefore, while ever remaining beautifully finite, I have been invited into the loving, flowing life of Reality Itself. These two human truths I will carry with me into my education, vocation, and world.

Hometown: Sherborn, Massachusetts

The past three years in the Post-Master's Certificate program has not only given me the practical skills and experience to make spiritual direction part of my everyday ministry, but it has reinforced the importance of my own continued prayer, discernment, and learning as a professional minister.

Each summer has been an oasis, a chance to gather with colleagues and engage in what feels like a two-week retreat; to fill the cup of the mind, heart, and spirit. From looking at some of the spiritual "greats" when we learned about ways of prayer and discernment, to reflecting on the role of neurobiology to more deeply understand the human mind and our stories, to engaging with the arts to access new avenues of spiritual reflection, this program has given me tools that enrich my ministry, and my own spiritual life. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow through spirituality studies at the CSTM!