Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership

Do you yearn to reconnect with your original call and passion?
Are you searching for a more grounded way of embracing and responding to the challenges and blessings of ministry?
Would you treasure a supportive and caring colleague group with whom to share your journey?
Are you looking for a new way to live and lead faithfully?

If these questions stir your heart, then the Spirit might be inviting you to consider Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership.

“I believe a new church is slowly emerging as this fresh attention to life in the Spirit becomes front and center in a congregation’s life.”
~ Tilden Edwards, Embracing the Call to Spiritual Depth: Gifts for Contemplative Living

Overview

For clergy serving as pastors of congregations or as chaplains, expectations can often be overwhelming. Balance is hard to find, burnout is all too common, and clergy can feel especially isolated and torn in many different directions. With too much to do and the desire to do everything perfectly, a life that should be centered in God and committed to spiritual practice is all too quickly overtaken by stress and time management issues.

Shalem’s clergy program was created to address these challenges and provides an opportunity for clergy of all denominations to focus intentionally on the inner work that can foster a transformation of heart, and an openness to what is being invited, for themselves and their communities. In the face of administrative and cultural pressures, clergy are invited to “center down,” as Howard Thurman describes, and listen for the Spirit’s guidance in challenging times.

The description of “clergy spiritual life and leadership” points to the two focus points of the program: the nurture of a transformation of the spiritual heart and the opportunity to embody a Spirit-led practice of ministry. In this way, we discover that how we listen shapes how we live.

The program’s structure of peer and lay listening groups creates a way to journey together and discern next steps that is very different from task force and committee work. The two eight-day retreats offer a space for refreshment and renewal, with plenty of time for prayer, worship, contemplative practice and the sharing of joys and challenges.

Living open to the Spirit in personal and community life can provide the foundation needed for authentic vision and action. Both the structure and content of Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership offer a contemplative orientation that encourages an immediate openness to God’s grace and freedom to embrace a new way of being, both personally and collectively.

Timeline & Components

Application Deadline
Early Bird deadline: March 1, 2022
Regular deadline: April 15, 2022

Program Dates
May 2022 – September 2023

First Retreat: August 2-9, 2022 (via Zoom)
Second Retreat: July 18-25, 2023 (via Zoom)

Program Components
Two Zoom Retreats with At-Home Work

Much of the work of Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership happens at home within the context of one’s ministry. The program is anchored by two eight-day Zoom retreats, which include presentations on contemplative prayer and leadership, fellowship with peers, worship, and spacious time for rest, reflection, and renewal. Shalem is mindful of the circumstances in which we find ourselves, with ongoing concerns related to the pandemic as well as the potential for decreased congregational budgets. Even so, especially in these tension-filled times, it is all the more essential for clergy to tap into that grounded, centered place in communion with the Beloved. To that end, the entire clergy 2021-2022 program will take place on Zoom (with some phone calls, email, etc.) In addition to offering flexibility with scheduling, holding the Going Deeper program on Zoom will allow us to offer a substantial reduction in the tuition cost—hopefully allowing even more to share in these meaningful, soul-restoring conversations. In addition to the reduced tuition, Shalem has need-based tuition assistance available, thus removing any cost barriers to participation.

At-home work includes:

• • Readings focused on contemplative presence and spiritually grounded leadership;
  • Personal spiritual practice supported, if possible, by a spiritual director or spiritual direction group and, where helpful, by keeping a spiritual journal;
  • Periodic reflections, deep listening and caring support with a peer group of participants;
  • A visit to an innovative, risk-taking church of your choosing;
  • Creation of a listening group of laity from your congregation for spiritual deepening and mutual support;
  • At least two days of solitary retreat time;
  • A final integration paper that allows you to look back with God over your experience throughout the program in order to learn what has been of value to integrate into your life and leadership.

Retreats include:

• • Fellowship and stimulus of other contemplatively-minded clergy;
  • Rest, renewal and guided silent retreat;
  • Presentations with individual and small group reflection on various themes central to discovering how to live and lead from the spiritual heart, such as

Nurturing Spirit-led leadership in yourself and with your faith community

Personal and congregational ways for discernment based on deep listening

Experiencing new and ancient practices of contemplative prayer

Dealing with conflict and anger from a contemplative heart that holds compassion and courage in equal measure

Listening for the Spirit’s shaping of the future of the church

Collegiality with spiritually motivated congregants and other clergy

Touching the Holy across faith lines

Engaging social action with a contemplative heart

Presence to God in worship

Discernment as spiritually grounded decision-making;

• • Inspiration drawn from the lives of past and present spiritual leaders;
  • Honest spiritual community and the beginnings of a network of mutual support and practical learning.

A Certificate of Completion is awarded upon completion of all program requirements.

Chaplains may obtain Continuing Education Units for completing this program. Past graduates have been granted CEU’s for Shalem’s programs by the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Program Co-Directors

Julie Pennington-Russell
Julie Pennington-Russell, Co-Director of the Program, serves as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, DC. She earned her MDiv from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, CA. She is a graduate of Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership and is in the 2021 class of Nurturing the Call: Spiritual Guidance Program. Julie served three previous congregations in San Francisco, Waco (TX) and Decatur (GA). One of her greatest joys is planting and nurturing contemplative groups within congregational life. She experiences closeness with the Beloved in the daily rhythms of urban life.

Emily Johnson Kellar
Emily Johnson Kellar, Co- Director of the Program, serves as minister of the Congregational Church of South Dartmouth, UCC in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. She earned her MDiv from Andover Newton Theological School which is now located in New Haven, CT. She is a graduate of Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership program. Emily has taken online courses with Shalem and been on the pilgrimage to Assisi. Emily served a previous UCC congregation south of Boston. She has three grown children, a daughter in law, grandson and a yellow lab named Deacon. Emily is a follower of Jesus the Christ and seeks to walk in the way of Love. Emily has a deep love of interreligious dialogue and believes there are many pathways to the Divine.

Price & Apply Now

Check back soon for registration details.

Price of Program:
Early Bird Price (through March 1, 2022): $3,300
Regular Price: (after March 1, 2022): $3,500
Need-based tuition assistance is available.  Contact Chris (chris@shalem.org) for information

Testimonials