NEWS

The Center for Prophetic Imagination (a partner with Our Bible App) is taking applications for their Fall 2024 Cohort for their Spiritual Direction and Social Transformation certificate program emphasizing spiritual direction as a social practice.

Many of us who still find ourselves attracted to spirituality often struggle with the fact that there are very few programs that provide a form of spiritual discernment that reflects the way we want to be present in the world. However, I was lucky to have found an opportunity to work for an organization whose focus is on addressing systemic issues that create harm in our world and how spiritual direction can help position us in a way that challenges those systems. The major way we do this is through our Spiritual Direction and Social Transformation certificate program, which “particularly emphasizes spiritual direction as a social practice.”

Finding New Space for Myself

One thing that struck me after leaving Evangelicalism is the fact that I had to relearn how my spirituality can be incorporated into the world that I am in. The ways I was always taught to use my faith (conversions, advocating “Christian values,” etc.) no longer align with the values that I hold near. However, the more that I have entered into the post-evangelical space, the more I have found the need for promoting a subversive spirituality that challenges the power structures held by the dominant culture we are under.

Much of our culture is centered around a Eurocentric view of the world that upholds heteronormative, white supremacy, and “Christian values” that are used to maintain power structures. Each one of those things are tools used to oppress and marginalize others.

In my own process, I have found my most meaningful work has been understanding the way that subversive spirituality (spirituality that counters the dominant culture and leads to action) can help create change in this world. This has been seen through the numerous liberation movements that have helped combat the systemic power structures in the world.

Are You Looking for the Same?

If expanding on the way we are able to engage in the world through spiritual subversive action sounds like something you would like to receive an education in, the Center for Prophetic Imagination (a partner with Our Bible App) is taking applications for their Fall 2024 Cohort for their Spiritual Direction and Social Transformation certificate program.

Most programs present spiritual direction primarily as a one-on-one discipline in which a practitioner works with one spiritual directee at a time or, perhaps, with a small group of spiritual directees. While this program prepares participants for that work, our aim is to go beyond the one-on-one framework to include training for work in organizations, activist spaces, and from within larger social systems.

We train spiritual directors and guides whose desire and calling is to discern and give attention to how the Spirit moves to bring liberation in the world.

Our courses draw upon the insights and experiences of those experiencing marginalization and oppression. Our instructors are committed to deepening their engagement with movements and theologies of liberation (including, but not limited to Black, Queer, Indigenous, Womanist, Disability and Worker’s movements). Increasingly, our cohorts include POCI students, international students, and LGBTQ+ students—each adding an important perspective to our shared learning environment.

If you would like to learn more about this program, you can find information and apply here.