Spiritual Formation

Spiritual formation is a lifelong process of integrating head, heart, and hands in distinct contexts and multiple life stages. The Iliff master’s degree curriculum plays a significant role in that process as students examine their faith and life assumptions and conclusions more carefully. While this often is not comfortable, it contributes to a student's own spiritual depth and leadership capacity. The Dean of the Chapel welcomes conversation about any student's experience of this significant integrative process.

Students are encouraged to prioritize regular or daily participation in personal practices that integrate head, heart, and hands. These might include a variety of prayer practices, movement or exercise, and direct service to others. Such practices significantly assist students in negotiating the stresses created by adding a degree program to their already complicated lives.

Students, staff, and faculty also find group practices to be helpful in spiritual formation. Iliff offers two weekly community gatherings on campus whose underlying purpose is spiritual formation:

• Wednesday Community Chapel, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. select weeks during Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. This time is an expression of Iliff’s diversity and of its nature as a school. It includes academic convocations such as Fall Convocation and spring term Honors Convocation. Community Chapel also includes occasions led by Iliff faculty, staff, and students, which introduces others to the particular traditions and values of that week’s leadership team. Hence, every occasion is different in theme, style, and content. Most events will be video recorded and a few will be live streamed. Watch for announcements through [e-mail]. Community Chapel is coordinated by the Dean of the Chapel.
• Journey students and others may also use a new weekly online resource “Finding Respite” to shape the weekly virtual meeting of a small group. The designers of Finding Respite think that groups of 4 to 6 are the ideal size and that groups will find meeting for 45 to 60 minutes once a week will fill a spiritual longing for connection. The Finding Respite site is a Canvas course which every Iliffian can add themselves to as a course member through Canvas. You will find a new theme each week, responsive to the ups and downs of the Iliff experience, including a focus song/text/image, prayers, and other items that we discover are useful in this new venue.

Other expressions of spiritual practice may be organized by students and are coordinated and publicized by the Dean of the Chapel's office. These have included prayer groups, retreats, field trips to visit special exhibits or congregations, service activities, prayer walking outdoors or on a labyrinth, and yoga.

Specific resources that members of the Iliff community have found helpful on their spiritual journeys are available through the Iliff Spiritual Life Canvas site.