“The Formation Project was the weekly accountability that I needed to deepen my spirituality. I met lifelong friends and comrades in holding space for figuring out our inner and outer worlds. I'm so grateful for the framework to guide my discernment about who I am as a conscious being in the nature web we live in. I learned to embrace my tears, both in sadness and happiness, and felt so incredibly held.”
2018 Pilot Cohort
The Formation Project began as a year-long online pilot designed to support a personal deep dive into a different way of life. Its core components included rigorous spiritual practice and reflection, accompanied by elders, a nurturing small group, and the riches of ancient and living wisdom.
At a glance:
56 participant-designers, 9 facilitators, and 2 elder facilitators
Ran for one year from Oct 15, 2018 - Oct 15, 2019
All online, no travel involved
Free of cost
Similar to a part-time degree in terms of time commitment
2022 Online Cohort
In Summer 2021, the Formation Project Stewardship Team launched a second round of the cohort-based Formation Year experience.
At A Glance
20 participants and 4 facilitators
Ran for one year from November 2021 - November 2022
All online, no travel involved
Free of cost
The first Formation Year conducted with the Formation Manual published as resource
2023 In-Person Cohort
At A Glance
In-person cohort in Erie, Pennsylvania
11 participants total, in two small groups
Peer-facilitation, rotating week-to-week or biweekly depending on small group
Ran for one year from January - December 2023
Facilitated with support from the Cathedral of Saint Paul, an Episcopal congregation with a broader vision for spiritual community
The first ever in-person Formation Year cohort!
The Formation Project is for spiritual deepening in community.
We live in a time of rampant spiritual poverty.
We feel it in our loneliness, the disruption of our communal life, and the pain of our polarized society. Formation invites the transformation of the human heart. As we become whole, rooted, and aligned with the divine, we become ever-more equipped to work with that spirit in transforming the world. There begins the human change that makes social change possible: the movement toward a transformed way of being, and being together.
Rooted in ancient wisdom and designed for seekers of any and all pathways, this year-long journey attends to our most profound yearnings:
Inner - tending the sacredness in yourself
Contemplation - Meditation - Prayer - Reflection - Meaning: Going inward so as to deepen your relationship with the sacred within.
Outer - tending the sacredness in others
Community - Service - Justice - Family - Belonging: Showing up in relationship with others so as to collaborate with and strengthen the sacred in them.
Beyond - tending the sacredness of which we are part
Call - Charism - Vocation - Creativity - Purpose: Discovering and pursuing what you are called to do in this life and how to give your unique gifts in the world.
