The Journey

The Formation Project is built upon commitments, opportunities for you to dedicate yourself to each stage of the formation process. There are three stages of commitment in the year: discernment, formation, and future. The first comes right at the beginning, the second after three months, and the third at the very end.

Discernment: Months 1-3

The first commitment is to discernment.

That is, to spend intentional time to discern, with depth and sincerity, as to your readiness for a period of intensive spiritual formation.

You are asked to cross three bridges:

Gather Your People. Formation is deep, intense, personal, exciting, and often disruptive to life as you’ve known it. You’ll bring together 3-5 people, including someone to play the special role of elder, to support you through the process.

Come Home to Yourself. Find clarity about how to heal and become the person you have the power to be through a series of self-exploration exercises. If you join a Formation group, you will be accompanied in finding the deepest healing possible in this journey.

Reflect on Formation. What does it mean to tend the sacredness in yourself, in others, and beyond? Why are you committing to it at this particular moment in your life? If you are ready to carry on with nine months of Formation, this bridge culminates in a written “reflection on yes.”

Formation: Months 4-12

The second commitment is to Formation.

You say yes to nine months of spiritual formation in community.

There are four main phases:

Month 4 is about finding cohesion with your small group, sharing spiritual biographies and crafting your covenant.

Months 5-10 are in many ways the heart of the experience, working through the inner, outer, and beyond dimensions of spiritual formation.

Month 11 is an opportunity to reflect on how the preceding months have shaped you and how you would like to move forward.

Month 12 prompts closure for the small groups and commitment to deepening whatever aspect of formation you feel called towards.

Future: Month 12

The final commitment is to the future of your formation, marked by a celebration.