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Certificate Programs

We offer several certificate programs. Students can add certificates in spiritual direction and formative spirituality to any degree program. Or students can pursue a certificate alone. 

Biblical Studies Certificate 

Would you like to satisfy a desire to delve deep into the Bible, but don’t have the time to commit to a Master’s program? The Biblical Studies program prepares you to be able to examine both the Old and New Testaments closely and share your understanding. Depending on full-time or part-time studies, students typically earn the Graduate Certificate in Biblical Studies within 2 years. Students enrolled in the MDiv and MATS programs can fold this certificate into their degree work through their choice of electives. 

Here’s what it takes

Students take courses from each of the areas below to total 22 credits.

• Intro Courses (Hebrew Bible & New Testament): 6 credits
• Biblical Language & Exegesis (Hebrew or Greek): 4 credits
• Elective Courses in Hebrew Bible & New Testament: 12 credits
• TOTAL: 22 credits

Formative Spirituality Graduate Certificate 

The Formative Spirituality certificate program helps students develop a holistic and incarnational spirituality through the integration of both academic rigor and experiential learning. You’ll gain skills in spiritual direction, the spirituality of the arts, Ignatian exercises, discernment, and more. The Formative Spirituality Program provides the skills and grounding to facilitate formative spirituality groups in churches and other community groups.

You can add a Graduate Certificate in Formative Spirituality to any of the degree programs we offer.

Here’s what it takes

The 12-credit Formative Spirituality certificate grounds you in the contemplative tradition while offering hands-on opportunities for practical application within parish ministry settings, agencies, and for individual practice. You will develop a holistic and incarnational spirituality through the integration of both academic rigor and experiential learning. At graduation, you will be prepared to form and facilitate formative spirituality groups in your church, agencies, or other communities.

The program is grounded in your personal experiences of God, which are fostered through a variety of teaching modalities as well as through individual and group spiritual direction. This multidisciplinary program explores the unique intersections between a spirituality of mind/body/spirit and the societal/cultural needs of individuals and community.

Formative Spirituality Program Curriculum Overview 

Spiritual Direction

We highly recommend that anyone interested in the Formative Spirituality program receive individual spiritual direction every month while they are in the program. We can give you contact information for several local spiritual directors. The fee for spiritual direction is contracted privately between the student and their spiritual director and is the responsibility of the student. 

Individual spiritual direction supports the ongoing spiritual and psychological growth that is needed to be a facilitator of spiritual practices for others. It also helps students deal personally with issues raised in the process of training as they integrate them in light of God’s love.

Spiritual Direction Graduate Certificate 

Go deeper into the life of the Spirit and learn to support the same attention to God in others. The School of Theology Spiritual Direction program provides the contemplative training necessary to hear the direction the Spirit is moving in a person’s life. 

When you graduate, you will have the theoretical foundation, practical skills, and personal transformation necessary to accompany others in their spiritual journeys.
You can add a Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction to any of the degree programs we offer.

Check out a spiritual direction podcast on Podbean and produced by Marcella Kraybill-Greggo, program director, and Pam Rotelle Robertson, adjunct professor.

Here’s what it takes

Available to both in-person and online students, this two-year, 20-credit Spiritual Direction Program is anchored in scripture, grounded in hospitality, incarnational in nature, and deeply formational. The program invites you to go deeper into the life of the Spirit while preparing to facilitate this same attention to God in others. Attending to your personal and communal experience of God, you will develop an increased sensitivity to the movement of the Holy within yourself and your local and global communities.

Spiritual Direction Program Curriculum Overview

Personal Spirituality

“Spiritual direction encourages an honest look at what grace illumines. It affirms that God is in our lives and hearts and can be encountered” (Susan Phillips). Individual spiritual direction supports the ongoing spiritual and psychological growth necessary to become a spiritual director. As a student in the Spiritual Direction Graduate Certificate program, you are required to receive monthly individual spiritual direction. (If you do not already have a spiritual director, we can give you contact information for several local spiritual directors. The fee for spiritual direction is contracted privately between the student and their spiritual director and is the responsibility of the student.) 

Prerequisites for the Practicum Courses

Throughout the program, you will engage with the Formative Spirituality director and team in a process of careful, mutual discernment to uncover your call and aptitude for the ministry of spiritual direction. The following are the prerequisites to the practicum courses:

• Clear background checks
• Understanding and signed acceptance of the Spiritual Directors International (SDI) Code of Ethics
• Letter of reference from your current spiritual director
• Satisfactory completion of Theory & Ethics of Spiritual Direction and 1 core course
• Interview with the Formative Spirituality director
• Evidence of call and aptitude for the ministry of spiritual direction
• At least 1 year of experience receiving monthly spiritual direction

Wisdom School Retreats  

In Year 2 of the Spiritual Direction Certificate Program, the curriculum includes two three-day retreat learning Wisdom School residencies (Fall and Spring) in addition to five required courses. Both Wisdom School residencies will be held at a local retreat center near Bethlehem, PA. These Wisdom School retreats integrate ������������ The School of Theology’s unique charism of inclusivity and community within a deep contemplative stream and the pedagogy of a Wisdom School.  The two retreat residencies will be conducted in a Wisdom School format, with times of Centering Prayer and Body Movement interspersed with teaching and practice work, creating a Benedictine rhythm of ora et labora (prayer and work). An additional fee is charged to cover the retreat center accommodations.

*In year 2 of the Spiritual Direction Certificate Program, students in the 1-year Spiritual Direction Intensive Program join with the students in the 2-year program.

Spiritual Direction Graduate Certificate Intensive

Learn to go deeper in your listening for the Spirit.

The next intensive will start in summer of 2026.

Available to both local and distance students, our Spiritual Direction Intensive Program (SDIP) is a one-year (10-credit) program designed for those who have training in contemplative listening in a sister discipline (e.g., counseling) or who already have a Spiritual Direction certificate and are seeking more training. Students in the SDIP program take five courses over three semesters, participate in two Wisdom School Retreats, meet with 2-5 directees, and receive peer and individual supervision.

Applicants typically will have:

• At least 2 years of experience in a ministry that requires deep contemplative listening;
• At least 2 years of contemplative practice/training;
• At least 1 year of receiving monthly spiritual direction;
• An interview with the director of the Spiritual Direction Graduate Certificate program.

Personal Spirituality   

“Spiritual direction encourages an honest look at what grace illumines. It affirms that God is in our lives and hearts and can be encountered” (Susan Phillips). Individual spiritual direction supports the ongoing spiritual and psychological growth necessary to become a spiritual director. As a student in the Spiritual Direction Graduate Certificate Intensive, you are required to have at least 1-year of experience receiving monthly spiritual direction and to continue in monthly individual spiritual direction throughout the Intensive Certificate program. (The fee for spiritual direction is contracted privately between the student and their spiritual director and is the responsibility of the student.) 

Prerequisites 

Throughout the program, you will engage with the Formative Spirituality director and team in a process of careful, mutual discernment to uncover your call and aptitude for the ministry of spiritual direction.

The following are the prerequisites to the practicum courses:

• Clear background checks;
• Understanding and signed acceptance of the Spiritual Directors International (SDI) Code of Ethics;
• Letter of reference from your current spiritual director;
• Interview with the Formative Spirituality director;
• Evidence of call and aptitude for the ministry of spiritual direction.

Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction Intensive Program Details

What You Need to Know

Go deeper into the life of the Spirit and learn to support the same attention to God in others through the 10-credit Spiritual Direction Intensive Program.

Typical Curriculum for the Academic Year

* Distance students will join the class via Zoom.

Wisdom School Retreats

The Spiritual Direction Intensive Program integrates ������������’s unique charism of inclusivity and community within a deep contemplative stream and the pedagogy of a Wisdom School. In addition to five required courses, the curriculum includes two 3-day retreat learning residencies (Fall and Spring). Both Wisdom School residencies will be held at a local retreat center near Bethlehem, PA.

The two retreat residencies will be conducted in a Wisdom School format, with times of Centering Prayer and Body Movement interspersed with teaching and practice work, creating a Benedictine Rhythm of “ora et labora,” prayer and work. There is an additional cost for the retreat which will be billed separately.

Giving Direction and Receiving Supervision

The Spiritual Direction Intensive Program includes both peer and individual supervision sessions. Students will meet with 2-5 directees (pro bono) and will receive individual supervision with one of our approved supervisors (five 1-hour sessions each semester). The cost for individual supervision is included in the tuition. Peer supervision will take place during the group class times.

Distance Students

Students taking this program at a distance will join local students for class times using Zoom, a web-based meeting platform. Students may meet with directees in their own geographical area and will meet by Zoom with an approved supervisor at mutually-agreeable times. Distance students are required to attend on site the two Wisdom Retreats. Arrangements and travel costs to the retreats are the responsibility of the student.