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2024-25 Academic Catalog

Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation

Purpose

The Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation (MA) is a 36-credit-hour degree designed to equip persons as leaders for spiritual formation and discipleship ministries in the church and community. The entire curriculum pathway is designed to prepare women and men to become a thoughtful, differentiated non-anxious presence living out of the true self as beloved of God. Students will discover the deep, rooted spirituality within the Christian tradition.

The MASF program utilizes a hybrid, cohort-based delivery model, comprised of regular synchronous video conferencing sessions, asynchronous online coursework, and two in-person BridgeWeek intensive experiences. 

The MASF curriculum includes courses focused on biblical and theological foundations, deepening awareness of God and self, integrating life experiences, and enhancing Christ-like spiritual practices so that students can demonstrate the characteristics of Jesus in their vocational contexts and support the deepening of spiritual formation in others. The focus of our curriculum, therefore, is on developing awareness of God, self, and others; strengthening belovedness, cultivating healing; nurturing sacred spaces; deepening compassion, and building distinct spiritual practices to meet ministry needs in context. 

Degree Outcomes

Students will be equipped and formed to think with clarity as they:

  • Reflectively engage with Christian Scripture, history, and theology in order to examine and contextualize how sacred stories shape identity.

Students will be equipped and formed to live with integrity as they:

  • Deepen awareness of God, self, and others through formative practices in preparation for life-long personal and vocational flourishing. 
  • Cultivate their own healing through the discovery of their belovedness in order to companion individuals and communities towards wholeness.

Students will be equipped and formed to serve with the heart of God as they:

  • Nurture sacred spaces that facilitate individual and communal encounters with God. 
  • Conceptualize formation practices that address contextual ministry needs for mutual healing and justice. 

Admission Requirements

Applicants seeking admission to the MA in Spiritual Formation program must hold a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university†, with a minimum GPA of 3.0. In addition, applicants must complete the following to be considered for admission to the program:

  • Submit Portland Seminary application and application fee
  • Submit one official transcript from each college/university attended
  • Resumé
  • Personal mission statement and statement of faith
  • Three letters of reference (as specified in admissions materials)
  • An interview may be required in some instances

†Applicants who do not hold a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university may apply to the university but will be required to submit additional documentation to be considered for admission.

Transfer Credit

Transfer of up to 18 hours of credit is allowed toward the MA in Spiritual Formation program from ATS-accredited graduate schools. Students must have earned a grade of B or better for a course to be considered for transfer. Transferability of credits earned at this institution and transferred to another is at the discretion of the receiving institution.

Residence Requirements

Residence, as described in this section of the catalog, does not refer to the time a student spends on campus. It refers to the portion of a degree program that students are required to earn with Portland Seminary, as compared to transfer credits and credit applied as advanced standing. With regard to the MASF program, students are required to complete half of the degree (18 semester hours) directly with Portland Seminary. A leave of absence is valid for up to one year after which the student must reapply to the program. Reinstatement to the program after withdrawal requires Admissions Committee action and may subject the student to additional requirements for the degree.

Course Requirements

The MASF program is generally two years in length with 36 semester hours of coursework required as a minimum for graduation. Of the total hours required for the degree, 6 are in biblical and theological foundations courses, 24 are spiritual formation core courses, and 6 are in pastoral care and formation leadership courses.

The program also requires participation in two ‘Bridgeweek’ face-to-face intensives.

Graduation Requirements

In order to graduate with the MA in Spiritual Formation degree students must:

  • Satisfactorily complete a minimum of 36 semester hours with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above
  • Achieve no grade lower than a C- in all courses. If a grade lower than a C- is received, that course must be retaken (for more specific information, please refer to the student handbook).
  • Fully participate in all required ‘Bridgeweek’ intensives. 
  • Successfully complete each milestone.
  • Be recommended by the seminary faculty for graduation from Portland Seminary of ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox University.

Other Degree Requirements

Students are required to receive individual spiritual direction in the final year of the program. The seminary assigns each student a spiritual director from an approved pool. They meet with the spiritual director three times each Fall and Spring Semester. The spiritual director provides the seminary documentation of student progress. Spiritual director expenses are covered by a fee attached to SFRM 560 Loss and Life: Spiritual Practices and Generative Perspectives and SFRM 570 Listening and Discernment.

Curriculum Plan

Complete the following:
This course provides students with a general overview of the Bible. Students will be introduced to the history of the literary formation of the Bible, important theological and socio-political themes in both testaments, and their implications for today's world with a particular interest in spiritual formation and Christian practice.
Complete the following:
Discusses a variety of interpretations, responses, and practices related to suffering and healing in Christian traditions. It draws upon scriptural, theological, and scientific perspectives, with the goal of addressing current concerns and promoting human flourishing.
Complete the following:
Builds the capacity of women and men to effectively develop cultural humility and leadership skills for an increasingly globalized and diverse world. This course will explore methods for curating sacred spaces in diverse contexts, responding to justice concerns both personally and communally, and understanding how to engage and manage conflict.
Complete the following:
This course explores the ministry of pastoral care and how clergy, spiritual directors, chaplains and other spiritual care providers can respond to various needs that arise in ministry settings. Students will engage in a theologically informed relational paradigm that supports a framework for conceptualizing pastoral care responses. Recognizing that pastoral care is an embodied and contextual practice, students will also examine how the self and community enact care as a vessel for mutual healing and justice.
Complete the following:
This course is facilitated by a Formation Guide and is designed to provide students an opportunity to develop awareness of self-in-connection as a pathway to explore the triune God’s presence in their preparation for vocational flourishing. Students will reflect critically and constructively on their identity, spiritual histories, sociocultural contexts of formation, and sites of (un)belonging. Reflective practices and discernment skills will help students sift through their interior and exterior experiences to explore their origin and the movement of the Spirit for an increased awareness of shared humanity as a sacred site of God’s transforming work in the world. Additional course fees may be required.
A Formation Guide facilitates this course and invites students to deepen their awareness of God and self through the prayer practices of the Great Tradition of the Church. Students will explore the Christian faith’s contemplative, liturgical, and sacramental dimensions as pathways for experiencing the sacred in the ordinary. Recognizing that spiritual practices hold meaning in varied ways, this course will be an opportunity to assess how prayer originates from the context of the one who prays. Finally, students will engage with the rich heritage of historic Christian spirituality, drawing insights from Scripture and the mystics from around the world and across the centuries to consider how their images of God can expand and enrich a life of prayer.
This course is facilitated by a Formation Guide and invites students to explore God’s transformative action and desire for restorative justice and Shalom through ancient and contemporary voices. Students will broaden their awareness of unjust systems while considering their personal participation in oppressive structures. Theological and reflective discussion will invite students to recognize formational postures and narratives as an invitation to actively join with God in truth-telling and compassion that seeks to extend God’s hospitality and restore the imago dei within all. Additional course fees may be required.
A Formation Guide facilitates this course and invites students to explore Christian ministry as the giving of an integrated self. Reflecting on the polarities of woundedness and healing, presence and absence, self-owning and self-giving, students will grow in awareness of healthy and unhealthy behaviors and mindsets. By owning and naming this process, students will explore how to cultivate healing for spiritual meaning-making within the life stories of the persons and communities they are called to serve.
Complete the following:
This course examines how stories are uniquely sacred and formational. Drawing from the social sciences, students will learn about and engage in a narrative approach to identity formation and communal awareness. In tandem with this work, students will also explore how bible stories shape embedded theologies and the promise that lies in re-authoring life events within the broader framework of transformation in God’s story.
Examines movements and key individuals within Christianity, both East and West who have brought spiritual renewal to the church, including monasticism, the mystics, the reformers, Pietism, the Wesleyan/evangelical revival, and certain present-day examples. Focuses not only on history but also on themes within spiritual renewal and on insights that can be drawn for the contemporary believer and church.
Death is inevitable. How we navigate that inevitability varies, but it is often impacted by our societal norms and culture. This course invites students to move proximate to death through meaningful spiritual practices, fresh theological perspectives, physiological understanding, and community-transforming applications. By implementing a narrative style of engagement, personal grief is increasingly integrated, and a student's ability to companion the bereaved in their ministry context expands. Students meet with a spiritual director as a part of the course. Additional course fees may be required.
Introduces students to the concept of three-way listening: listening to another, listening to themselves, and listening to the Spirit with hospitality to all. Quaker, Wesleyan, and Ignatian spiritualities help shape this understanding of listening and discernment. Part of this journey is to begin to notice the barriers that arise in listening this way. Growth will occur as students learn to sift through interior and exterior experiences to determine their origin and the movement of the Spirit in themselves, their community, and the world. Students meet with a spiritual director as a part of the course. Additional course fees may be required.