The Spiritual Direction Formation & Certification program equips, and forms lay leaders, ordained clergy, other professional religious leaders, and spiritual seekers toward the orientations and skills necessary to be compassionate, creative, and certified spiritual directors.
Hospitality (belonging), liberation (becoming), and sustainability (beyond) are at the heart of Spiritual Direction and are realized through deep, radical listening practices that reconnect and remember people to their authentic selves and the god of their understanding.
In this video, Dr. Ortega talks with Rev. Tandi Rogers, Affiliated Faculty and the Director of the Spiritual Direction Formation & Certification program at LIGHT. What is spiritual direction? Who benefits from it? Why is Spiritual Director such an important vocation right now? [December 2022]
To take healing practices out into a hurting world that has been sold on the delusion that the secular world with its religion of capitalism is dominant.
To take discernment practices out into a world that has been time-warped by the unsustainable pace.
To help our own Unitarian Universalist movement break through these liminal times to reconstruct a bold, loving future of liberation, sustainability, and hospitality. Spiritual Direction cultivates three things to help in that endeavor: spiritual maturity, spiritual courage, and spiritual imagination. It gives us the pause to slow down our meaning-making and surrender certitude.
A program requirement is having experienced Spiritual Direction for at least 6 months.
How has spiritual direction been transformational in your life? Let’s start there. If you struggle to find response(s) to that question, then this probably isn’t the time yet.
Next notice if/how people approach you with faith-filled struggles and big life questions. Do people seek you out? Are you known for your calm, open presence?
What is your forming “why?” that is rising to meet this vocational call?
Consider this path if you…
Each cohort is 16–24 people from around the world, mostly but not exclusively Unitarian Universalist.
The formational program consists of individual and group reflection, learning and applying skills, working directly with spiritual direction clients through a practicum, and preparing to launch one’s own spiritual direction practice.
Terms are 15 weeks long and meet in Fall (September – December) and Spring (January – May) for two years.
At the beginning of each term, participants receive a care package of materials they will use at the term’s kick-off Saturday retreat and throughout that term. Every other week, learning materials (articles, podcasts, and videos) and reflection questions are organized via an online learning management system. Participants go through the materials at a time and pace that is convenient for them. The following week the cohort gathers virtually to practice deep listening and skills that were highlighted in the materials the week before.
| July 15, 2025 | Application closes |
| August 1, 2025 | Students notified |
| August 18, 2025 | Virtual orientation through online learning platform |
| August 23, 2025 | Kick-off, all-day virtual retreat |
| November 21, 2025 | Term One ends |
Under the direction of Rev. Tandi Rogers, cohorts will gather virtually every other week for 2-hour sessions of deep listening, spiritual practices, and instruction and then engage asynchronously in study and reflection in alternating weeks. Terms are 15 weeks long and meet in Fall (August – November) and Spring (January – May) for two years.
Interviews with UU Spiritual Directors in the field are sprinkled throughout the program, connecting with multiple practitioners and ways of doing spiritual direction.
Students have access to the Meadville Lombard Theological School Library, which includes books, e-books, and digital archives.
Payment plans are available. The cost does not include books or the enrollee’s personal spiritual direction. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer scholarships at this time.
Upon completing the program you will have experienced:
You will have:
Upon completing the program you will have a strong foundation to be a responsible spiritual director. You will have a cohort of other spiritual directors. You will be woven into the network of the UU Spiritual Directors Network.