As we come to the end of the school year, it is important to look back at all of the great things that have happened over the course of the year. At the end of the first year of our undergraduate degree program there have been a lot of highlights. I think that the most important area that I have grown in is my overall knowledge and the way that that knowledge has impacted my life.
In the fall, we took the Developing a Devotional Life course and that was a great opportunity to begin to gain a basic knowledge of spiritual formation and some of the various disciplines that aid in formation. This course was excellent for preparing our hearts and lives to further our own personal formation and eventually aid in the formation of those around us. It also taught us the importance of introspection and then taking a step farther towards being confident enough to share our heart and stories with others.
This spring semester, the Introduction to Spiritual Formation course we took was a chance to learn a great deal more about the field of spiritual formation and some key components of it. This course will be a stepping stone for the rest of the program as it laid a very important foundation. The focus of the class (and spiritual formation as a whole) was the divine-human relationship. We explored both sides of the relationship in depth, then we progressed to the reasons why this relationship is often not as healthy as it should be or even could be. From lectures to class discussions to introspective projects that tied closely to the subject matter of the chapter, there were a lot of different opportunities for growth.
As we look ahead to the next years of the program there are several exciting things to come. We can look forward to the rest of the classes in the program along with the other opportunities that will arise along the way. One big thing that we are looking forward to is the Formation in Christlikeness conference that will be here at Friends on September 23-24. We will have a chance to hear from Dallas Willard, Scot McKnight, and many others on the topic of formation. This will be an opportunity that not too many of us will ever get again.
It’s been an amazing first year of our undergraduate program and we look forward to many more years to come!
- Tyler