Formation in a hybrid Program
One of the key questions advocates for hybrid degrees for ministry are asked is about formation. How is it possible to ensure that a person develops spiritual habits when most of their instruction is delivered online? It is obvious how formation happens in residential programs. There are structured occasions through daily worship and table fellowship that create spaces for God to form a life for leadership in congregations. But how is it possible to develop similar habits in a hybrid program?
At The General Theological Seminary, we have various mechanisms for formation. Our chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Robert Flanagan, creates a roster for daily compline that the students lead. In addition, he has meetings with students to discuss their spiritual practices, and, most recently, he organized an online retreat. After the retreat, one student, Shannon Darke, took the time to email me to share how much she gained from it. She wrote: “It was wonderful and such a treat to get to pray and reflect with members of both cohorts. The content and exercises that he put together were a perfect balance of praying and being ‘present’ with our seminary community and having personal time to pray and reflect. I have even been able to pull from some of the materials for the adult formation class that I help teach in my field placement each Sunday. What a great way to help us establish and encourage practicing personal focus and renewal.”
So, what exactly did the online retreat involve? The program, which started at 10am and finished at 2pm, was carefully paced:
10am: Welcome and Opening Prayers
10.20am: Mystical Contemplation where each student explored four questions on their own: where do you see God in your life? How has your relationship with God changed while you have been a seminarian? In what ways does God support you right now? How can these mystics (Julian of Norwich, Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, The Cloud of Unknowing – extracts were provided) motivate you in your seminary life and current ministry?
11.30am: Contemplative Gentle Yoga on Zoom, led by a Kirpalu yoga instructor.
Noon: Meal Break.
12.30pm: Contemplative Walk.
1pm: Lectio Divina on their own, focused on the theme “The Tenderness of God”.
1.50pm: Closing Prayers on Zoom.
2pm: The Day Concludes. (There was an optional event in the evening)
One advantage the hybrid students gain from formation experiences such as this online retreat is that they are being introduced to practices they can continue for the rest of their lives. One challenge for graduates from a residential program is to maintain their spiritual practices after they have graduated. A daily Eucharist with hymns is difficult to replicate once one leaves seminary, and my conversations with graduates from residential programs suggest their daily practice is often very limited. But our hybrid MDiv students are being introduced to practices that they are already embedding in their busy daily lives. Lectio Divina or meditating on the mystics are practices one can continue to do for the rest of one’s life. It is clear that there are advantages to being formed in this way.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
President of The General Theological Seminary and the Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary