A two-year program on spiritual formation is starting this month at the Heartland Center for Spiritually in Great Bend.
“The hunger and thirst of people for a closer relationship with God has been heard by the staff at Heartland Center for Spirituality,” said Sister Jolene Geier, OP. “This fall we will be beginning of another two-year process for adult spiritual formation.”
“The program is intended for any Christian who seeks to grow in the relationship with God, other people and creation,” said Phil St. Romain from the Center.
The spiritual formation process has been defined as the growth and development of the whole person by an intentional focus on one’s spiritual and interior life, interactions with others in ordinary life, and spiritual practices. Others would mean the same thing using the terms “growing in faith” or discipleship,” St. Romain said.
“‘Spiritual’ here refers to our human longings for meaning and relationship with a ‘higher power,’” he explained.
The course descriptions include: Introduction to Christian Spirituality, Contemporary Issues, Spiritual Formation Group, Tools for Inner Exploration, History of Christian Spirituality, Spiritual Development, Discernment and Lifestyle.
The Saturday classes for 2012-13 will be taught on Aug. 25, Sept. 22, Oct. 20, Nov. 17,  Dec. 8, Jan. 5 and 26, Feb. 23, March 23 and April 20. Classes are from  8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be taught at Heartland Center for Spirituality (part of the Dominican Motherhouse), 3600 Broadway Ave.
There is a three-year special track for Spiritual Director Formation which includes the two-year SpiritLife core curriculum with additional classes from 3:15-4:30 p.m., and supervision/peer group for the third year.
On the Internet, the website http://heartlandspirituality.org/spiritlife has more information on fees and course descriptors.
“What we teach is based on Scripture and the great classical spiritual and mystical writers of Christianity,” St. Romain said. “The classes cover a wide variety of materials, however, including contemporary theologians and spiritual writers.”
A full description of the classes can be found on the website.
Heartland Center for Spirituality offers a number of online classes, which are listed at http://shalomplace.com/inetmin.
Most are ecumenical in their emphasis, St. Romain said.