Sunday, December 23, 2018

Seek After That Which Is Spiritual

By Jon Dunnemann

Strive to live your life as one who has chosen to walk unobstructed and in the direction of truth. 

Abstain from every form of evil.

Do not permit yourself to seek after fame, glory, and other things that are of no real lasting value.

If ever you find yourself being victimized, ostracized, and left wondering I humbly appeal to you in the very name and spirit of all that is holy and sacred in this world, to continue onward steadfastly in the pursuit of that which is highly known to be righteous and true.

Above all else, do not allow the manifestation of evil to occupy space within you nor fall prey to becoming the sort of human being who would simply standby idly while cruelty is horribly heaped upon others.

For your own protection and sanctification, begin this day to build a solid fortress of character around your heart. May you be divinely empowered and well-equipped to best fight battles on behalf of those who come to depend on you for both their overall well-being and our collective humanity and sustainability.

In darkest of times, whereupon, bold, daring, and self-sacrificing examples are few and a cold, callous and deceitful kind of evil mindedness is a foot may you always remain aware, clothed in humility, active and intentional about living your life in a manner that is deemed fruitful, life-affirming, nurturing, and universally pure thereby spreading the greatest possible measure of comfort, joy, and warmth throughout the entire world.

And yes, I claim openly that if not you, then who else shall I and others turn too, to take on the quintessential responsibility of creating this greater good?

Seek always then, after that which is Spiritual! And in doing so, may blessings of a thousand-fold be fully bestowed upon you and not only those whom you love out of familiarity but those others, the stranger in our midst, those who are in the most desperate and urgent need of enduring love as well.

For this unselfish service unto others, I say thank you and may your heart forever remain full of immense gladness and inexhaustible strength.
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Discipleship Formation in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the 21st Century

Galatians 5:16-26 (MSG)

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

Oblate School of Theology - Letter of Conditional Admittance | 11.22.2019

Oblate School of Theology - Master of Arts in Spirituality

Master of Arts in Spirituality


Program Goal
The goal of the Master of Arts in Spirituality is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of Christian spirituality with an emphasis on significant classical and contemporary spiritual and mystical traditions.

Program Overview
The Master of Arts in Spirituality is an ATS accredited graduate level academic program designed to help students from a variety of Christian religious traditions deepen their understanding of Christian spirituality. Students will study various classical and contemporary Christian spiritual and mystical traditions, movements, and figures. Graduates will be equipped to better understand their own spiritual journey and prepared to be valuable resources for spirituality and renewal centers, parish and retreat work, as well as other spirituality-related faith formation and educational programs in a culturally diverse and globalized world. Students will also be encouraged to participate in cohort integration groups. This program is available online or face-to-face.

Program Objectives
Upon successful completion of the program students will be able…

1. To present a summary overview of major historical periods within the history of Christian spirituality and mysticism by identifying relevant movements, schools of spirituality, and major figures.
2. To demonstrate proficiency in at least one classical school of spirituality and one contemporary school of spirituality.
3. To demonstrate a basic competency in the ministry of spiritual direction and accompaniment.
4. To evaluate instances of Christian religious experience and dynamics of interior transformation as understood within the Christian spiritual tradition.
5. To identify and discuss important classical and contemporary literature in the field of spirituality.
6. To articulate the importance of spirituality and lived experience within religious traditions.
7. To demonstrate a basic competency in a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Christian spirituality.
8. To integrate one’s personal spirituality with fundamental principles and insights from the Christian spiritual tradition.

Sankofa Institute providing education program for ministry among African Americans

Sankofa; Raising Up African-American Church Leaders


The concept of SANKOFA is derived from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa. SANKOFA is expressed in the Akan language as “se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyi.” Literally translated it means “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.” SANKOFA teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated. Visually and symbolically SANKOFA is expressed as a mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward with an egg symbolizing the future in its mouth.

Become a Transformative Leader in Your Community
Sankofa Institute programs provide opportunities for intellectual, professional, and inspirational development of transformative leadership. Resources, partnership, and cultural engagement enhance classes, lectures, symposia, worship conferences, workshops, internships and practical field education, and support our programming across North America, and include sister and brother communities from Africa.

Connect with the Leading Minds in Black Church Studies
In recognition of the web of connections and faith traditions represented in the African American Christian community, the Institute is committed to partnering with other academic and cultural institutions for our mutual benefit and for the most effective and efficient way to reach the programmatic goals of our students and the mission of the Oblate School of Theology.

Become a Sankofa Scholar
The Sankofa Institute for African American Pastoral Leadership is committed to developing and supporting pastoral leaders, men and women of all races and backgrounds, for the African American Christian community within the context of the universal Christian mission of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Institute aims to foster within Church leaders an understanding and appreciation of African Americans’ contributions to the entirety of Christian faith, life, and witness in North America. The Sankofa Institute will provide opportunities for the intellectual, professional, and inspirational development of transformational leadership within the African American community, offered through classes, lectures, symposia, worship, leadership workshops, internships and practical field education, as well as social outreach and cultural celebrations.

The interdisciplinary categories specific to the Sankofa Institute include:

• Black Church History
• Black Biblical Studies
• Black Theologies (including Black liberation theologies and womanist theologies)
• Sociology of Black Religion
• Contemporary Issues in the Black Church and society
• African American Christian Social Ethics
• African American Christian Education
• Black Church Worship and Nurture
• Black Preaching
• Social Justice