Overview of the Spiritual Direction Certificate with Deacon Scott Gilfillan

0:03Welcome everybody to the spiritual direction certificate presentation. My name is Greg Shapiro. I'm the admissions advisor here at Divine Mercy University, and, I've been working within, this realm of academia for a little while now, for about six years, but within spiritual direction for, only a few months now since early June. And with me today are Maria Brackett, the program director, and Deacon Scott, who is an active student with us. So I'm gonna go ahead and turn this over to Maria, and, I'll be here as well just to answer any questions related to enrollment. Thank you so much, Greg, and good morning to everyone, on this Saturday. And we're very happy to be here. Happy to have deacon Scott Gilfillan with us this morning, who's a current student in our program.

1:03And, you know, it's just a great opportunity on the Saturday morning to talk about our program and kind of what we do and and get a give you all a little glimpse into it through the experience of Deacon Scott, as a student. So I just wanna, welcome you all, and, you know, I'm the program director here at, the spiritual direction certificate program here at Divine Mercy University. And as we go into this interview, I, with Deacon Scott, I just wanted to talk a little bit about the university itself, and what the university kind of the context so that you understand, where this where the certificate program came from. Greg, I don't know if you can move to the next slide. Sure. Thanks. Oh, no.

1:54I'm looking for the one on the university. Yes. Thank you. So, Divine Mercy University, it was founded twenty two years ago. It's a graduate school for the, mental health sciences or, and so it has degrees in psychology, PsyD degree in clinical psychology and an MS degree in counseling. And the spiritual direction certificate really was started as kind of starting to enter into the world of certificates, to try to bring kind of the framework that the university uses to the world of ministry and certificates. Divine Mercy University is a, you know, a unique university. It was founded by a group of Catholics and Christians, in the mental health field that really wanted to integrate faith with this faith with the human sciences and, the whole, you know, the whole understanding that science and faith can work together.

3:07And so they have created or over these last twenty years, they wrote a book, students and faculty together, which is is now out there and you can buy it. It's called the Catholic Christian meta model of the human person. It really is an articulation or a rearticulation, Catholic Christian anthropology. And it talks about the application of that type of understanding of the human person to the human sciences. And this is really where the spiritual direction certificate program comes in. It's taking an understanding of the human person, within the Catholic Christian tradition of theology and integrating them both together as long along with the skills needed to be a spiritual director. So it's a rich program because it's it really stands on those different pillars.

4:02And it helps the person to not only learn how to be a spiritual director, but also a deeper understanding of what that human person looks like themselves and also the person that they're meeting with in spiritual direction that we call in the program the directee. So I just wanted to give you that context of the university before we enter into our conversation today just so that you can understand because, I think some of these different aspects or characteristics of our program of the university will probably come out in our conversation with Deacon Scott. So, Deacon, it's great to have you here with us this morning. It's really a privilege. Greg and I often talk at just about how inspiring it is to have the opportunity to talk to the students of the program.

4:52So I wanted you, I do have some questions for you this morning, but just to kind of start us off here, just to let the people know, you know, who you are, where you're from, what you do, and maybe just how why you got interested in the in this program. Yeah. So I'm a a a deacon in the in the diocese of Charlotte. I've been ordained for about, twenty years. So I've been a deacon for a long time. I was, born in in California and and raised in a military family, so I moved all over the country. But we settled in the Charlotte area, again, about probably thirty years ago. So that's that's where I called home. Got three three grown children, and, still married after thirty thirty nine years. So we're doing good.

5:53I as a as a career, I was, working for a steel company, as a general manager for, for a long time. And, about four four years ago, I just felt like I needed to to do something different, you know, a second career. And, the way God works, he he opened up this opportunity at the, the Catholic Conference Center. It's a conference and retreat center run by the diocese, a fairly good size one. And never never saw myself doing that, but, so by a a a few weird coincidences, I ended up being the director of this retreat center, about four years ago. Wow. So, yeah, so the first year was wonderful, and then the pandemic hit. So so I just as I was learning how to run a retreat center in normal operations, it's like, found out, hey.

6:46There's a there's a whole new world out there. Yeah. That's definitely challenging for a retreat center, right, to try to see how to create activities or have activities during the pandemic. Yeah. Mhmm. And and that actually what you know, one of the reasons that led me to this program is, so rather than have a an empty retreat center, we've really tried to promote, private retreats, outdoor retreats, individual small group retreats, you know, just try to get some traffic in there, and saw a lot of people that were really hungering for some spiritual connection, spiritual direction. And as a deacon, I was offering myself, hey. I'll, you know, come come here on a private retreat. I'll, you know, spend some time with you.

7:36We'll pray. We'll, you know, maybe I'll set you up with adoration. And, it it turned out that, you know, with all the years as a deacon that I have that I I have a lot of experience in, you know, pastoral care and ministerial counseling and that kind of stuff. But I realized as I was meeting with these folks that they were wanting to go to a place that I didn't really feel qualified to go. So yeah. You know, so we'd enter this this this meeting and and and, you know, like, get to so so so far in the conversation, and then I'm like, I don't know. Is it your turn to talk? Is it my turn to talk? Where where do we go with this? And to complicate that, we're we're all wearing masks, so we're looking like this, and I can only see their eyes.

8:28You know? So I don't know. They're smiling. They're frowning. What's what's going on? And that was one of the, reasons. I said, man, I gotta I gotta add a few more, tools to my tool bag to, to help these folks. Yeah. To be able to sit with someone and to have those conversations. Definitely can understand what that feels like when you feel like, oh, we're starting to get into some waters that I've never navigated before. Yeah. Yeah. And and and, really, you know, again, as a as a a deacon, you know, I I do some prison ministry. So I know okay. Do you you know, when when the guy is getting released, you know, do you have a do you have a card? Do you have a a a a job? Do you have a place to live?

9:10Do you have, you know Mhmm. Those kind of things. Very you play you know, a good support network. You know, very practical Mhmm. You know, application of of my, ministry. But I realized in spiritual direction, oh, that's not where we go. You know? Yeah. We're looking for a a deeper connection with the spirit. And, so that was that was a a kind of an awakening that that really prompted my, application to Divine Mercy University. Yeah. So not so much problem solving, more about having a conversation about, like you said, the spirit and where he might be calling the person. Yeah. So how did you find out about the program, Deacon? Well, I had, I mean, really just Google searches, and I knew about a few programs that, that I had looked into, you know, probably about ten years ago.

10:03I you know, I think I've I've had a call to be a spiritual director for a long time. Okay. But the time the time wasn't right. You know? I I in fact, I I applied and was was actually ready to enter a different program about ten years ago. And just everything was telling me, no. That's not the one. That's this is not the time to do that. So so I really kinda put that on the back burner. Up until this this pandemic hit, I found that I was woefully unqualified to be meeting with these people coming into into my retreat center. So, so that's when I started the you know, just googling and and just just taking a closer look at the the, programs that I knew about and then the, then then looking at others.

10:55So I was I was looking for something a little different than maybe a a strictly Ignatian program. Yes. Exactly. Okay. And certainly looking for something that would fit into, you know, my own life and and, you know you know, how much time I wanna spend away from home and how much time I can devote to this. And, Divine Mercy just I mean, it it it hit all the notes that I was looking for. You know, looking at the the the emphasis on on, human sciences Mhmm. Was a was a great appeal to me. The, the online classes, and the mix with that and the residencies, that worked well on my schedule. The the, you know, the the the the semester and then a few weeks off and another semester, that that worked well as well.

11:51So, I I just when I when it when it when I finally got to looking at it, I couldn't think of a better, better model for what I was looking for and and what would fit well in in my life. That's great, Deacon. Yeah. And then exactly. And that's and that's that's what a lot of people find out. You know, this mixture that it's mostly a online program, and we have those two residencies. You know, it just makes it very accessible. And like you were saying, the actual rhythm of the program that you take at class, and then you'll have some time off, and then you'll take another course. Right? It kinda allows you to do life still, right, and study at the same time. So what has your experience been? Just to you know, generally, we're gonna get some into some different aspects of the program later on in some of these questions.

12:44But, generally, what has your experience been? In the I've been, exceptionally impressed with with the program. And, you know, when I when I said, hey. You know, back decided, hey. I need to really get a certificate in spiritual direction and applied to Divine Mercy. Kinda part of me was like, hey. I'm just gonna, like, check all the boxes, do what I need to do, and, get the certificate. You know? You know, graduate and move on. And I I was I was really, surprised to how how engaging it was both on the the intellectual level and the spiritual level. You know? Especially, hadn't I didn't have any experience with the online programs, to speak of. Mhmm. So I was I was really amazed at how how engaged and and and, attached I became to the to the to the material.

13:43That so that was that was one of the most pleasant, surprises. And then and then the other thing I was looking for was, not just kinda intellectual, formation on how, you know, what what does a spiritual director do and say. But, you know, being a deacon removed from my formation experience for from twenty years or more, I was I was I think I was hungering for a a little more spiritual formation on my own. Yeah. I I did not really expect that I would get much in a in a Divine Mercy online program, but I am I've been really really amazed at how much it's it's inviting me to, look at my own spirituality and, deepen my own spiritual life. So that's been, you know, two of the really, surprising outcomes of of being part of this program.

14:42Well, so it's it had the online learning has been a little bit more engaging than you thought it would be, and you it sounds like you actually feel like you're learning even though it's online. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Really learning and and really kind of, assimilating the material, you know, into into my own, life and my own understanding of of the the world around me and, you know, how I how I'm working with people. So that's yeah. So it's it's not just learning, like, learning, you know, calculus. It's it's really kind of embracing this as part of part of who I am and how I interrelate with others. The online, format also was another surprise was just, really becoming attached to the cohort that I'm I'm, a part of.

15:30You know? I I thought we'd all be like, you know, ships passing in the night, but I I really feel like I know these folks, and and then I have a new, new peer group or support group. Well, that's great. Yeah. That it is possible to build those relationships through online. And, well, also, you've had the experiences through the residences to actually see the people personally. Absolutely. Mhmm. And, Deacon, you spoke about how it's just been helpful for you to grow in your own relationship with the Lord and your own spiritual life. And which for me does it's not surprising because it's definitely an element we put into the program, kind of that transformational nature that would help you, to grow too because just we feel like, if the if the spiritual director isn't growing in in his or her relationship with the lord, then it would be hard for them to be able to kind of help someone else to do that.

16:30But maybe you can speak a little bit more about how it's just helped you to grow. I mean, just the the intent attentiveness, to my to my own spiritual life. Yeah. You know, I I I had been meeting with the spiritual director. And, so I'd I'd walk away with a, you know, kind of a new insight or two. But now I'm I'm really, when I meet with with him, I really try to, you know, extract every bit of, you know, information, spiritual voice speaking to me in that in those times. And so so those of those sessions, have become a lot more fruitful for me to because I have a little better understanding of what they're all about. But, also, I'm, you know, I'm I'm committed to to try to be a a, a good spiritual director, good, you know, lord wedding willing.

17:31And and so that's that's part of it. You know? And then just taking, you know, reading some of the material and, you know, the qualities of a spiritual director and and, the the that kind of stuff, I'm taking that fairly seriously too. And I think that's having a an impact on on my own my own, you know, spiritual growth as well. That's that's beautiful to hear, Deacon. It's helping you to become a better person, a better deacon, and it sounds like you're moving into that identity of what it means to be a spiritual director and and understanding more what that ministry implies. Yeah. So that's beautiful. What have you found to be the most helpful about the program? I think we mentioned a few other things.

18:19I think the, asynchronous format works well with my my, my schedule. The the I I I've been very impressed with the, the the faculty and staff. I think they're very supportive, and they're they're both they seem to be very knowledgeable in what they they're presenting, but also have a have a a great level of care and concern for their students. So so I I I find that reassuring. I haven't really tapped into it much, but I just know that, you know, from from, you know, that it's there in case I I have a have a have a difficulty. So those those have been very helpful to me. The, you know, the residencies were were very, very formative, both intellectually and and and spiritually as well. So now that we've talked you mentioned the residencies a little bit, you know, let's let's go a little bit deeper into that.

19:23You know, what what was your experience of those residencies? You've done two, but, you you know, you've completed the two residencies that the program has to offer now at this stage because I I think you're in the fifth course. So what has that been like for you, those residencies? Yeah. I I it was kinda like, a spiritual boot camp. Okay. I I you know, not in a negative way, but it was it was, there there were really I I see, like, two components in the residency. One is is, you're together, and there's a lot of, role playing. I'm I'm acting I'm I'm a spiritual director to other other individuals, and there's people watching. And and I know they're gonna critique. And The faculty. Those faculty that are there.

20:11Yeah. Yeah. At the end of that, I'm gonna have a little little sit down and and and, with with, one of the faculty advisers and and go through what what they saw. You know, that that kind of scrutiny, I I think for most people, is little little uncomfortable. So that was that was part of it. But part of it, I you know, again, being I I I was I thought I was fairly open to to critique and and really wanted to hear what other people, are seeing and and me and and and and listen to what they they you know, things that I might be able to do a little differently. So I was open to that, and and so the even though it it was the scrutiny part of it was a little little, difficult for me, The the fruit that came from that was was really, really good, and I walked away with, so those are some personalities, you know, that that that are that are contrary to what what a spiritual director is all about.

21:17You know? Or Mhmm. Those are some of the annoying, tendencies I thought I put the put the rest, you know, twenty years ago. You know? And here they are surfacing again. You know? I have a I have a tendency, for instance, to, to when when things get a little tense, to to interject humor. Yeah. Just to kinda let let's move on. Let's laugh and move on. We don't wanna go there. Well, that's kind of inappropriate for a a spiritual direction session to to where you wanna go deeper and the point to gloss it over and let's let's laugh it off. Mhmm. So that was that was kinda like one of the things that came out in that that, that, those the residency. The other component of that residency was a retreat.

22:01And Mhmm. And I thought the two, the, you know, for instance, the content and the role playing, again, very challenging. But that coupled with this this in the middle of this this retreat was was a beautiful combination for me. Because then, after, you know, little scrutiny and a little little humbling and, a little self examination, I could spend a day in prayer and listen to the, you know, the Lord speaking to me in adoration and and some of the other, retreat activities. And it just put all of that in perspective. You know? This is this is not just like I said, it's not a a boot camp like I'm entering the marines. I'm really trying to, become more and more aligned with, with, our lord Jesus and and the work that I do.

23:02And so that that retreat just kinda put it all all in a in a in a beautiful context. Yeah. I can imagine that. You know? Just having that you're receiving that coaching and that feedback through those different sessions, the role play sessions, and then just having that time to kinda touch down deeper with the Lord because I'm sure, like, kind of what you're mentioning, you're seeing a lot of you're you're getting to know yourself a lot better as you're practicing learning how to practice the ministry of spiritual direction. And so I imagine, yeah, to have those those times of conversations with the lord just to maybe connect dots or understand what he's doing there would just be so important.

23:46Yeah. If I could actually chime in for a second since we're talking about the residencies. First thing, if you look at the screen, and we have two images, and the top one was our, residency back in February. Just playing a game of where's Waldo for a moment. I think I spotted you, Deacon Scott, toward the back, at the very Yeah. There toward the very He is there. Yeah. Yeah. But I I also wanted to just point out to all of our guests that, along with that, if you if you notice that we have a lot of folks that are in this program that come from different vocations. So we have deacons. We have consecrated religious. We have consecrated laypeople. We have secular lay that are in this, but what they all have in common is this love for this ministry and wanting to serve God and serve others.

24:35So now and then we have folks that ask, is this a problem if I'm a layperson? Is it a problem if if I'm not, in any sort of religious community? And the answer to that is no. This isn't really a a ministry that's only, designed for certain vocations. This is something that God could call anyone to. And, and we have this program, put together for all of those that have been called to this ministry. Mhmm. Exactly. Thanks, Greg. So, Deacon, what have you found the most difficult about the program or about your, you know, these studies or this time in the program. Is there anything that you found, like, difficult as you've gone through? Well, I I wish I could say there's been a few struggles, but there hasn't been too many.

25:33I'm I'm, you know, I'm I'm kind of a academic overachiever. So so I thrive on on on that kind of challenge, and I'm I'm I'm pretty pretty, aware of of time management. And and, so I I was able to kinda fit this into into my schedule. The asynchronous format helps a lot. You know? So I can I can do this when when I wanna do it at in bed at night, early in the morning, you know, sometime at that break during the day? So so that that works a lot. I'm I'm pretty good at writing, so there's there's some writing, that that the program demands. And so, you know, I can I can knock that out fairly well? So the I hate to say this, but one of the things that was most challenging was this APA, style. Okay.

26:25APA. From I'm good at writing, so I'd I'd bang up my, my paper or my, discussion post in in thirty minutes or an hour, and then it'd take me another hour or two to get get not the references, but just get the the the format right. But that was you know, I'm getting better getting better. I I I guess, all in all, it was more the and we talked about this. Just the personal awareness and and growth that that I was I was experiencing, was was, at times, like, difficult. You know? That, hey. I you know you know, my my ego would flare, and I'm like, who are they to to say this about me? You know? And Mhmm. And, you know, I I had to put a little bit of that to to bed. So so Yeah. Definitely sounds like, you're talking about just the need to be able to be coachable when you're going through the program.

27:24Yeah. It has to be. Yeah. To be able to be open to learning. Sometimes we can be open to learnings, new knowledge, but, and sometimes skills too. But, it seems like as the students go through the program, they the Lord will also kinda use this as an opportunity to help them to grow in their own self knowledge. And so, yeah, definitely, I can, see that need to just to kind of learn from the Lord and and and from the process itself. Right? Yeah. So thank you. One thing I'd I'd like to add to what Greg said about the, you know, is it is it just for religious or or a priest or a deacon? And there there are some of those part of the program, but a lot of laypeople part of the program too. And I find in the discussion posts and and even at the residencies, the the interaction between all these different people called called to serve the Lord in various ways is is it really adds a lot of depth and, and, texture to to, to the program.

28:32So you hear you hear things from, you know, different points of view, and that enriches my understanding of of of of whatever the topic might be. So interesting. Yeah. And there's different ages and all different walks of life. So it is it is so true. Sometimes things that you wouldn't think about or see or understand, you know, another student has a deep experience. And it's interesting because there's people just like you that have had that have a career in something else. Most most everyone has not been dedicated full time to ministry unless they're a religious sister, a consecrated man or woman, or a priest. But a lot of the people are coming in from other careers. So there's just a richness of experience, of life experiences.

29:25Yeah. And that tends to build everybody up and and enrich the discussion. You know? I I yeah. I don't I don't detect anyone feeling, hey. I'm not qualified to to to be speaking to you know, like, I'm doing practice spiritual direction with a priest, and that makes me a little, you know, little uncomfortable, but, it it just worked out wonderfully. Yeah. So Mhmm. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing that. So what would you you know, if you were talking to another deacon, that was interested in the program, what would you say to to him if he was looking into the program? I that's a good that's a good question. I I I've talked to a few deacons. I've I've told them, you know, some of my experiences, and they've all mostly been positive.

30:21Then then I I kinda remind them that the, of of of, you know, their their formation experience. The you know, and and formation as to to be a permanent deacon, to be ordained is is a pretty pretty exciting time, a lot of intellectual development, a lot of, spiritual formation. It's a it's a really, very active at a time in a in a in a man's life. And then then they they get ordained, and they launch into ministry. And they, you know, I think a lot of them will kinda start neglecting that spiritual formation. You know? They're really so active in this and that, and and they got their job, their family, their their ministry, their their their parish. You know, just they're they're just running and doing all kinds of things.

31:14So the I think the big selling point one of the big selling points for me is, you know, go back to that that very rich, active, lively, formation environment, you know, where where you really felt, close and and connected with the Lord and and and, you know, that's that's part of what the program is. And then then the other part, you know, most deacons have just a heart for service. You know, they're doing all this because they they really love serving. They love serving others, serving the church. And, this would be a way of of of serving others, but really serving in their their spiritual life. You know, you're you're you're you're there to as a servant, as a deacon, to to kinda see what what what kinda assistance you can provide in in their in their spiritual life as well.

32:11So, like, my years of ministry have been very, very practical, marital counseling, prison ministry, you know, baptismal prep, and that kind of stuff. But this is a different kind of, kind of service, and it's almost service to a soul or service to a person's spirit. And and that's that's just as just as gratifying or I'm finding that just as gratifying as as the other forms of service that I entered into. That is so interesting, Deacon. You know, because Greg and of course, we're not deacons, so we don't understand this world so so well. And it's so interesting to hear, you know, how a deacon could feel, called to to, you know you are ordained minister, so you would imagine that that a deacon would feel called to kind of accompany someone in their relationship with the Lord and helping that to grow.

33:03But it's true. Sometimes the deacons in our churches, we see them doing a lot of functional activities or helping out in different ways. But, yeah, I think it would be great to be able to talk to one of my deacons about my spiritual life and and have that support too. Yeah. And and like like many deacons, I've I've had a probably a misunderstanding of what spiritual direction was. Didn't take my spiritual direction very seriously. And, it wasn't until I really was tested in the pandemic that I realized, I, yeah, I really don't know this. You know? I've been I've been talking with people, interviewing people, being a minister to others for for a long time, but I really don't know spiritual direction.

33:51I can meet with folks, and we can talk about things, but it's I I'm learning in a very deeper way. That's not that's not a spiritual direction or the spiritual direction that people are really hungry for. Mhmm. Thank you for sharing that. Well, I think I might be at the end of all my questions. I don't know if there's anything else you'd like to add, Deacon Scott, as we wind up the interview. Can't think of anything. It'll it'd probably come up in a minute. Okay. Well, I'm gonna hand it over to Greg to talk a little bit about the program and how, if you're if people are interested, how to to apply. And then, Teek and Scott, if you think of anything, we'll we'll throw the ball back to you just before we leave.

34:41Yes. Excellent. Thank you. So, I'm just gonna be jumping around. I've kind of gone rogue with the slides, but, just to reiterate, some of the the details of the program itself. We had mentioned that, all of the courses, and there are six courses in this program. They're done online, and they're also done asynchronously. So just as Deacon Scott had mentioned, it's there's a lot of flexibility. You can log in to your classes at any time that works within your schedule. And we say it's primarily done online just because while all the courses are online, there are those residencies that we had talked about. And those happen twice within the whole program, and those will happen during your third and your fifth term.

35:29And then, also students have the practicum hours. So this is where once you get to your fifth term, this is where you'll be active as a spiritual director, in your local area. So whether it's within your parish or your apostolate or whatever it may be, we train students. We train them on how to find directees and how to make that outreach and how to get to that next step. So, we're not just training you on how to be a spiritual director and then assuming that you'll know what to do after that, but we're making sure that, we're covering all bases so that you can also branch out and find those directees that need that guidance. And I'll just cover the just a few other nitty riddies very quickly about the residencies.

36:21Again, the campus where they take place happens in Sterling, Virginia. So this is Northern Virginia. I live in DC, and it takes me about thirty five, forty minutes to travel from home to campus, so just to give you an idea geographically. And we're about a five minute drive from the Dulles Airport. So for those of you who are flying in, this is not a a case where you're gonna be flying in and then driving an hour or so to find the campus. It's just right up the street. And students are lodged right next door to I believe it's a Marriott hotel. In fact, it's so close that sometimes they'll walk from the hotel to campus for the four day residences. So, again, everything is in very close proximity.

37:12And then, also just to go a little bit more into the, the details, students are taking one course at a time. So each term is eight weeks. So you're taking one course per eight week term. And, usually, and this is not set in stone, but typically, from what I've seen, students are committing somewhere between six to nine hours per week toward their study time. It can vary. It can vary based on, the courses that you're taking or your familiarity with the content, but this is just more of a pattern that we've seen with our active students. And there are also breaks between the terms. So, there's a lot of breathing room between all of the courses that you're taking and, the breaks happen usually during major holidays.

38:02So you won't have to concern yourself over meeting an assignment while at the same time, hosting Thanksgiving or preparing yourself for holy week or whatever it may be. These major holidays will happen during, during down periods. And then for the whole program itself, it's a it's a two year program. So including the breaks and and the residencies in your practicum, ex expect for it to be, a two year event. And just to dive into the, the cost as well. And I wanna highlight for those of you that are, active in ministry or volunteers at your parish or or work within some sort of, church affiliated organization, we can bring the cost down by 10%. So I do wanna reiterate that first. The cost per course is 778, and then the cost per residencies is 1,000.

39:07And that thousand is going to cover your lodging. It'll cover most of your meals. It'll cover your materials. So the only thing that you'd be responsible for would be your travel and three of your dinners, but everything else will be covered under that thousand. So I that really brings me to the end of this. So what I'd like to do is open up the floor to all of you who have attended and are interested in this. I do wanna also highlight very quickly that we do have three start dates per academic year. Right now, we are looking at the spring term. So right now we're we're enrolling for the spring term, which start on January 11. This is prime time to begin, or to to apply rather just because, it feels like January is far away.

39:58It's not. It's right around the corner. So I always encourage students that if they're really interested, now is a great time to apply. It'll also give you time to, get access to your orientations and learn a little bit about the, APA writing style and also which departments are there for you in case you have any needs. So with that said, gonna now open up the the q and a to all of you. Again, post your questions in the q and a or the chat. So I'm gonna direct certain questions to you, Maria, and to you, Deacon Scott, depending on the questions. And, of course, for enrollment, I'll be here as well. So we do have one question from Colleen. She said, do you find students in your program mainly affiliate with the Catholic Christian faith tradition?

40:54I guess I'll answer that since it's about our students. At this point in time, yes. They're either Catholics or Christians, that are in the program, and that's really the tradition that the program is taught in. It doesn't mean that there couldn't be other people that are interested in this tradition that would take this program. But, yeah, at this point in time, we the students are either Catholics or Christians that are ministering in, in one of those environments or in in those environments. Yeah. Great question, Colleen. And and I'll even say just to, just to pay you back on that as the admissions adviser and I speak with folks every day. I I do get a lot of folks that ask, if it's required that they are Catholic to be in the program just because we do approach spiritual direction from the Catholic tradition.

41:51And just as Maria said, that's not a requirement at all. We have a lot of, Christians who are are not Catholic. So we have Catholic Christians and we have non Catholic Christians in this program. And what they all have in common is their love for God and their love for serving God and serving others, within this context. So great question. I will open up the floor to all of you again with any questions that you have. While we're waiting for that, Deacon, is there anything that came to your mind as Greg was speaking that you'd wanna comment? Well, I just adding to the the the previous question, I I think the the material presented is would would be, would be beneficial to any any Christian. You know?

42:41The spiritual direction has a a a rich rich, history and and and rich, Christian traditions. And, I I'd say most of most of the program is gonna tap into tap into that and the human sciences. So I I think any any Christian's gonna get a benefit out of the the the program. Thank you. Great. I have another question from Marta. I'll answer half of the question. And, Maria, if you can answer the second half, that would be great. So Marta asked, can we get a list of the required books? And I'll just answer that first. So the answer is yes. So I can I'd be happy to send a, a list of those books out to you. So for you that are that are curious, any of you, what I would suggest doing is sending me an email.

43:35Or you're welcome to call or text me. Either one would be fine. But go ahead and make outreach to me. My contact information is here. And for those of you interested, I'd be happy to forward you the list of the reading material that we have, within this program. So the second half of the question, Maria, she asked, which edition of the Bible do you use? That's a great question. I actually don't know the answer to that one. It's it's, I think it's the now, but I think it's a typical well, that are you that's used here in The United States in the conference of bishops. But we also you know, in that sense, I don't think there's any I don't know if there's any assignments where we upload text of the bible.

44:20I mean, we definitely have text of sacred scripture throughout the course, but you're, you know, you're very welcome to use the bible that you have at hand, for the course. About the, the question of the books and everything like that. So one thing that I love about this program is that pretty much everything is online. You know, you don't have to be searching down books and buying them, and I see Deacon shaking his head. We just we re as we built this certificate, we tried to do kind of a hard work and sift through a lot of different resources and find out take really find those that we thought would be most beneficial for you to be reading, whether from the human sciences or, from the Catholic or Christian tradition.

45:09And and since we are a university, we got the licenses so we could upload those onto the onto the platform, and and you could use them and download them. So pretty much everything is there. And there's one book that we couldn't get permission to use. But the good news is that it looks like we're going to be able to actually get permission now. So we did have one book that we're like, okay, you got to start looking for this and try to buy it. But we've actually been in touch with the editorial house, and it looks like they're gonna do an ebook. And so that's gonna allow us to be able to put that last book that we hadn't been able to put on the platform there. So That that was one of the one of the most pleasant surprises when I entered the program.

45:55I was I was thinking back to my deacon formation days, and I'm gonna fill up another bookshelf of books. And to have everything online except that one book, that was a big plus. There's a few books I actually bought on my own just just because they're they they look like they'd be good to have. But, to all the all the reading material, you can access online. So that was a big plus. Yeah. And it it gives you just opportunity to have a lot of exposure to different resources. Then you like you said, Zeke, and then you can decide which ones you actually wanna be invest in and buy. Right? Mhmm. So, yeah, that's that is a great kind of just a great plus that came from the work we did to to design the program and develop it.

46:40Yeah. Great question, Martha. Any other questions? We're getting toward the top of the hour, but we still have some time to answer more questions for you. I feel like we've taken a good tour Yeah. Yeah. Program from a lot of different perspectives. Yeah. Oh, it looks like we might have one more. Okay. So it looks like Mary Anne asked a question. So she said access to the ebooks is per term or, or duration of the program. No. All the recesses resources that are on the platform, you can actually download into your computer. Lowest layer of licenses are built that way, so you can actually download them into your computer and have them. So it's, during the time that you're in the course and then, afterwards.

47:33You know, the part of our intentionality there was to, help you start building your tool chest as a spiritual director. So, you know, we really wanted to make those resources as you're going through and saying, oh my gosh. I think this is something I'd love to keep. You can do that. Good. And then Martha also asked another question, which is how many in each cohort? I believe that's about somewhere between 25 to 30 students. I guess it could vary. But No. It's 22. 22. Okay. 22 is the cohort size. And then when, there are some courses that have a little bit more, supervision to them or follow-up. So we're trying to cap those at 18 just to be able to allow the instructor to be able to have more time with the individual students because there's more feedback needed.

48:30Great. Alright. 22 per cohort. And, Maryann asked one other question. She said, first, thank you for answering her first question. Then she said, was wondering if we would have access to them as progress through the semesters. So I guess that was actually not a question, but more of just a follow-up. And, so, yes, you you you will have access to them. I'll even mention very quickly that I I, earlier talked about the space between terms where you have these breaks, and many times students will use that as just downtime. They might plan certain events around them, vacation time or weddings or whatever it may be. But I've spoken with a few students, and many times they'll even take that time to read certain chapters or certain parts that they weren't assigned because of of their curiosity of the content.

49:26So that's something that you'll have access to. So it's not like you'll only have access to what you're assigned. You'll have, all the content available to you if you were curious. And then, looks like there was one other question. Any live virtual meetings besides the residencies? We do ask every instructor to host a meeting during the duration of the eight week course. It's not obligatory, but we ask them to host a meeting. And they and the nature of that meeting can really be defined by the instructor, whether it's like a question and answer or to go deeper in a into a certain concept. And then we also have what's called triads, and they pretty much start from the first course. And, they're not you know, they start less frequent at the beginning.

50:19But, basically, it's a meeting between you and two other students. And at the beginning, it's really talking about something you've read together or sharing about an assignment that you have. And then later on, those triads become the actual place for you to start doing the role playing and, record them and send them into the instructor to get feedback about them. So and then, and then in the 500 and the 600, you have suit some supervision sessions, that is part of the practicum. So that as you're seeing people in spiritual direction, you're having those supervision sessions to reflect on your sessions and how that's going for you and what's happening in you as you give spiritual direction, kind of what you're encountering.

51:04So those are kind of the, you know, the moments that you have to actually get online from a certain appointment. Yeah. You're very welcome, Mary Anne. So, again, thank you all for being here. I I I appreciate it. Maria, as always, I'm glad that you're able to host and and just, navigate through the program. And Deacon Scott, again, it's so great to have you here and just I I always love hearing the program details, something that both Maria and I talk about all the time, but hearing it from the side of of the student, and, it's been a real blessing to have him here for this. Yeah. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule, Deacon, to to get on this webinar. My pleasure. Thank you all. Yeah.

51:52Of course. So I'll I'll just say very quickly too again, January 11 is gonna be our next start date. Our, communications rep has just posted a link to the application form if you were curious. There are some steps in the application, recommendations. But, again, when you and I, one on one, and speaking to all all of you guests, when we get a chance to speak, we'll talk a little bit more about that. But, but we have the link for the application form, which is one of the steps, presented here. I would go ahead and if you're interested, go ahead and fill out the short form. This is not a long extensive college application. It's it's a pretty short one. And we even have a code in front of you if you look at the red box.

52:42And, usually, the application is, $25, but we can waive that for you. If you put the code in s t c r E g f r EE, that way we'll we'll have it waived for you. And once we get your application form, I'll reach out and just go through everything else to, to make sure this is a good fit for you and to make sure you have everything you need. So with that said, is there anything else before before we end this? No. Just to say thank you, and Deacon will have you and your ministry in our prayers. Thank you. Yes. Very good. Alright. Thank you all. And, I appreciate you all being here, and God bless. Thank you.