University of Redlands
"The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound.”—Mechthild of Magdeburg
At San Francisco Theological Seminary, we are rooted in the Christian tradition but celebrate the depth and beauty of the human spirit in its many cultural and religious expressions. We understand spiritual direction as a way to participate in the mending of hearts and society. Our spirituality programs rest on the belief that we are called to awaken our hearts to others through practice, study, and community.
All applicants should have at least one year of experience of spiritual direction with a trained spiritual director before beginning the program. The structure of the program has three components: Orientation in October, Classwork in January (“Intensive”), and the practicum which continues through the year. The practicum begins after a student has completed Fundamentals of Spiritual Direction. They will be assigned a supervisor/mentor to work with them as they direct two directees over the course of two years.
These sessions are designed for both diploma and certificate programs. All classes are Credit/No Credit. Diploma students acquire 1.5 academic credits per course. Certificate acquire 0 credit. Learn more about the requirements for and differences between the Diploma and Certificate.
In addition to our January courses, Dr. Yi will teach Group Supervision / Spiritual Direction for Spiritual Directors February 26-May 14 on Wednesdays from 1-4 Pacific Coast Time. This class is required of Diploma Students. Certificate students are welcome to attend.
Students are invited to join us for the classroom portion of the Diploma and Certificate Programs in Spiritual Direction from January 14-18, 21-25, 2025. Students may participate either in person or online or choose to be online one week and in-person the other week. In-person classes will be held on the campus of SFTS, San Anselmo, CA. Please communicate to the Director, Wendy Farley, whether you will be on campus, commuting, or online. Thank you!
Classroom teaching will be offered in a hybrid format, with in-person and online students meeting in a Zoom classroom. Students who are on campus will do their small group learning and contemplative worship in person, as well have opportunities to share meals together. Students joining online will do small group learning and participate in worship via Zoom.
Apply today!
You will receive a syllabus for each class with a reading list and material to prepare before January as part of the Orientation.
Orientation Sessions:
First Year Students:
Second Year Students:
Those students staying on campus during the Intensive should contact Lucas Walker to reserve a room in Baird Hall.
For lodging reservations, contact Lucas Walker (lucasw@ebmcca.com)
General Email: events@ebmcca.com
(415) 295-2216
Students staying at Baird Hall will provide their own meals.
All classes are available either online or in person.
January 14-18 (Tuesday morning-Saturday afternoon):
January 21-25 (Tuesday morning-Saturday afternoon):
Each class varies, but on a typical day, students will meet approximately 9-noon for classroom learning, break for lunch, and meet in small groups to practice spiritual direction under the guidance of an experienced director from 1:30-4:30.
Contemplative worship will be Tuesday and Friday 5:00-5:30 each week. This schedule is approximate and subject to change.
Dr. Daeseop Yi will teach Group Supervision / Spiritual Direction for Spiritual Directors February 26-May 14 on Wednesdays from 1-4 Pacific Coast Time. This class is required of Diploma Students. Certificate students are welcome to attend.
Dr. Wendy Farley, Director
Wendy_farley@redlands.edu
Kay Thomas, Assistant Director of Admissions
Kay_thomas@redlands.edu
A leading theologian, Wendy Farley has written extensively on women theologians and mystics, religious dialogue, classical texts, contemporary ethical issues, and contemplative practices.
Professor Farley received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1988. Her teaching and research interests include women theologians, Buddhist-Christian dialogue, spirituality and social justice, classical texts, and contemplative practices. Her first book, Tragic Vision and Divine Compassion: A Contemporary Theodicy (Westminster John Knox, 1990) considers the problem of evil by focusing on suffering rather than sin and abandons the forensic model of God in favor of one emphasizing compassion as a dominant metaphor for the divine. A second work, Eros for the Other: Retaining Truth in a Pluralistic World (Penn State: 1996), also takes up the relationships between ethical and philosophical issues in religion. In 2005, she published The Wounding and Healing of Desire: Weaving Heaven and Earth (Westminster John Knox), which combines attention to contemplative practices, folk traditions, and inter-religious dialogue to reflect on suffering and transformation. Gathering Those Driven Away: a Theology of Incarnation (Westminster John Knox, 2011), reflects on the meaning of Christian faith and tradition for women, queers, and others that the church has had difficulty recognizing as part of the body of Christ. She also recently edited (with Emily Holmes) a collection of essays called Women, Writing, Theology: Transforming a Tradition of Exclusion.
Her latest book, “The Thirst of God: Contemplating God’s Love with Three Women Mystics” (Westminster John Knox, 2015), explores the spirituality of medieval mystics Marguerite Porete, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Julian of Norwich. In Farley’s words, “These women have important things to tell us about our faith, the same as contemporary contemplatives, with the emphasis on divine love.”
Tom Glenn is a trained Spiritual Director and Supervisor, having graduated from SFTS with a Diploma in Spiritual Direction. He has worked as a group leader for many years at the spiritual direction program at SFTS and is a much appreciated supervisor for the practicum. He is also a retired Presbyterian (USA) minister having served on the staff of a church for 44 years. He is married to Susie, who is a retired lawyer, had two children (Matthew and Jessica) and five grandchildren. He lives in St. Louis, MO.
Rev. Scott Quinn is an ordained Lutheran minister and interfaith minister, having served as an associate pastor in Dallas, Texas. He also served as an educator and spiritual director at an interfaith spirituality center in Austin, Texas and then as Director for Community at The Chaplaincy Institute, which is an interfaith seminary and community in Berkeley. He is currently the Executive Director of the Marin Interfaith Council.
Scott has been trained as a spiritual director and supervisor of spiritual directors and is part of the faculty and supervisory staff for the Chaplaincy Institute’s Spiritual Direction program, as well as for San Francisco Theological Seminary’s Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction program. He sees directees and supervisees virtually as well as in person at his home in San Rafael, California, where he and his partner tend a large garden and many animals. His website is:
www.scottquinn.net.
Eleanor Mendoza Whitney (she/her) graduated from the DASD in 2005. Since then she has offered spiritual direction, supervision and served congregations as a small group leader, cantor and choir director. She practices at the Contemplative Center of Silicon Valley.
Eleanor loves helping people to notice patterns in the ways they meet the Holy. These patterns might include images, music, and body/felt sense. Understanding our personal vocabulary with the Holy allows us to notice invitations to deepening relationship with God.
Eleanor and her spouse (a Presbyterian minister and techie) have three children. Eleanor is of Mexican decent and is still learning Spanish.
Reverend Dr. Daeseop Daniel Yi, adjunct faculty for Spirituality at San Francisco Theological Seminary/University of Redlands, is dedicated to understanding how humans can be their authentic selves and live their lives fully through various contemplative practices. This wholistic transformation and growth is interconnected with communal and social change. His main desire is to help people who are hungry for spirituality to find themselves and their vocations through spiritual direction (individual and group), supervision, various spiritual classes, and retreats.
Yi earned a Ph.D. in Christian Spirituality at Graduate Theological Union. He has been on the staff of SFTS’s Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction program since 2008. He has also worked for many years as a pastor and chief of staff at a local church and in a campus ministry for young adults. His pursuit to integrate the discipline of psychology and other traditions (Buddhist mindfulness and body movement) with Christianity has helped others to be whole and to live their lives in an integral way.
Aside from giving spiritual direction and supervising spiritual directors, Yi has been teaching classes in lectio divina, centering prayer, spiritually informed pastoral care, spiritual formation, clearness committee, discernment and prayer, Spiritual Exercises, and other subjects at SFTS, Oikos University, New College Berkeley, Bread of Life, and Center for Courage & Renewal. He is interested in living ‘in between’ so that he can be a bridge between America and Korea and be creative in both cultures.
