This is the first in a series of blog posts that will look deeper into the topic of spiritual formation.
It is our desire that the blogs be informative and lead to a deeper formational shift in your outlook and approach to living a more spiritually rich relationship with Christ.
The upcoming blogs series will be focused on answering questions like:
What is spiritual formation and why is it important in my walk with God?
What are the unique or key principles and dynamics that create a spiritual formation framework?
What are some basic spiritual formation disciplines and practices?
Since joining the Genesis Institute team almost two years ago, I have heard the phrase “spiritual formation” used many times to describe the depth and heart-level experience attendees and facilitators encounter in our SoulCare training and mentoring programs. At first, I thought I understood this phrase, but it wasn’t until this past fall that I realized I did not completely understand the depth of its meaning and potential application in my own life. 
This past year, Genesis’ Board of Directors and special advisory committees took up specific conversations about how to increase the scale and impact of our SoulCare training and mentoring programs. What is often identified in these discussions, and is one of the unique characteristics of our various training topics and programs, is that we seek to foster a deeper relationship between our training program participants and God. Our courses are not only structured to deliver compelling and dynamic content but also to draw the participant into a deeper, richer relationship with Jesus, and within the context of community.
Over the last two years what I’ve come to realize, and what our advisory committees have suggested, is that to better understand the potential impact of our SoulCare classes, a much deeper experiential understanding of spiritual formation is needed. Therefore, we are moving in that direction, to create more structure and greater emphasis on spiritual formation.
Spiritual formation is more than a “training program”. One needs to experience it rather than simply obtain a formal definition or intellectual understanding of its concepts. Knowledge of the definition and basic principles of spiritual formation is important, but a true understanding of it comes from embracing it and living life from its framework in the context of relationships with other believers. I have heard, in summary form, that it’s about a relational journey which moves us from the head into the heart.
This year, Genesis Institute will be moving to create more opportunities to instruct and give people an opportunity to experience the realities of spiritual formation. I for one am excited to move past strictly an intellectual understanding to include a spirit-level understanding of what the Christian life is and should be.
The spiritual formation offerings will be in addition to what we currently have available, which is:
- Parenting Relationships
- Marriage Relationships
- Mentorship From a Biblical Perspective
- and other topics!
For an overview of our current SoulCare programs and a full list of seminar and class topics check out our SoulCare Training Services webpage by clicking the button below.
Stay tuned to this blog series as, together, we explore the beauty and depth of spiritual formation.
Wil Wilhelm
Executive Director