The Forge

As a student, you will be asked to complete spiritual exercises each week, designed to deepen your understanding of interspirituality and to help you embody your spirituality each day. You will also be asked to create a student project that expresses your interspiritual life.

Week 1, September 24 – Introduction to Interspirituality

During the first session, students will get to know one another, and we will begin building a supportive community for our work together. Each student will have an opportunity to share an overview of their spiritual journey and to share the spiritual questions that are most alive for them.

Week 2, October 1 – Introduction to Contemplative Practice

Prior to the second session, each student will complete the Spiritual Styles Profile tool. Results of this exercise will help students select meditative approaches that match their spiritual style. During the session, we’ll learn the seven steps of interspiritual meditation and engage in meditation together.

Week 3, October 8 – Contemplative Practice

Building on our experience together in the second session, we will learn different meditation approaches that align with various spiritual styles. We will also explore resource materials for scripture, inspirational reading, and music to support an interspiritual meditation practice.

Week 4, October 15 – Introduction to Spiritual Inquiry

Spiritual Inquiry is a form of meditation and reflection, where you review your day to discern Divine presence and direction in your life, and to foster a deeper relationship with the Divine. Students will be provided with daily Spiritual Inquiry questions to consider on our journey.

Week 5, October 22 – Spiritual Inquiry in Practice

In this class, we will share results from our practice of mediative reflection on the events of the day in order to detect the Divine presence and discern guidance we are receiving. This is an ancient spiritual practice that can help us see the Divine at work in our lives.

Week 6, October 29 – Interconnectedness

In this class we introduce you to the first triad of Wayne Teasdale’s 9 Elements: Honoring and Living from Our Interconnectedness. Recognizing the interconnectedness of life has profound implications for how we live our lives in the smallest and most immediate ways.

Week 7, November 5 – Inner Transformation

In this class, our focus shifts to the second triad of Teasdale’s 9 Elements: Embracing the Work of Inner Transformation. We will consider humility and mature self-knowledge, cultivating the ability to look at ourselves and recognize both areas of strengths and shortcomings.

Week 8, November 12 – Social Engagement

In this session, we turn our attention to how the fruits of the inner journey express themselves in engagement with the larger arena of our shared social concerns. An authentic spiritual life can never be truly cut off from the life of the larger world in which we live.

Week 9, November 19 – Sharing Student Projects

During the class, you will be given prompts and resources to create a project that expresses your interspiritual life. The project may take the form of writing (prose or poetry), music, and creative arts. Each student will have time to briefly share their project with the class.

Students who attend at least 8 of the 9 classes and complete all assignments will receive a special gift.

About the Course Facilitator

Rev. Dr. Don Chatfield is Lead Pastor at All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne, Vermont. He has been an ordained minister since 1977 and an ordained interfaith minister since 2008. After serving as minister in six Protestant churches, Don yearned to expand his ministry to include all faiths. This led to additional study to earn his interfaith minister credential. Rev. Don, along with his wife Karen, has founded two interfaith Schools of Spiritual Direction. He loves to work with students who are training to become effective spiritual companions. Don has a deep interest in contemplative practice and teaches interspiritual meditation for the Spiritiual Paths Institute. Don and Karen enjoy life nestled between the shore of Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains, where they frequently hike, bicycle, ski, and snowshoe, accompanied by their Bichon Frise, Lily.