 From the Director’s Desk… Welcome to our first eNews of 2023. It’s a bumper first edition! In 2023, we celebrate 40 years of service. Keep an eye on our eNews and social media for special events in which you can participate to help us recognise the ministry of Heart of Life and the service of our many graduates over the last 40 years. This year, we have another three full cohorts for our Siloam Program for the Formation of Spiritual Directors, a full complement of candidates for our second Emmaus Supervision Program as well as a large group for the Let the Heart Listen formation program. We have relaunched our Spiritual Leaders Program as the Damascus Spiritual Leaders Program, in partnership with Yarra Theological College and Catholic Theological College. It is aone-year, part-time program for people in various positions of leadership, spiritual formation and outreach ministries. We are accepting applications for this program now. In addition, each of our formation programs, seminars, and some of our reflection events, are available online via Zoom to those who are in country Victoria, interstate or overseas. Exciting times! Our full program of events for 2023 will be released soon! In the meantime, keep reading this email until the very end to see what’s on offer or beginning in the next few weeks! We invite you all to celebrate “40 years of service” with us and very much look forward to meeting you in person or online as the year unfolds. Clare Shearman (above image by artist Gary Rowell ‘Heart of God’)  Damascus Spiritual Leaders Program / Graduate Certificate in Divinity (In-person or online) (Supervisors & Lecturers including Peter Hay, Leslie Hanger, Jeff Hood, Lynn Moresi) One year, part-time Delivered as a one-year, part-time formation program, the Damascus learning process supports the participant’s personal integration of the theory and practice of a contemplative and discerning approach to the spiritual and pastoral elements of leadership. The program is contemplative and experiential in its approach and enables participants to focus on growth in self-awareness and sensitivity to the movement of God’s Spirit in oneself, as well as in the person to whom one is ministering. The program is designed for people in various positions of leadership, spiritual formation and outreach ministries. Formators, priests, ministers, members of Religious Orders, spiritual health workers, pastoral associates/lay ecclesial ministers, community and spiritual leaders, chaplains, pastoral care practitioners, school principals, teachers, school mission leaders and those working in health will especially find the program of benefit. Participants will engage with areas of spirituality including: understanding your emotional inner life; stages of faith formation; discernment; contemplative practices; leadership influence; and meditation and prayer. Sessions will be held as follows:28 x Mondays, 11am-12.45pm during Victorian school terms (DD8703Y Personal Awareness & Human Development)7 x Saturdays, 10am-4pm including a reflection prayer gathering (DD8002S Leadership Formation & Praxis)4 x Saturdays, 10am-4pm (DP9611C Teaching Meditation & Prayer) Damascus may be undertaken as an Audit student. Those studying the program for the Graduate Certificate may qualify for Fee-Help. Late applications for the Damascus program will be accepted until 31 January 2023 on their merits. For more information, go to our webpage .  Let the Heart Listen Program (in-person or online) (Carole Carmody rsm, Julie Adam) 15 x Thursdays, 23 Feb – 15 Jun, 9.30am-12.30pm, $720 The Let the Heart Listen 2023 weekly formation program is almost full however a couple of places are still available. Click here to read recent graduates’ experience of the program. ‘Let the Heart Listen’ is an invitation: to enter into a process of transformation, connecting you with the deeper mysteries of your own heart to open your heart in compassion for and connection to and with others to deepen your relationship with your Divine Companion, especially in the vulnerable aspects of your life. The program includes: the principles of listening and discernment; facilitated group participation; guided reflection; feedback from facilitators and peers; self and peer evaluation. Please contact Heart of Life for an application form or click here.  Heart 4 Life – Lunchtime Peer Group Support Program (in-person or online)(Jo Sullivan) 9 x 1st Wednesday of month, Mar-Nov, 1pm-2pm, $200 Following the success of this lunchtime program last year, we are again offering peer group support for Siloam Alumni and others in individual ministry through Heart for Life (H4L). Groups will be supported by a Heart of Life supervisor to provide professional group supervision as well as professional development. Topics will be tailored to meet the needs and interests of the group, and guest presenters secured as required. Please register here by 15 February 2023.  Religious Experience (in-person or online) (Peter Malone msc and guest lecturers) 14 x Mondays, 13 Feb – 5 Jun, 9am-10.45am, $475 The varieties of religious experience, Biblical and theological foundations, symbols and storytelling, as well as religious experience as the focus of spiritual direction, are examined and reflected upon. This seminar also includes: Mystical Traditions within the Church; Meditation & Mindfulness; the Life of the Desert Fathers & Mothers, and the Mystics; and Indigenous Spirituality. Book Here via Email  Discernment (in-person or online) (Jeff Hood, BSc (Psych), BPA, MA, M Tesol, DTS, Grad Dip Couns, Dip Min, GDSD, Dip Ed) 14 x Mondays, 13 Feb – 5 Jun, 9am-10.45am, $475This seminar is for those who wish to explore the spiritual movements of God in their own lives, and in the lives of those we walk alongside. How do we make good decisions? How do we know if something is of God or something we wish for ourselves, or are they the same? Over 14 weeks, we will explore the ancient tradition of spiritual discernment and how this can guide us in everyday life. Book Here via Email  The Nature of Human Experience & the Human Experience of the Divine (in-person or online) (Robyn Reynolds olsh, BA(Hons), MA, PhD)) 14 x Mondays, 13 Feb – 5 Jun, 11am-12.45pm, $475This seminar is an opportunity to slow down and grow in appreciation of the rich tapestry of God in our lives, giving insights that help us to remain with another in their struggles and their joys. It offers space to reflect on experiences described by classical writers about God and prayer, and to explore our own experience of God, while incorporating visual and narrative arts, images and imagination.Book Here via Email  Spirituality of Human Life Stages A (in-person or online) (Dr Lynn Moresi, Cert IV TAE, Cert IV Celebrancy, BBib Stud, Grad Dip Spir Dir, MMin, DMin(Fuller Seminary) 14 x Mondays, 13 Feb – 5 Jun, 11am-12.45pm, $475 This seminar is for those who wish to explore how we grow spiritually over a lifetime, to enable us to hear and hold another’s story and come alongside them as they stretch and grow with God in their daily life. Several ‘life stage’ models of human development are examined, along with the spiritual aspects of mental health problems. Cross-cultural factors are also examined to enable us to respect the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals. Book Here via Email  Spirituality of Human Life Stages B (in-person or online) (Dr Lynn Moresi, Cert IV TAE, Cert IV Celebrancy, BBib Stud, Grad Dip Spir Dir, MMin, DMin(Fuller Seminary) 14 x Wednesdays, 15 Feb – 31 May, 9am-10.45am, $475 This seminar examines the role of emotions in forming healthy self-awareness and development, processing anger, acknowledging shame, recognising our moral agendas, the core virtues of faith, hope and love. It also examines a spiritual director’s understanding of how the range of both painful and affirming emotions contribute to a person’s self-engagement and relationships with others. Painful emotions; grief and loss; gender identity and sexuality; and love and friendship are explored from the developmental perspective. (Note: Spirituality of Human Life Stages B can be undertaken without having completed Spirituality of Human Life Stages A .)Book Here via Email  Grace & Conversion (in-person or online) (Robyn Reynolds olsh, BA(Hons), MA, PhD) 14 x Thursdays, 16 Feb – 1 Jun, 9am-10.45am, $475 Grace may be recognised, rejected or received in our lives. This seminar is for anyone who wishes to explore their life experiences and allow God to invite them to enter more deeply into our humanity, with all its ambiguities, so we can better listen and accompany others in their lives. We examine the nature of divine grace and explore manifestations of grace in revelation, life events, creation, and human experience. In weeks 8-14, we reflect on the experience of conversion, from the perspectives of theology, human development theory and our own lived experiences. (The first 7 weeks (‘Grace’) or the following 7 weeks (‘Conversion’) may be attended at a cost of $237.50 each. Bookings to secretary@heartoflife.melbourne)Book Here via Email |
| Bookings: Our 2023 Program will be available soon! In the meantime, please make bookings via email to secretary@heartoflife.melbourne Bookings for our seminars and reflection events can generally be made up to one week before the start date (subject to places still being available).. |
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