This life-story includes themes of institutional, theological, intellectual and spiritual development. By entering into this story students will gain knowledge of the basic development of the church and the skills and tools needed in order to apply that knowledge to present circumstances in both personal and public arenas. In light of Mercer University founder Jesse Mercer's warning that ministers cannot teach what they have not learned, this course equips students to embody the present and create a future for an endangered living tradition.
Students take each course with the same professor and the same classmates in successive semesters.
The first semester, SPF 701, emphasizes learning to ask the right questions in order to integrate personal, academic, and professional foundations around a center of spiritual maturity. Discussion of these issues is pursued in a context of personal spiritual disciplines and community-building small groups. SPF 702, the second semester continuation of Spiritual Formation for Ministry, continues the integration begun in SPF 701. The focus in this second semester is on the spiritual disciplines of the inward and outward journey with emphasis on aspects particular to Christian ministers, on stages of faith, and on personality as it relates to ministerial tasks.