By Johnny Sears
The Academy for Spiritual Formation began in 1983 as an offering from The Upper Room after five years of prayer, research, and preparation. The Academy is an experience of disciplined Christian community emphasizing holistic spirituality — nurturing body, mind, and spirit. The program is ecumenical in nature and meant for all those who hunger for a deeper relationship with God, including both lay and clergy persons. Each Academy fosters spiritual rhythms — of study and prayer, silence and liturgy, solitude and relationship, rest and exercise. Academy participants rediscover Christianity’s rich spiritual heritage through worship, learning, and fellowship. In covenant community and at a personal level, participants find time and space to discern direction, make covenants, and practice commitments.
The Two-Year Academy meets for five days in residence eight times over the course of two years (once every three months); a total of 40 days in residence (schedule here). For those seeking a short-term experience of spiritual formation, there are other options including numerous Five-Day Academies.
Academy Mission
The Academy for Spiritual Formation creates safe space for people to be in communion with God, self, others, and creation for the sake of the world.
Academy Vision
Our vision is for The Academy to be a movement that helps reshape the way pilgrims conceive of and live out the Christian life; a way that is rooted in and flows from God’s spirit and action in the world.
Academy pilgrims are leaven in the loaf of contemporary Christianity, helping lead the way into the next incarnation of the body of Christ.
The Academy movement hopes to lead the way in forming Christian communities that embrace the multicultural, multi-ethnic, interfaith landscape of the 21st century for the transformation of the world.
One of the things that make The Academy effective and different is that we don’t have predefined outcomes. We aren’t credentialing anyone. We create the container for the transformation process such that God can meet each person where they are. That means there’s a lot of freedom for each person’s Academy experience to be what it needs to be for them. That’s a gift since each person’s spiritual journey is unique and personal. Another unique aspect of The Academy is that most programs and organizations that offer similar types of experiences or do similar work are built around particular personalities. For example, Renovare is based primarily on the teachings of Dallas Willard and Richard Foster. The Center for Action & Contemplation’s Living School program is based on the teachings of Richard Rohr. Since The Academy is an ecumenical ministry of The Upper Room, it is not dependent on a particular personality but draws from the wisdom of many voices across the ages. That’s a real strength that offers a great deal of wholeness and authenticity.
My primary equipping for this ministry has been my own faith journey driven by a longing for a deeper relationship with God and a way to live that out in contemporary society. Before becoming the Director of The Academy, I was working as an electrical engineer for a multi-national electronics corporation. I had also served part time as a youth minister at a small Baptist church in KY for three years. To my surprise, that work resonated with my spirit and I began to wonder if I had a call to full-time ministry. Along the way, I learned about spiritual direction and began seeing a spiritual director on a monthly basis (something I continue to do to this day). I also enrolled in the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, a new seminary that was established as an alternative to Southern Seminary in Louisville after the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. My first course was called, “Ministers as Spiritual Guides.” I took the course because of the title… that was my concept of what ministry was supposed to be about rather than what I had experienced which was more ministers as producers or CEOs. It turns out that Dr. E. Glenn Hinson was the professor. He introduced me to contemplative spirituality and great spiritual masters like Thomas Merton (whom Hinson had known personally – he even took us to visit the Abbey of Gethsemani which has become a spiritual home for me). Hinson became a mentor to me along with my spiritual director, Rick Landon, and I couldn’t get enough of spiritual formation. To me, it was like I finally discovered the essence of my faith. Still, the seminary was primarily about an intellectual approach to God and I was looking for something more but didn’t know what that was. Glenn and Rick both sensed this and independently told me about the Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation. I ended up dropping out of seminary to go to the Two-Year Academy. It gave me the supportive community and a rhythm of experiential practice of faith that helped me deepen and integrate head, heart, and soul. It changed my life and changed me. I tell people that it helped me shift from performing my spiritual life to actually living it. My intention had been to use my time at The Academy to discern what this sense of call to ministry was really about. I had anticipated going back to seminary after Academy with more clarity for how I would use an MDiv. What happened is that I realized I did have a call to ministry but as a layperson and that my call was to create space for others to engage in spiritual formation. From that point, I began getting invited to lead retreats, write, serve on Academy teams, etc. Eventually, my predecessor as Academy Director, Jerry Haas, was moving into a different role at Upper Room so they were looking for a new director. To my great disbelief, Jerry asked me if I would consider the role. When I told my wife, Becky, about the invitation, she told me she had been expecting that was coming. Then, she said this is who I was and that it felt like this was a move she was ready for our family to make. That’s when I knew I had to take the opportunity seriously because every other time I had talked about making a career change, she would get very anxious. We spent a few more months in further discernment to confirm it was a calling that fit our whole family while also going through the application, interview, and hiring process and I joined the staff of Upper Room in July of 2010. Having good companions and incredible mentors along the way who have helped me remain faithful has been essential in coming into this role and in inhabiting it.
My greatest joy in this ministry is the relationships. I meet and work with people of incredible faith, wisdom, and authenticity who long to see the kingdom of God realized on earth – both within themselves and in society. I also love seeing people awaken and open up to a more holistic and integrated spiritual life. One of the frequent comments we receive from participants is that Christianity is deeper and broader than they ever imagined. A great deal of healing happens in Academies and it is always a gift to behold.
The Academy represents and casts a vision for renewal of the body of Christ but we are also part of the established institutional church which is currently struggling. That creates an inherent tension filled with both difficulty and creative potential. Holding that tension is probably the most challenging aspect of this ministry and also a wellspring of learning and growth.
We are always working to increase awareness. Even though The Academy has been around for over 30 years, many people are still unaware that such an experience is available or why they might be interested. Another ongoing challenge is creating greater accessibility and affordability. The model requires a non-trivial commitment of time and money. That commitment and sacrifice are part of what make it effective but we never want that to be a barrier. So major goals are raising money for scholarships and identifying ways to adapt the model such that people can be more easily introduced to what we offer and therefore become more willing to make the time commitment required.
Rapid growth in recent years (including expansion to multiple international sites) has created challenges in terms of resource and capacity. It also brings the exciting challenge of adapting to new cultures.
This ministry is personally rewarding in many ways. The people, the places, and the experiences. Traveling to be with Academy communities where I can see and hear the stories of God’s work in people’s lives and communities is very rewarding. I continue to be awed by the ways the Spirit shows up in people’s lives. It’s something you never get used to!
Again, the relationships nourish my spirit. Many have become very important and life-giving. The spiritual life is all about relationships after all. Through this ministry, I have developed a number of soul friends who have cared for me and helped me grow as a human and follower of Jesus.
Many people don’t understand that The Upper Room and The Academy are financially self-sustaining. We do not receive funding from UMC apportionment dollars or any other denominational body. In addition, every Academy is subsidized by The Upper Room because we don’t charge as much as it costs to run the program. The Academy is quite literally a gift from The Upper Room to the ecumenical church.
I’d also like for folks to be aware of an upcoming Two-Year Academy (#39) that begins in July near Philadelphia (click here for more information). This is the first Two-Year Academy in PA so it’s a great opportunity for people in the northeastern part of the country. We are currently accepting applications.