Spiritual Direction Seminars

Looking up to the branches and fall leaves of a tall tree. The leaves are colored yellow, red, and green.

“What I gained from this course was beyond my expectations. Though I was excited coming in, it far exceeded what I could have expected.” — Brian D. Johnson (Spiritual Guidance Seminar 2016–17) 

AMBS offers three courses for those who want to become spiritual directors or to make spiritual guidance a part of their ministry. Whether you’re just beginning your work as a spiritual director or honing your skills after years of ministry, our supervised courses will help you pay attention to your inner assumptions, issues, and biases that could damage the relationship between you and your directees. 

Dan Schrock, DMin, will guide you to cultivate and nurture your skills in each of these three seminars, where you will join a community of learners to explore practices that shape your understanding of spiritual companionship.

Spiritual Direction: Foundations

Green leaf with a water droplet

Spiritual Direction: Foundations is the first level of our supervised program for those who want to become spiritual directors or to make spiritual direction a part of their ministry. It’s offered each year, fully online or in hybrid format (with classwork both online and on campus).

Spiritual Direction: Mystery and Spiritual Direction: Wisdom

Green plant rolled within itself

Spiritual Direction: Mystery and Spiritual Direction: Wisdom are the next level of our supervised program for those who want to become spiritual directors or to make spiritual guidance a part of their ministry. Spiritual Direction: Mystery and Spiritual Direction: Wisdom are offered on alternating years. You can take one or both parts in any order.

Dan Schrock, DMin

Dan SchrockAll spiritual direction courses are taught by Dan Schrock, DMin, who has 25 years of experience as a spiritual director. Schrock is co-editor (with Marlene Kropf) of An Open Place: The Ministry of Group Spiritual Direction (Morehouse, 2012) and author of The Dark Night: A Gift of God (Herald, 2009). He received a Doctor of Ministry degree with an emphasis in Christian Spirituality from Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is a member of Spiritual Directors International and has completed a year-long practicum in supervising spiritual directors from Together in the Mystery. For 30 years, he served as a pastor in three lively Mennonite congregations. 

Read more about how Dan applies spiritual direction in his own life in this blog post he wrote for Mennonite Church USA: "Spiritual direction doctors my spirit."

What do past students have to say about our seminars?

"The seminar increased my confidence in my own abilities. It increased my awareness of the presence of God and how to help others have an increased awareness of the presence of God." — Christine Friedel (Advanced Spiritual Guidance Seminar 2017–18)

"Through this seminar, I'm becoming a better listener both to the Holy Spirit and to others. I gained experiences, and now an expectation, that the Spirit will 'show up' in unexpected ways. Finally, I saw that the 'desert' times in life are and can be a source of great growth." — Anne Perkins Munley (Advanced Spiritual Guidance Seminar 2017–18)

"The best part of this seminar was the experiential learning component. Almost from day one we were engaging in the practice of Spiritual Guidance. I feel much better prepared to continue practicing Spiritual Direction than I would have after a course that was more focused on theory." — Brian D. Johnson (Spiritual Guidance Seminar 2016–17)