Explore what it means to live a spiritually balanced, grounded life through this experiential resource designed for those preparing for or engaged in spiritual and religious leadership. In this course, you'll engage themes such as prayer, discernment, healing, liberation, embodiment, and connection to nature and the earth—all through a lens of personal transformation and vocational clarity.
Each module invites you to engage in 20 minutes of spiritual practice per day and includes powerful self-assessment tools like the Wellness Compass, Four Spiritual Paths, and the Enneagram to help you deepen self-awareness and cultivate healthier rhythms of life. You'll explore a variety of spiritual practices, complete readings, and journal your reflections as you grow in emotional and spiritual depth.
The course culminates with a Rule of Life—a personalized framework to help you integrate meaningful practices into your everyday journey as a leader. Whether you’re seeking balance, renewal, or a deeper connection to your calling, this course offers a holistic path forward.
This resource invites you into a meaningful journey of spiritual discovery and personal growth. You’ll explore foundational themes in spiritual formation—such as the role of the body, liberation, wellness, and various forms of prayer—while developing greater self-awareness and intentionality in your spiritual life.
Through reflective exercises and personal inventories, you’ll assess which practices align best with your personality and needs. You’ll also learn how to identify areas for deeper spiritual development and select practices that support holistic well-being.
By the end of the course, you’ll create your own personalized framework for living with greater clarity, balance, and purpose. Whether you’re preparing for ministry or simply seeking to deepen your spiritual rhythm, this course offers practical tools and sacred space for lifelong formation.
The Rev. Dr. Craig Mueller is a pastor, spiritual director, and auxiliary faculty member at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago with more than 30 years of ministry experience. Known for his deep integration of worship, preaching, and spiritual formation, Craig brings a unique blend of pastoral insight and academic expertise to Project Starling. As the developer of Spiritual Formation: Spiritual Practices for Wholehearted Living, he equips emerging leaders and lifelong learners with tools for reflection, healing, and embodied spirituality. His teaching invites learners into practices that foster balance, discernment, and deeper connection with self, others, and the divine.
M1: Spirituality and Spiritual Practices
- MO1: Describe spiritual practices and their role in creating a spiritual identity.
- MO2: Apply your concepts of spirituality and spiritual practices to evaluate the suitability of a spiritual director for your spiritual development.
- MO3: Distinguish between religion and spirituality to determine whether you are spiritual, religious, both, or neither.
- MO4: Evaluate the definitions of spirituality to determine those that resonate most with your life and personal experience.
M2: Prayer and Prayerfulness
- MO1: Differentiate between the concepts of prayer and prayerfulness.
- MO2: Examine the practice of meditation and centering prayer, interpreting their significance and impact on personal spiritual growth.
- MO3: Describe diverse approaches to prayerfulness by expanding on the concept of "praying in all ways".
M3: Healing and Wholeness
- MO1: Interpret various human experiences in need of healing such as grief, loss, trauma and addiction.
- MO2: Analyze the role of spirituality in facilitating and/or supporting healing and wholeness.
- MO3: Evaluate "the practices of journaling and poetry, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.”
- MO4: Construct intersecting identities such as race, sexuality, gender and religion to understand diverse approaches to healing and wholeness.
M4: Liberation
- MO1: Interpret the struggle for liberation and justice as an expression of outward spirituality.
- MO2: Explore the practices of Sabbath, mindful eating and mindfulness, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M5: Body
- MO1: Examine the connection between our bodies and spirituality.
- MO2: Construct a spirituality that integrates body, mind and spirit.
- MO3: Analyze the practices of focusing, massage, yoga and body scans, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M6: Earth
- MO1: Describe a spirituality connected to the earth and the cycle of the seasons and of the cycle of the day.
- MO2: Explore practices connected to nature, such as nature walks, stargazing, and forest bathing, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M7: Discernment
- MO1: Construct a method of discernment to assist you in decision making, drawing on memory, reason, intuition, your body, imagination and nature.
- MO2: Explore practices connected to discernment, such as dreamwork, deep listening, spiritual direction and focusing, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M8: Wellness
- MO1: Interpret the results of your Wellness Self-Assessment.
- MO2: Outline a growth plan for increased balance and wellness in your life.
- MO3: Explain the challenges of wellness in a 24/7 technological society.
- MO4: Examine ancient spiritual practices, such as prayer beads, rosary, icons, labyrinth, and the Jesus prayer, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M9: Interspirituality
- MO1: Demonstrate what it means to have holy envy toward other faiths
- MO2: Distinguish between interfaith dialogue and interspirituality.
- MO3: Examine practices from spiritual traditions outside your own, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M10: Spiritual Paths
- MO1: Define the four spiritual paths (mind, heart, mystic, action).
- MO2: Interpret your results of the Spiritual Paths Inventory within your own context, especially those who are, or are preparing to be, spiritual leaders.
- MO3: Evaluate the Examen, Lectio Divina and other spiritual exercises, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M11: Enneagram
- MO1: Describe your Enneagram type and tools for using it for personal growth and transformation.
- MO2: Outline the basic traits of all Enneagram types.
- MO3: Analyze the use of text-based practices Daily Prayer, scripture, and psalmody, interpreting their significance and impact on spiritual growth.
M12: Rule of Life
- MO1: Define a Rule of Life and its benefits for spiritual growth.
- MO2: Produce your personal Rule of Life, integrating wisdom from the inventories used.
- MO3: Apply practices learned that are most beneficial to you and integrate them into your Rule of Life.
