Spirituality and Aging

Welcome to Spirituality and Aging Certificate Program (SACP)!  Our hope for students engaging in this journey of exploration into spirituality and aging is twofold. First, we hope the program will deepen students' understanding of spiritual opportunities and challenges in older adulthood.  And, secondly, that moved to impact their own communities, students leave empowered to implement a well-planned project solidly rooted in a conceptualization of spirituality and aging developed through the course of the program. 

The SACP begins with an orientation retreat that sets the tone for the work ahead as it draws students’ attention to spirituality and aging through meditations, discussions, and relationship-building.  In addition to setting the overall tone for the SACP, the orientation retreat provides students with an overview of the program as well as its goals and expectations, including the readings, reflection papers, and project exercises.  Designed to get students off to a solid start, the orientation retreat offers ample opportunities for students to ask questions of the faculty members who will serve as their mentors.

Following the retreat, students progress through four courses, with one-month intervals between the retreat and each course to complete the assigned work.  Courses progress sequentially so that each builds on the previous, with content delivered in two parallel tracks. One track focuses on the intersection of spirituality and aging and the other on the knowledge and skills to create an implementation-ready project.   Throughout the program, students work in a step-by-step fashion to develop a project that (a) is tailored to each student’s personal or professional context, and (b) will result in greater attention to the spiritual needs of older adults.