Certificate in Spiritual Leadership Formation
Applications Open August 10, 2026
Join the Program Interest List today to receive your application when enrollment opens.
Changed leaders change cultures.
Christian leadership is not simply a matter of technique, management, or influence. It is a theological and spiritual vocation, shaped by discernment, Scripture, community, self-knowledge, and faithful participation in the work God is already doing.
CHORD Leadership Center's Certificate in Spiritual Leadership Formation is a two-year journey of spiritual development, theological reflection, practical ministry training, and meaningful community for spiritual leaders. It is designed especially for experienced leaders — for those ready to deepen their walk with God, grow in spiritual maturity, and expand their capacity to lead with wisdom, humility, and faithful presence.
Applications Open August 10–December 15, 2026
What is the Certificate in Spiritual Leadership Formation?
Participants move through a rhythm of in-person retreats, guided study, spiritual practices, small-group formation, and honest reflection on their own leadership context.
The Certificate begins with the person of the leader, the communities leaders inhabit, and the larger story of God in which all leadership takes shape. Formation, not mastery, is the goal.
Three movements hold the program together:
Being: Who am I becoming as a spiritual leader?
Knowing: How do I understand Scripture, formation, community, and leadership?
Doing: How do I faithfully lead in my unique ministry context?
Leadership, in this frame, is not primarily technique, management, or influence. It is a formative, relational, theological reality — something that happens to a person as much as something a person does.
Why Now?
Spiritual leadership today faces enormous complexity, and few leaders are given the space to sit with the questions that matter most:
What does spiritual maturity really look like?
How do I minister faithfully as a seasoned leader?
What kind of leader am I becoming?
How do I model the spiritual life I hope to see in my community?
How do I lead with presence instead of pressure?
This Certificate was not built to answer those questions quickly. It was built so leaders could live inside them, together, for two years.
Who is this for?
The Certificate in Spiritual Leadership Formation is designed for leaders who desire to be lifelong learners, especially those who have already been serving for some time and sense the need for renewal, depth, and continued development. The greatest requirement is a desire for growth.
This may be a good fit for leaders asking:
I have been leading for years, but how do I keep growing?
How do I deepen my own spiritual maturity?
How do I lead from a healthier and more grounded place?
How do I minister faithfully in this season of life?
How do I help form others without neglecting my own development?
What is God doing with me in this season?
This journey is for leaders willing to slow down, reflect deeply, listen honestly, and be formed in community.
CHORD welcomes
spiritual leaders who serve in a wide variety of roles and capacities to apply.
Evangelists
Women’s Minister Leaders
Elders
Church Shepherds
Deacons
Teachers
Volunteer Leaders
Community Servants
What makes this Certificate different:
Holistic Formation | Leadership is treated as more than a set of competencies; the program attends to heart, mind, relationships, Scripture, community, and ministry practice together, not as separate tracks.
Cohort-Based Journey | Growth happens in community. Participants journey with a cohort of fellow leaders from diverse contexts, meeting in small groups every other week throughout the program.
Spiritual Formation | Prayer, silence, reflection, journaling, guided practices, Scripture, and communal discernment are integrated throughout.
Practical Leadership Development | Change takes time. The program is built as a two-year journey because deep and lasting formation does not happen quickly.
Long-Term Transformation | Changed leaders change cultures. Participants learn how their self-differentiated spiritual presence transforms the community they lead.
Our Two Year Journey
The Certificate in Spiritual Leadership Formation moves through three retreats and four semesters over two years. Each semester runs ten weeks, with weekly teaching, readings, reflection, small-group participation, and guided practices. Small groups meet every other week online.
The retreats are not information-heavy intensives. They are built as space to slow down, listen, pray, reflect, discern, and respond.
Retreat & Semester Themes:
SUMMER 2027 RETREAT — Spiritual Identity
Before strategy or technique, this retreat asks a simpler question: who am I before God? Participants begin with self-knowledge, attending to an identity grounded in being known and loved rather than role, performance, or achievement.
FALL 2027 SEMESTER — Being Formed: Calling, Cost, & Vocation
This semester traces calling as something received rather than achieved, then asks what it costs to live one out. Participants explore Scripture, giftedness, and the image of a cup to be received, lived, and offered.
SPRING 2028 SEMESTER —The Spiritual Journey: Formation, Wilderness, & Maturity
Following the arc of the spiritual life from early formation through the wilderness and into deeper maturity, this semester treats disruption as formative rather than accidental, inviting surrender, integration, and a life increasingly shared in community.
SUMMER 2028 RETREAT — The Crucible of Leadership
A threshold retreat, not an intensive. Building on the previous semester's spiritual journey, participants slow down to sit, not just study, within disorientation and testing before turning toward Scripture's larger story of leadership.
FALL 2028 SEMESTER — Leadership in the Story of God
Tracing leadership across the whole of Scripture, from creation and the patriarchs through judges and kings, to its complete reframing in Christ and the shared, Spirit-led leadership of the early church, shaped by God's story rather than ambition.
SPRING 2029 SEMESTER— Systems, Presence, & Prophetic Imagination
Attention turns outward to the communities leaders serve, understood as living systems shaped by anxiety and reactivity. Participants learn a non-anxious, differentiated presence and the prophetic imagination to name what is false and envision what God is doing.
SUMMER 2029 RETREAT— Faithfulness to an Embodied Vision
Participants notice what has taken root across two years and consider what it means to remain faithful, sustaining vision through practices, presence, and lived response over time. Changed leaders change cultures.
Engaging Topics Such as:
Calling & Vocation · The Cost of Leadership · Spiritual Anthropology & Self-Knowledge · Faith Communities as Living Systems · Leadership in the Story of God · Leadership Reframed in Christ · Stages of Spiritual Development — Early, Wilderness, Maturity · Reimagining Community & Discernment · Systems, Anxiety & Leadership Presence · Non-Anxious Presence & Integration · Prophetic Imagination · Faithfulness & Embodied Vision
Open Houses
We will be hosting two online open houses to share about the program and answer questions. If you are unable to make either of these, email Beth at bpocta@chord.org to receive a recording of the events.
Application Process
Join the Program Interest List today to receive your application when enrollment opens. Applications open August 10, 2026 and close December 15, 2026.
Our application will invite participants to reflect on their ministry context, leadership journey, spiritual formation, and desire to participate in the program. Applicants should expect to provide: basic contact & church information, current leadership role & experience, short and long-form responses, a reflection on why they want to participate, two recommendations. The application is designed to help CHORD discern cohort fit, readiness, and desire for formation.
Available Languages:
The first CHORD Leadership Center cohort is English-only. All program communications—course materials, live sessions, emails, and peer discussions—will be in English, therefore, an advanced to fluent level is required. We recognize this limits access for now, and we're actively exploring ways to open future cohorts to more languages.
Application Selection:
Decisions for the first cohort will be made and communicated on a rolling basis as applications are reviewed, until the cohort reaches capacity. We encourage interested applicants to apply early, as the program may fill before the application deadline.
Program Cost
Our desire is to make the Certificate in Spiritual Leadership Formation accessible to leaders, churches, and ministry contexts with varying financial realities.
Churches are encouraged to consider this program as an investment in the long-term formation and health of their leaders.
Pricing information will be included when application is sent out. Please join our Interest List to be sent an application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions or want to learn more? Please reach out to Beth Pocta, Assistant Director of the CHORD Leadership Center.
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All applicants must add their name to the Program Interest List to be sent an application to apply.
Please reach out to apply@chord.org with any further questions. -
Seasoned church leaders who desire deeper spiritual formation alongside practical leadership development. This includes elders, evangelists, teachers, women’s ministry leaders, ministry staff, and other non-fulltime leaders seeking continued growth and renewal.
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Participants can expect approximately 4–6 hours per week during each 10 week semester which will include weekly teaching, reading, guided practices, written reflection, and bi-weekly small group participation.
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The two-year program includes:
Three in-person retreats (four days each + travel)
Four 10-week online semesters which include:
Weekly teaching videos
Guided spiritual practices
Bi-weekly small groups
Online discussion and reflection
Integrative assignments connected to your ministry context
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BOTH! All retreats will be in person. The semesters will be online.
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Yes. Participants who complete the program will receive a CHORD Certificate in Spiritual Leadership Formation.
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The cost will be all-inclusive for the two-year program (meals, facilities, and programming for retreats in addition to the cost for teachers, tech, and materials). The only remaining cost will be books and travel expenses to the retreat.
Pricing information will be included when application is sent out. Please join our Interest List to be sent an application. -
Applications include basic information about your ministry context, several short reflection questions, and two recommendations. Our goal is to build a cohort of leaders who are eager to grow, learn, and participate fully in the two-year journey.
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With international participants, visa considerations significantly influence retreat location. The first retreat in summer 2027 will be held outside of Milan, Italy.
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The first cohort will consist of 25 men and 25 women.
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The first CHORD Leadership Center cohort is English-only. All program communications—course materials, live sessions, emails, and peer discussions—will be in English, therefore, an advanced to fluent level is required. We recognize this limits access for now, and we're actively exploring ways to open future cohorts to more languages.
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Applications will be accepted August 10, 2026 through December 15, 2026.
Application will be filled out online in a Google Form
You will be asked to submit two recommendation letters
Each applicant will be interviewed
Decisions for the first cohort will be made and communicated on a rolling basis as applications are reviewed, until the cohort reaches capacity. We encourage interested applicants to apply early, as the program may fill before the application deadline.
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Beth Pocta is the Associate Director of the CHORD Leadership Center and will be handling further questions. You can reach her at bpocta@chord.org.