pat loughery

Ever since I finished my coursework at VLI I’ve been very interested in continuing my formal education in spiritual formation. I’ve been most intrigued by the program that Eric Keck, Winn Griffin, Kevin Rains and others are going through, working on a D.Min in emerging culture under Len Sweet. My friend Phil – who really really should blog but doesn’t (yet?) just moved from the Seattle area to Orange County, California to pursue graduate work in spiritual formation. I love that he’s doing that.

But alas, I have only my B.S., VLI is non-accredited, my wife is well underway with her Masters of Finance, I have a 2-year-old and another one due in June that I stay-home and father; and I’m a church planter. Time is not on my side, at least not in the short term.

And then there’s the big question: Why?. Why pursue more education? Why not just read on my own, build a reading group or begin mentoring VLI students or something like that? I can’t verbalize an answer, I just know that I love to learn and really like what I’m hearing about this program. Not just this one; there are others.

So if you will, please pray for me. We need to decide if I can pursue this, and when. Next steps for me would be carving out time, selecting a local program from which to work on my M. Div. (Mars Hill and Fuller both have intriguing possibilities; I wish Regent were closer or offered a distance option).