I’m back! I’m dusting off this site after a couple of years because I will be retiring from pastoral ministry in 3 weeks. After 35+ years as a pastor, I will be able to focus on other things. Things, I believe, God is leading me to.

My main area of focus in retirement will be expanding my ability to coach and provide spiritual direction. Actually, I will be spending most of my time focusing on formation.

I believe spiritual formation isn’t just important; it is vital for living the life God has created us for. Formation is not a self-help program, but rather an intentional moving toward alignment with God.

Through Formative Spirituality, Fr. Dr. Adrian van Kaam taught how we can be formed so that our life is aligned with God. He also taught what gets in the way of finding that consonance.

Van Kaam originated a science, anthropology, and theology of formation to provide a precise diagnosis of what creates dissonance within us and how we can move to consonance. If all this sounds confusing, hang on; I plan on unpacking it over time.

Van Kaam’s work has fascinated me ever since I had a class with Dr. Susan Muto during my doctoral work. It has helped me in ministry, coaching, and spiritual direction. It is accurate to say that his work and insights have changed my life, for the better.

His work is deep, and sometimes hard to understand. My hope is to help those who have felt something was misaligned but couldn’t name it. I desire that they find a deeper, closer relationship with God by understanding how we are designed by God to be formed by and in God’s love. The goal is to find alignment and peace with God and in life.

So, in the future, this site will focus on helping others understand how God has formed, reformed, and transformed them. My hope is that you will join me on this journey. Stay subscribed. Read the posts, post comments, and let’s discover the beautiful formation of God.

I may be quiet for the next few weeks, but once I’m retired, I plan on posting more. Until then, a question: What would you like me to tackle first?