2023-2024 Formation Communities participants at their opening rule of life retreat. (Photo: Sangeon Kim)
In the midst of a busy seminary life, what does it mean to live intentionally? Candler offers many ways to help students build a life lived with spiritual, emotional, and relational intention. There are worship services, prayer retreats, workshops, coursework, and shared meals. But for some students, Candler’s contribution to the quest for intentional living begins at home.
Candler’s Formation Communities program places intentionality at the heart of the student experience. For the last five years, it’s given groups of Candler students the opportunity to live intentionally and in community with one another, providing a path for spiritual formation alongside peers. Community members can choose how intentional living works best for them: living with other Candler students in a residential community, living separately but gathering often with community members, or—for those in hybrid degree programs—conducting community life entirely online.
No matter how participants connect, the program is rooted in the rhythms of monastic life. Each community gathers at the beginning of the fall semester to create a charism—a shared focus—and a “rule of life,” or a picture of what shared life will look like together. The Formation Communities program provides each group with a house chaplain for spiritual formation and a student rector for everyday leadership and facilitation.
Both incoming and current students can apply to be part of a Candler Formation Community—residential or nonresidential—by April 15, 2024.
(From left) Tess Welch, Kwon Hosey, and Heidi Greenwood Doell
We spoke to a few current students about their life in a formation community and how it has deepened their seminary experience.
What drew you to live in a formation community?
Tess Welch, second-year MDiv student and member of L’Arche Friendship House: “First, I was excited about the specific charism of Friendship House around disability inclusion. Second, moving to Atlanta was pretty intimidating, but the idea of having people to go through life with made it easier to swallow.”
How does your community enrich your Candler experience?
Kwon Hosey, first-year MTS student and member of Tubman-Thurman-Tutu House: “It gives me something safe and fulfilling to return to. After a long day or week, my house isn’t just where I lay my head, but I trust it will pour back into me what I emptied myself of that week.”
What does it mean to do community online?
Heidi Greenwood Doell, third-year MDiv student and Hybrid House student rector: “Hybrid House is comprised of people serving in ministry in eight states. We have developed a rule and rhythm of life that keeps us connected day-to-day. We meet every week via Zoom for meals, fellowship, worship, study, and celebrations. We also have a designated prayer time every week when we go to prayer as a community—wherever we are. We share an ongoing text chat and reach out to each other anytime and anywhere. And occasionally some of us have had the opportunity to meet in person at Candler! We can connect face-to-face no matter where we are, and we connect heart-to-heart in word, deed, thought, and prayer every day.”
What makes your house unique?
Kwon Hosey: “Being a house with Black students who all have unique Black experiences that range from that of an international Black student to a guy from Tampa, Florida. The way we all interact, love, cook, and even live on a daily basis is what speaks to a sense of diversity in our already unique home.”
What would you say to a prospective student who’s thinking of joining a formation community?
Tess Welch: “First, I would cheekily say, live in a formation community! But outside that, I would encourage prospective students to step out of their comfort zone. It’s important to try new things, especially in this time of discerning and going to seminary.”
Kwon Hosey: “Know yourself. Know what you want in a community as well as what you bring. Allow yourself to be changed and keep showing up.”
Heidi Greenwood Doell: “Don’t wait. Get connected and stay connected. Open yourself to a community experience. Your return will be greater than your investment, and your life as a student, a minister, and a child of God will be heartened through your house relationships. Your heart will be ‘strangely warmed.’”
Apply to be part of a Candler formation community.
Learn more about formation communities at Candler.
Story photos: Bernadette Naro