Five years in the making, The Upper Room Ministries' Academy for Spiritual Formation (www.upperroom.org/academy) got its start when Morris was seeking a sabbatical experience that would allow for much-needed spiritual renewal.
If he were to go on this spiritual journey, he would have to invent it. And that is just what he spent his sabbatical doing -- creating the Academy for Spiritual Formation, which is widely touted as a place where people can meet God.
Begun in 1983, the Academy today is a setting that is spiritually shaped around teaching, fellowship, Communion and prayer. Some 1200 people have attended the two-year academy and another 10,000 have participated in the five-day experience.
"The idea of [the Academy] was a spiritual gift. I received it that way and I honored it that way all the way through. The fact that it would attract this many people over this length of time is not because it was cleverly organized; it was a spiritually anointed program from the very beginning and still is," said Morris, former director of Developing Ministries at the General Board of Discipleship.
Danny was looking for an immediate refresher course that focused on spirituality and prayer. Well-known author in the field of spiritual formation Dr. Morton Kelsey, one of the spiritual gurus at the time, told Morris that he couldn't find what he wanted anywhere in the country; he advised Morris to find a spiritual guide who would help him design a study and guide him through it. And that's what he did.
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| John Mogabgab |
"Danny was a receptive soul to the movement of the Spirit. This vision was a gift, and Danny was primed to receive it. Danny took the vision and shaped it into a program," said John Mogabgab, editor of Weavings journal.
Intended for both clergy and laity, the Academy communicates knowledge about Christian spiritual formation and offers a context in which to experience diverse dimensions of spirituality, first-hand.
"The word 'academy' means learning experience itself. It suggests comprehensiveness in terms of depth and breadth.
The term 'academy' was with me almost from the beginning, and it has turned out to be a good word," said Morris.
Over a three-month period, Morris would talk with a wide cross section of people in houses of prayer, monastic communities, and churches (large and small). He found that there were many people who wanted the same thing as he.
"All kinds of people were seeking a comprehensive program of spiritual formation that would be solidly biblically based, theologically strong, ecumenical in its underpinning and also in its appeal to people," Morris said.
From the beginning, and even today, it was important for the Academy to be designed for both clergy and lay people.
Morris designed an Academy experience for people who were serious enough about their spiritual journey and who would move into it in a rather dramatic way, because it was a two-year program where people came together once a quarter for two years, read 28-30 books, engaged in small covenant groups, spent time alone in prayer, and developed personal ministry plans to implement when they returned home.
"They had covenant groups that they met with when they came together. The emphasis was on body, mind, and spirit. There was a physical fitness dimension to it and a nutritional dimension. It met all those needs as well because it had to be comprehensive, biblically based, and well grounded, and it has met all those targets," said Morris.
"I felt a sense that there ought to be spiritual 'feeder-pens' in the life of the church, that people could come to those specific places to get spiritual nourishment and to grow into the likeness of Christ in their own way and on their own time.
Spiritually, that's what we are trying to do with people. The Academy brings people together and nourishes them. It offers them spiritual nourishment, comprehensively, that they could not get any other place," Morris said.
There Were Many People on the Journey
While Danny was the originator, along the way many people made contributions to the development of the Academy and gave it direction; Danny was not a "lone ranger" in its development.
Prior to joining The Upper Room, John Mogagab was very instrumental in shaping and directing the Academy. And long before Stephen Bryant became world editor of The Upper Room, he was a participant in the first Academy in 1983 and later became director of the popular "Walk to Emmaus" before moving up the ladder to world editor, according to Morris.
"This was a very big idea. It was a large-scale project. Upper Room staff saw that the idea was a good one and stood behind it," said John Mogabgab, who served on the leadership team for the first academy.
A researcher and teaching assistant to the renowned author and lecturer, Father Henri Nouwen, Mogabgab was uniquely instrumental in shaping the curriculum. In addition, he continues to serve on the advisory board of distinguished ecumenical leaders.
Initially, some participants consisted of hand-picked potential leadership teams from annual (regional) conferences with the idea that they would replicate the academy in various parts of the country.
"This was thought to be a wonderful way to resource the church," said Mogabgab, who views Weavings journal as a print expression of the Academy. He says that Weavings (which celebrated its 20th anniversary year in 2006) and the Academy are siblings.
Today, the Academy targets clergy and lay leaders who are serious seekers and desiring to grow in relation to God, and it provides them with a small group of spiritual friends to make the journey.
The Academy has had diverse participants over the years, including Catholic nuns. Many participants have gone on to become bishops, district superintendents, spiritual directors, and writers.
The Academy has remained strong and has grown more viable through the years because of the body of content or curriculum that was formulated in the beginning -- and at the time that was blessed by the Holy Spirit.
"This is a wonderful gift to the church. The Academy's greatest impact has been in identifying the importance of spiritual formation in the central consciousness of the church," said John Mogabgab.
Spiritual formation was still on the edge when Mogabgab entered the picture. He credits The Upper Room for being poised to help the church to see how central spiritual formation was to its life and witness.
"The Academy taps into what Wesley was doing in the early days of what became the Methodist Church in terms of the way people worship together and in how they design and lead small groups. It has had a significant impact," said Mogabgab.
Strong, Continuous Leadership
Over these 25 years, the Academy -- created under Ezra Earl Jones, former general secretary for the General Board of Discipleship -- has had only two directors and two secretaries. It has had great stability thanks to The Upper Room.
Bishop Rueben Job, then editor and publisher of the Upper Room, was the Academy's first retreat master. He was elected bishop during the first Academy.
"The Academy has become an oasis of God's sustaining grace for all who, through its ministry, have sought a better, more faithful, and fulfilling way of living," said Job writing in the foreword to Rhythm and Fire: Experiencing the Holy in Community and Solitude (Upper Room Books, 2008), which will be presented at the finale event in Alabama in June.
The Academy has an advisory board that is tremendously knowledgeable and loyal to the process. The board offers guidance to the whole movement but is not involved in any one specific academy.
"The wisdom of the design, curriculum, worship, rhythm of daily life, emphasis on holy and holistic living, and the selection of the leadership was no accident. Rather, it resulted from a several-years-long experiment in disciplined discernment, carefully and prayerfully designed and directed by Danny Morris. He gathered around him faithful seekers with a rich variety of backgrounds, skills, and experiences," said Job.
Each Academy has a five- or six-person leadership team that has completed the two-year model.
"They know the model and trust the model and keep the model true to itself," Mogabgab says of the leadership team.
This has been a formative experience rather than one shaped by the desires of any single individual along the way. Catholics and Protestants have been involved from the start.
"Many busy people said, 'yes' to Danny. Evangelicals and Pentecostals said, 'Yes. I want to help.' This was work of a very high quality. This was an enormous gift," Mogabgab said.
Seminal Experience of Their Life
Thousands of people have participated in either two-year or five-day academies held around the USA.
Many participants say that the Academy is a seminal experience that informs how they assimilate and proclaim their faith.
Many long for their faith communities to be like the Academy -- a setting where they found a depth of community they had never known before.
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| The Rev. Jerry Haas |
"As we look to the future, the model is so well regarded it will be continued in its same form. At the same time we know the context we live in is changing. Because of this, we are challenged to work on new frontiers," said the Rev. Jerry Haas, who completed the Academy in 1992-93.
While participants are extremely affirming of the Academy, it leaves people with what Haas calls a "kingdom itch," a restless feeling that the church and the world can be different.
"This restlessness has led to a sense of "generativity," a desire to create and adapt. There is a sense of the Academy being very fertile and very rich, and it is something people want to share," he says.
Groups like the Hinton Rural Life Center in North Carolina adapted the model for clergy in small church settings.
The model was the primary seedbed for Sankofa, an African American Spirituality Initiative staffed by Tony Peterson of GBOD.
When Charles Gipson, who attended the first Academy, wanted a stronger social justice model, a shorter time period and lower costs, he developed the Academy expansion course, entitled, "The Three-Year Covenant Community Program."
"Having the experience affirmed by people -- clergy and lay, people who arrive burned out or vigorous and ready to go, but need to have their call affirmed, we continue to know the value of what the Academy offers," says Haas.
The Academy is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with gatherings already held in Texas, Wisconsin, and California, and an upcoming three-day retreat, which will be held in Alabama in June.
Pilgrimage: A Journey for the Sake of Others," the finale event for the 25th anniversary, will be held June 23-26, 2008, at Camp Sumatanga, in Gallant, Alabama.
The General Board of Discipleship's mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, GBOD (www.gbod.org) is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, call the Media Relations Office toll free at 877-899-2780, ext. 7017.
