holy wisdom theological
A progressive institute for religious studies and spiritual enrichment.
About Holy Wisdom Theological
Holy Wisdom is a religious institute of higher learning that prepares participants to become ordained priests in the unbroken lineage of Apostolic Succession. Candidates for ordination are required to demonstrate competence in the following core areas: comparative religions and traditions, interfaith dialogue, ethics, liturgy, mysticism, pastoral care studies, psychology, and theology, christology & religious studies.
Our seminary is a distance-learning program. Students complete courses through correspondence. Upon completion of the seminary program sequence, seminarians are awarded a Licentiate of Ministry.
Who can enter the program?
The particulars are simple. You must be 18 years of age or older, male or female, married or single. You must be in good health, of sound mind, and demonstrate spiritual maturity. That’s the simple part. The more difficult part is a matter of discernment between you, God, and the spiritual community you wish to be a part of. If you are not sure that you have a calling to the Ordained Ministry, ask yourself if
any of the following apply to you:
– A deep desire to have union with God or the divine.
– A craving for prayer and sacrament.
– A long felt unnamed desire to be complete.
– A longing to be of service to your community and world.
– A desire for the sacred and mystical.
If many of the above resonate with you, you may have a calling to the ordained ministry.
Important Notice
Entrance into Holy Wisdom is open. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability. Candidates should know that clergy in our church are responsible for their own ministries. Neither the Church nor does the Seminary provide salaries or stipends for clergy. While the Seminary attempts to prepare candidates for ordination, candidates should also know that the final decision about their suitability for ordination is made in consultation with the Rector of the Seminary, and the bishop of the diocese in which the seminarian canonically resides.
Completion of all required classes does not guarantee ordination. While studying with the Seminary is based off of a distance learning format, you must be physically present with an authorized Bishop of the church to receive valid Apostolic ordination, through the process of “laying-on-of-hands”.
Program Sequence
Students may set their own pace of study. Students may take as many courses at a time as they feel comfortable with. When a student undertakes a course, however, it must be completed within three months. Petitions for extension may be submitted to the Dean of the Seminary. After six months of inactivity, students are automatically dropped from the Seminary – all tuition paid being non-refundable.
Candidates with prior training or competence may apply for advanced standing. In addition, recognition of personal competence from prior accomplishments or life experiences outside of formal education may be granted. If a student feels, based off of previous life experience, they can demonstrate competency in a
required Seminary course they have the option of requesting an advanced standing evaluation.
Requests for advanced standing should be submitted to the Rector of the Seminary, along with supporting documentation such as transcripts, certificates, or any other pertinent documents from an accredited institution of higher education, including an essay outlining their previous life experience and why they feel they have mastered that area of study. Upon completion of the Holy Wisdom Seminary program, the seminarian will have completed approximately 174 Credit Hours of interfaith, theological, and pastoral studies. Upon completion of all studies, with tuition paid in full for all courses taken, you will be issued a
Licentiate of Ministry.
Personal Formation
The path towards ordination as an Apostolic priest begins with you – with a sense of calling that you may have experienced saying, “This is what I was born to do.”
Perhaps you have had inner whisperings since childhood that have spoken to your heart, mind, and whole being. Some call this voice “God,” hearing it in a church or temple. You may hear the voice in the silence as you sit on your meditation cushion—a voice that says, “Serve with compassion.”
Your moment of calling may have been experienced hiking up a mountain and feeling the wind tugging at your soul. Your life may have been touched in some way by a clergy person of your own faith, or by a person from a faith totally different from your own.
The seminary and ordination program is designed to be compatible with your mundane work and life. The seminary program lasts for a minimum of two years, with the added flexibility to work at your own speed. Candidates from independent religious jurisdictions not affiliated with the Seminary must have their local bishop’s approval before registering with the school.
While no prior college experience is required for entrance into the Seminary, an Associate’s degree or other foundational degree in any field is preferred. Clergy formation is supervised by the Rector of the school in consultation with spiritual directors that are assigned to the student, as well as with the bishop from the
diocese in which the student canonically resides.