The Center for Courage & Renewal’s “Soul of Aging” Formation Leadership Training
Are you a formation leader in your church looking for a high quality model of discipleship for aging and senior adults?
Be a part of this inaugural Cohort of 20 who will lead the way for Aging and Senior Adult Ministry in our diocesan life together.
The Offices of Formation in the Diocese of Texas and the Diocese of West Texas are hosting a leadership training in partnership with the Center for Courage & Renewal.
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Interest Meeting
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Lent 2026
First Session
Feb. 19, 2026
Lent 2026
Mondays
March 2026
May 2026
Camp Allen
May 12-14, 2026
*Training provided by creators of Soul of Aging
The training will focus on getting certified to lead the Soul of Aging model using Circles of Trust principles as developed by Parker J. Palmer, and it will specifically prepare leaders to engage in discipleship with senior adults in their congregations and communities.
Find out more about the training and curriculum below!
Registration Fee: $350
(this fee is shared between you and your church)
If you have an ASA under 50, you’re cost is $50
Total Cost is $1750 per person; however, $1400 is paid through generous scholarships and grant funding.
Meet the Trainers!
Caryl Casbon, Co-Creator of Soul of Aging
Facilitator, Educator, Author
Trinity Episcopal, Santa Barbara
Georgia Noble, Ed.D., MFT, Co-Creator of Soul of Aging
Marriage and Family Therapist
Spiritual Director in the Episcopal Church over ten years
Mona West, Ph.D., Trainer and Leader in Soul of Aging
30 years experience as an educator and current Sr. Instructor at Seminary of the Southwest
St. David’s Episcopal, Austin
What are people saying about the Soul of Aging?
Shelley, Parishioner in the Diocese of Texas
“We want you to know how much The Soul of Aging has impacted us. The lessons we learned have affected how we are approaching retirement, and we are so grateful.”
Suzanna, Director of Christian Formation in the Diocese of West Texas
“Christian Formation does not end at a certain age or stage and the last third of life can be a time of meaningful spiritual growth. As our Wisdom Years community states, ‘In the last third of our lives we are invited to walk a deeper path as we participate in the full ripening of our souls’…The soul of aging can be a way for your congregation to help those in this stage of life to deepen their spirituality.”
A discipleship course based on Parker J. Palmer’s A Hidden Wholeness…
Many elders today are from a generation of seekers. We meditate, go on retreat, do yoga, engage in service work, and search for the true meaning of spiritual awakening. We sense the immense potential of our aging to “wake us up” as nothing has before. As we age there is a natural movement toward interiority, reflection, and making peace with our past.
We yearn to grasp what life has been all about and to come as fully alive as we possibly can before we die, which includes claiming unlived parts of ourselves, creative endeavors, thoughtful shadow work, and a deeper commitment to inner life work and our relationship with God.
The Courage & Renewal Soul of Aging program is designed for small group ministry programs where congregants yearn to explore these topics together and to understand, surrender to, and be transformed by the aging process.
Overview of Soul of Aging
Session One: Calling in the Ancestors: Visions of Aging
We begin with an introduction to how aging is a time of change and diminishment but also a rich time when our inner life calls; there are enormous opportunities for growth, learning, and discovery.
Session Two: Spiritual Formation Across the Lifecycle: Living Into the Soul’s Calling
In this second session we explore our spiritual formation across the lifecycle. Knowing that our vision can be clearer looking back, we take time to reflect on some of the major lessons learned along the way and where God has been present on our journey.
Session Three: The Courage to Name and Claim Your Unlived Life
In our third session we explore the notion of “your unlived life” or the qualities and commitments you may not have found time for in your younger years that are calling out for attention and care now.
Session Four: Pathways to Wholeness
In this session we work with an essay by Parker J. Palmer called “Fierce with Reality” that invites us to have the courage to face the darker side of our natures and the potential riches found through “shadow work.”
Session Five: Truth and Forgiveness: The Call to Completion
This session offers the opportunity to make peace with aspects of the past, including some of the people and situations where we hold regrets and resentments and where there is the need for forgiveness and healing.
Session Six: Enlightenment in Slow Motion
In this session we explore some of the spiritual gifts that come with aging like the emergence of greater compassion and gratitude, along with ways to nurture and support the natural deepening of the spiritual dimension of our lives.
Session Seven: Stories of Divestment: The Foreign Currency of Change
In this session we share our stories of loss, grief, and renewal as we lift up some of the inevitable changes and divestments that are a normal part of the currency of aging.
Session Eight: The Wisdom of Living In Deep Time
In this session we reflect on the power of our changing awareness of time as we age, and the different qualities of the ways we occupy time.
Session Nine: The Final Stage of Growth
In this session we consider the importance of doing our “spiritual homework,” in preparation for our own deaths while we are still vital and able to do so, in the embrace of a trusting community.
Session Ten: Generativity, Legacy, and Harvesting Our Lives
In this, our final, session we look at the gifts, experiences, abilities, and wisdom gained over a lifetime and the opportunity to listen for where our deepest values and passions expressed themselves.
Formation 