The Training of Ministers, offered through the Congregation for Sacred Practices’ accredited seminary, combines live didactic training, and online and live community, and deep experiential learning into a rigorous multi-year formation pathway designed to cultivate ethical, cultural, spiritual, and practical excellence. It prepares those called to service to support members of the Congregation in their journey of awakening. Graduates of this program are eligible for licensure as ministers within the Congregation. The Seminary at CSP also offers pathways to Master’s and Doctoral degrees in both Ministry and Entheogenic Studies.

To enter ministry is to answer a call—one that arises from a servant’s heart and an attunement to the subtle movements of Spirit. The Training of Ministers guides students in learning to discern the presence of the Divine in their own lives, to develop spiritual practices that advance their own awakening, and to cultivate the skills required to accompany others along the path with clarity, humility, and compassion.

Among the sacred responsibilities of our ministers is preparing others for entry into, stewardship of, and return from expanded states of consciousness—one of the central sacraments of the Congregation for Sacred Practices. Skillfully holding this sacrament demands deep formation: grounded personal practice, deep presence, and extensive experience. To learn to hold the sacrament for others is its own initiatory journey.

What Makes This Training Distinct

This formation is uniquely defined by six core principles:

1. Ethical, caring relationships as the central vessel of healing and growth
   Grounded relational ethics form the backbone of ministerial integrity and the atmosphere in which transformation becomes possible.
2. Extensive personal experience supporting others in expanded states
   Ministers learn through direct, supervised practice; embodied wisdom is considered essential, not optional.
3. A non-pathologizing, developmental view of the human journey
   We honor both psychological maturation and spiritual unfolding without collapse into clinical reductionism or romanticism.
4. A profound emphasis on preparation and integration
   The ceremony is not an isolated event but a movement within a larger arc of transformation. Ministers become skilled in tending the whole arc.
5. Integration of ancient and indigenous wisdom with modern psychology and emergent spirituality
   Our pedagogy spans lineages, sciences, and contemporary emergence, honoring the perennial streams of human awakening.
6. Unshakeable faith in the human impulse for growth, healing, and wholeness
   We trust the innate orientation toward awakening that lives in every person—and train ministers to meet it with skill, reverence, and steadiness.

The image below provides an overview of the timing and structure of the entire Training Program:

Year 1 is where the journey begins. This first year introduces students to the spiritual foundations, intellectual frameworks, and personal practices that support a life of ministry. It is a gentle but meaningful entry into formation — a year of learning how awakening unfolds, how Spirit moves, and how sacramental work is held with care.

The year is divided into two semesters: The Awakening Path (Fall) and The Embodied Minister (Spring).

Throughout Year 1, students read widely, engage with faculty and peers, begin cultivating personal spiritual practice, and start gaining the ceremonial and experiential preparation required for the work ahead. For many, this year is transformative in its own right: it creates the inner ground from which true ministry can grow.

Fall Semester — The Awakening Path

The Awakening Path introduces students to the landscape of awakening through readings, digital media, faculty discussions, and cohort learning.

Students explore:

• How spiritual awakening unfolds across traditions
• How entheogenic sacraments function within a religious framework
• Personal spiritual practice and contemplative discipline
• The subtle work of attuning to the movement of Spirit

The semester includes a residential retreat weekend designed to deepen personal practice and strengthen the bonds of the cohort.

Fall 2026 Dates

• August 5th
• August 26th
• September 16th
• Residential Weekend: October 1-4
• October 14th
• November 4th
• November 18th
• December 9th
• December 16th

Single dates indicate class on a Wednesday afternoons via Zoom from 9a-12p PT / 12-3pm ET.

Additionally, there will be mandatory Practice Groups each Wednesday following live class meetings from 9-10:30 Pacific / 12-1:30pm Eastern.

Spring Semester — The Embodied Minister

In the Spring, the focus shifts toward embodiment — translating insight into practice and beginning to orient toward service.

Students work both theoretically and experientially to understand:

• How to prepare members for sacramental work
• How to support integration afterward
• How spiritual and psychological development interact
• What it means to hold space with presence and care

Spring 2027 Dates

• February 3rd
• February 17th
• Residential Weekend: February 25-28
• March 10th
• March 24th
• April 7th
• April 21st
• Residential Weekend: May 6-9
• May 19th

Single dates indicate class on Wednesday via Zoom from 9-12:00pm PT / 12-3:00pm ET.

Two residential retreats invite students more deeply into contemplative practice, somatic awareness, skill building, and community connection.

Building Readiness for the Path Ahead

Year 1 unfolds at a thoughtful pace, allowing students to complete any additional ceremonial work required for sacramental training in Year 2. Students may also begin enrolling in electives that will be required later in the program.

To advance into Year 2, students work toward four readiness categories:

1. Individual Ceremony Experience
   A minimum of one year of ceremonial work with a minister or guide, including at least three guided individual sessions with a given sacrament prior to training in that sacrament.
2. Group Ceremony Experience
   Participation in at least two group expanded-state experiences.
3. Counseling / Spiritual Direction
   One year of regular spiritual direction, psychotherapy, counseling, or life coaching (may be concurrent with Year 1).
4. Readiness Assessment
   Faculty assess whether students are sufficiently grounded, mature, and prepared to move into sacramental formation and support others in expanded states.

A Year of Orientation and Discovery

Year 1 establishes the intellectual, spiritual, and experiential groundwork for ministerial formation. It allows students to orient themselves toward the ritual and sacramental life of the Congregation and to undertake the necessary personal work that prepares them to support others in the sacramental field.

Year 1 is an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and discover whether ministry is truly your calling. It gives students the time and space to explore the path inward before stepping into service outward — a rhythm that has shaped ministers for centuries.

Applications are now open for the Fall 2026 Semester!

We’re excited to announce a new scholarship opportunity for our Training of Ministers and Bridge programs. If you or someone you know may be a good fit for the program but cost is an inhibiting factor, we’re now offering up to a 25% reduction in tuition. The scholarship application will be shared in program acceptance letters.

 

Want to learn more? We hosted an open house on February 9th, 2026. Click the button below and enter the passcode HHJsc.=6 to view

In Year 2, students enter the heart of ministerial formation: the ceremonial and sacramental life of the Congregation. This is the year where knowledge becomes practice, where calling becomes skill, and where students begin to step into the role of minister in a tangible and embodied way.

Year 2 is a full year of experiential learning divided into two semesters: Heart Openers (Fall) and Niños (Spring).

Throughout the year, students deepen their vocational path through faculty-led seminars, supervised group practice, regular mentorship, and continued individual ceremonial work. For many students, this is one of the most transformative periods of the entire training.

Learning to Hold the Sacramental Field

Ceremony is not performance — it is care. Over the course of the year, students learn how to hold the sacramental container with skill, sensitivity, and ethical clarity.

Training includes:

• Building ceremonial space and atmosphere
• Preparation and integration practices that support real transformation
• Supporting a range of psychological, somatic, and spiritual processes in expanded states
• Determining appropriate dosing and timing
• Medical and safety considerations
• Ethical and relational responsibility in ministerial care

These are the foundational competencies required to serve the sacraments with integrity and confidence.

Fall Semester — Heart Openers

The Fall semester focuses on helping students work with the ministerial, ceremonial, psychological, and somatic dimensions of the Heart Openers.

Prerequisites include:

• Completion of The Awakening Path and The Embodied Minister
• Three guided individual Heart Openers sessions with a trained minister or guide

Upon completing this semester, students may apply for a Provisional Assistant Minister license and, with supervision, begin serving the Heart Openers sacrament in ministerial contexts.

Spring Semester — Niños

In the Spring, students learn to work with the distinctive qualities of the mushroom, what the Mazatec call the Niños Santos–the Sacred Children. In this class, ministers in training expand their sacramental toolkit and deepening their ministerial capacity.

This semester builds on the Heart Openers foundation while introducing new dimensions of ministerial support, ceremonial stewardship, integration, and care.

Prerequisites include:

• Completion of Heart Openers
• Three guided individual Niños sessions with a trained minister or guide

A Threshold Year

Year 2 marks a threshold in the journey. Students who complete both semesters are prepared to guide members of the Congregation into expanded states of consciousness with safety, presence, and transformational impact. It is at this point that many students begin to truly feel themselves becoming ministers.

Graduates of the Niños course are eligible to add mushrooms to their licensure with the Congregation.

 

The third phase of the minister training includes four semesters of Mentoring & Supervision. It is a one-unit per semester course. Students will meet monthly in small groups led by an Associate Minister of the Congregation and receive support and mentorship as they begin to build their ministry.

Additional Coursework to be completed at any time before or during the 4 years:

Students are also required to complete additional coursework in the following six areas:

• Relational Ethics (4 units)
• Consulting Skills (8 units)
• Energy and Bodywork (4 units)
• Religious Practices and Spiritual Worldviews (4 units)
• Current Psychedelic Research (4 units)
• Basic Psychological Knowledge (4 units)

These courses can be completed either through the seminary or, with approval from the registrar, through outside training. Credit for prior training in these categories is available.

Upon successful completion of the Mentoring & Supervision phase, students will be eligible to apply for a permanent license as an Assistant Minister.

Formation as a minister and a sacramental officiant does not end upon completion of the training and exchanges. Even after completion of the full Training of Ministers, all students are expected to engage in two developmental areas:

• Continuing Education. A minister is never finished learning. There are always more frameworks, modalities, and practices to support awakening. Students are expected to earn 36 CEUs (or equivalent) as part of maintaining their license.
• Mentorship & Supervision. Students are expected to meet with a mentor at least monthly during Years 2 through 4. Students are also expected to attend a group case-review session at least once a month during Years 3&4. After completing the entire program, ministers are expected to be engaged in monthly peer case reviews as well as monthly peer mentoring.