Forest Dwelling Program

The Spirituality of Aging

The (2025-2026) Forest Dwelling term will soon be underway!

Are you hearing a call to explore a deeper spirituality as you age?

We encourage interested Forest Dwellers to e-mail us at ForestDwelling@ost.edu to inquire about open spots. If none remain, interested participants will be added to our waitlist.

The next chance to join the FDP will be January 2027.

If you would like to be notified on application status or additional program information become available, please email us at ForestDwelling@ost.edu or call us at (210) 341-1366.

The Forest Dwelling Program: Spirituality for Our Wisdom Years was brought to life in 2019 by Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI and his dedicated team in response to the need for a container in which to cultivate maturing spirituality. This program grew out of their vision. Forest Dwelling is a 2-year transformational certificate program which provides the opportunity to journey into the heart of the aging process to become wise elders, not just old people. Our aim is to help you live into the diminishments of aging in such a way that you live your last precious years with more grace, an open heart, and a deeper awareness of the presence of God. This allows you to leave behind a spiritual legacy that is fruitful and life-giving.

A Taste of the Forest is a video series curated to help you discern how God is calling you to age gracefully in a rich Spiritual context. Some may want to explore the idea of signing up for the full Forest Dwelling experience, while others may wish to simply savor and digest these short offerings. You can watch the full video series for free below.

"We lack a developed spirituality for the second-half of life. Our churches and theological circles have too little to offer in terms of spiritual guidance for us as we move beyond our youthful years, especially as this pertains to aging and moving towards death. Setting itself within the archetypal image of Forest Dwelling wherein spiritual seekers withdraw into the deep forest to live there and be instructed by the Elders, The Forest Dwelling Program draws on scripture, the mystics, select spiritual writers, and the best in secular literature to offer some spiritual and psychological counsel for our wisdom years."

- Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Forest Dwelling Program: Spirituality for our Wisdom Years

This two-year program of education and formation will include two six-day gatherings on the campus of Oblate School of Theology (virtual or in-person – recordings available), 2 five-day virtual Gatherings, semester sessions of spirituality and aging content between each gathering, monthly elder circles to integrate concepts into the life events of an elder, regular spiritual direction and habitual contemplative practice in line with a participant’s primary spiritual tradition. Program may be taken completely online if desired. A certificate will be awarded upon completion.

Two-year program of education and formation will include in-person and virtual options for:

2 six-day Gatherings at OST (January 5-10, 2025 & January 4-9, 2026) (virtual or in-person, recordings available)
2 five-day virtual Gatherings (June 2-6, 2025 & June 1-5, 2026) (virtual only, recordings available)
4 Sessions between gatherings consisting of 10+ weekly talks each period (recordings available)
Monthly Elder Circles (via Zoom)
Monthly Discussion Groups (via Zoom)
Harvest Project (optional)

Recommended:

Monthly Spiritual Direction
Daily Contemplative Practice

The Forest Dwelling Program (FDP) is conceived as a dynamic interplay among the individual, the FDP community and Divine Mystery. All elements are seen as vital to the transformation happening within participants. This program is designed to offer a delicious buffet of new ideas, experiences, people, poetry, arts and Mystery in which you are invited to taste, chew on, set down, go back for more, spit out, or simply marvel at the wonders of the material being presented. Though people may benefit from taking individual classes, retreats, or reading books about the spirituality of aging, the sustained immersion in this program is designed to keep you grounded in such a way that significant transformation occurs and sets the stage for spiritual fruitfulness, even as the body physically diminishes over the years.

The fourth cohort will be held January 2025 through November 2026, and will include up to 50 participants from a variety of geographic locations and spiritual traditions. Sessions 1 – 4 will be led by our core faculty. The gathering dates for the fourth cohort are:

(Sunday) January 5^th through (Friday) 10^th, 2025
(Monday) June 2^ndthrough (Friday) June 6^th 2025
(Sunday) January 4^ththrough (Friday) 9^th, 2026
(Monday) June 1^st through (Friday) June 5^th 2026

General Program Highlights

Here is a snapshot of FDP offerings:

2 six-day in-person or virtual Gatherings (January 2025 & January 2026)
2 five-day virtual gatherings (June 2025 & June 2026)
4 sessions consisting of 10+ weekly talks on various topics of aging (January – May, August – November in 2025 & 2026.)
30 Elder Circle groups (3 circles per gathering + monthly Zoom meetings. No circles in December.)
Optional monthly discussion groups
Sacred Life Review
Harvest Project
Concluding Faculty Presentations and Commencement (November 2026, virtual)

If you are not able to commit to the full two-year program but would like to have access to FDP content, you can enroll as an “enrichment student”.

If you are interested in our teachings and would like to receive academic credit, the four sessions sponsored by the Forest Dwelling Program can also be taken for academic credit by eligible graduate students.

For questions and additional information, please contact Emmett Gonzalez (egonzalez@ost.edu).

Application Dates

Applications for the Forest Dwelling Program will be available online starting July 1, 2024. Below is a snapshot of our application process:

Complete online and submit a program application, non-refundable application fee ($50), and (2) letters of recommendation. Note: your application is not considered “complete” until all (3) items above have been received.
The FDP staff will begin reviewing completed applications on July 30, 2024, and sending decision letters to applicants.
Online applications for the (2025-2026) Cohort will close on December 1, 2024.
Due upon acceptance: $500 tuition deposit to hold your spot.

Note: The Forest Dwelling Program has its own application that differs from the application available using the yellow “apply now” and “apply” button. Currently, our application is inactive. It will be made active and available on the Forest Dwelling Program main webpage July 1, 2024.

Tuition Information

(2025-2026) Cohort tuition: $4,770

The tuition for the full two-year program is listed above. We offer tuition incentives for those paying in one or two payments. We also offer a discount for couples or members of the same household / religious order.

3 payment options:

1 payment of $4,293.00 (10% discount) due by:

- December 1, 2024

2 payments of $2,265.75 (5% discount) due by:

- December 1, 2024
- December 1, 2025

4 payments of $1,192.50 (no discount) due by:

- December 1, 2024
- July 1, 2025
- December 1, 2025
- July 1, 2026

Note: Students who would benefit from smaller, more frequent payment plans can set up a monthly payment plan with the Business Office. No discounts are offered when electing to enroll in a payment plan.

Additional Discounts:

We are offering a discount for households. It is available to couples who share the same household, and to members of religious orders who live in the same area. The discount for couples is 50% for the second-enrolled spouse. If either spouse withdraws from the program, the discount is no longer applied. For two members of the same religious order, the same logic applies. However, if more than two members of an order are enrolling, please contact us for details. Discounts can be “stacked” if you qualify for the household discount and also decide to pay in 1 or 2 payments.

Scholarships

The Forest Dwelling Program works hard to offer partial scholarship opportunities to enable those with financial hardship to enroll. Application for scholarships will be a part of the online application process available starting July 1, 2024. Applicants will be notified of scholarship awards in mid-November 2024. For additional information, please contact Emmett Gonzalez (egonzalez@ost.edu).

The Forest Dwelling Program is able to offer a full-tuition scholarship for (1) Forest Dweller in the (2025 – 2026) cohort. The intent of this award is to allow attendance for someone without the financial means. Recipients will be nominated for the Life of Service Scholarship (L.O.S.S.) based on a strong commitment to serving others in capacities such as educator, nurse, caregiver, stay-at-home parent, nonprofit work, and ministries. Recipients will also need to be accepted into the FDP, demonstrating interest and readiness to do the spiritual work of an elder. For more information about the Life of Service Scholarship, nomination forms, and applications please email our program manager, Emmett Gonzalez (egonzalez@ost.edu).

A Blessing for Old Age

May the light of your soul mind you,
May all of your worry and anxiousness
about becoming old be transfigured.
May you be given a wisdom with the eye of your soul,
to see this beautiful time of harvesting.
May you have the commitment to harvest your life,
to heal what has hurt you, to allow it to
come closer to you and become one with you.
May you have great dignity,
may you have a sense of how free you are,
and above all may you be given the wonderful gift
of meeting the eternal light and beauty
that is within you.
May you be blessed, and may you find a wonderful
love in yourself for yourself.

~ John O’Donohue

Program Overview

YEAR 1 GATHERING #1: (January 5 – 10, 2025) - Entering the Forest

In this part of the journey, you will enter into the Forest, setting your intention and exploring what you need to pack for this journey, and equally important, what you will need to unpack – old ideas, spiritual understandings, beliefs, and wounds. It’s a time for exploring new ways of being, of serving, of discipleship. It’s a time to explore and expand our ways of seeing the world. It’s a time for experiencing new contemplative practices. We begin to explore questions such as: What is your relationship with your aging body, your place as an elder in community, your maturing relationship with God, and how will this be lived out in the ripening elder years? It is coming face-to-face with the biological, psychological, emotional and spiritual changes which are pushing us away from the familiar territory of our younger life into the Unknown, and seeing these as rites of initiation into another way of life rather than as signs of the end. Talks, elder circles, praxis, and a general orientation to the ways of the Forest will help each participant to enter into this sacred journey of conscious aging. Gathering will be available in-person at OST, or via Zoom. All talks will be recorded.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Situating the Season of Forest Dwelling – Spirituality and the Seasons of our Lives
Elder Circle Guidelines and Gifts
Beginning with the End in Mind
Beyond the Bucket List
The Approach to the Forest
The Four Spiritual Stages of Mature Adulthood
An Anthropology of Aging – the Intent of God and Nature
Creating a Living Spiritual Will
Rooted and Grounded in Love
Walk Slowly, Bow Often
Mindfulness Practice and the Sacrament of the Present Moment
Images of God: Rescuing God from Narrowness, Tribalism, Sexism, Nationalism, Legalism and other Images Unworthy of God

SESSION 1 | Entering the Forest: Spirituality of Aging

In session 1 (January – May 2025), you will truly enter into the Forest with weekly teachings on a mature theology of aging based on the seminal work of Fr Ronald Rolheiser, OMI. His work draws on scripture, the mystics, and secular and spiritual writing. This session will be available for in-person attendance at OST or for virtual attendance via Zoom. Each talk will be recorded if you are not able to attend live. Taught by Fr Ron Rolheiser, OMI.

YEAR 1 GATHERING #2: (June 2 - 6, 2025) - Wandering in the Forest

In this part of the journey, we wander into new territory, encountering what no longer works, confronting fears, noticing the emotions that come when we are no longer valued in the ways we once were. It’s a time of letting go, of squarely facing all that we have lost. We experience grieving in a way that allows us to fully enter into the pain of life, while allowing it to transform us. We are finding new spiritual practices, a new rhythm, a new Sabbath in keeping with our changing lives. We are learning “to rest in God instead of restlessly seeking God.” (Augustine, Ron Rolheiser.) This is a time of Holy Wandering, leading to new experiences of Divine Presence within and all around us. “It is this unsettling that encourages us to practice in solidarity with the Earth beneath our feet: life right here, right now” (Rev Mary Earle). Liturgy, talks, elder circles, and praxis will be a shared communal experience. Virtual attendance only. Recordings will be available.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

A Spirituality of Aging – Towards a New Generativity
Creative Releasing: Letting Go of Resentment
Images of Age
Creative Releasing: Letting Go of Regret
Struggling with the Darkness of Faith
Returning to the Source – A Christian/Taoist perspective on the Stages of Spiritual Development
Aging and Loss: Weaving a New Shelter
Why Read a Poem at a Time Like This?
Creative Releasing: Letting Go of Resistance
Going Over that River Hard to See: Befriending Our Griefs and Our Deaths
Sexuality & Inconsummation – Some Maverick Reflections

SESSION 2 | Wandering in the Forest: New Equipment for the Journey of Aging

Session 2 (August – November 2025) is a three-part semester conversation that will focus first on how poetry and art may enhance prayer, reflection, and creative work in this season of life; second on T.S. Eliot’s final poems, Four Quartets, as an invitation to contemplative practice and spiritual maturity; and third how images of age in poetry and art can mirror and expand the ways we see ourselves and each other in our later years. This is a time of Holy Wandering, leading to new experiences of Divine Presence within and all around us. Taught by Marilyn McEntyre, Ph.D.

YEAR 2 GATHERING #3: (January 4 – 9, 2026) - Discovering in the Forest

Midway through the journey this gathering will be a water stop to reflect on where we have been together, and where we are headed in the next year. In this part of the journey, we begin to make discoveries amidst the realities of aging. We face our mortality as a way to transform the way we are currently living. Being fully present to the burdens and blessings of the aging process invites us into acceptance of the final season of our lives. We encounter a shift from activities of achievement and being self-important, to one of fruitfulness, passivity and facing our deaths, often within spiritual darkness. The aging process is bringing us into the deeper realm of the spiritual (Kathleen Dowling Singh), and Mystery unfolds in us as individuals and as a community of dwellers. How will we “be” in the challenges we face? “How much kinder we would be to ourselves, how much wiser, if we were to have already transformed loneliness into aloneness, far before the time of our death.” (Kathleen Dowling Singh, The Grace in Aging). How will we be transformed as we discover freedom from old habits and die to old ways of doing and being? We open to discover the joy of liberation from the demand for perfection, and to savor unexpected release as our attitude of attachment softens into loving detachment. This is a time characterized by living, dying and living anew. This gathering will also include opening and closing liturgy, talks, elder circles, and praxis. Gathering will be available in-person at OST, or via Zoom. All talks will be recorded.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Passivity as Fruitfulness and a Gift to Others – Giving our “Deaths” Away
Entering the Coracle: Being Carried by Currents of Divine Love
How the Arts Prepare Us to Face Death
Exploring Unhealed Wounds with a Compassionate Heart as We Age
After Death Stories: Faith, Fiction, or Medical Mystery?
Transformation – the Paradigm of the Paschal Mystery
Arriving at the Place of Resurrection: Going to Home We Have Never Left
The Autumn of our Lives – Its Innate Invitations and Imperatives

SESSION 3 | Discovering in the Forest: Facing Our Mortality

In these weeks (January – May 2026), we begin to make discoveries amidst the realities of aging. We face our mortality as a way to transform the way we are currently living. Being fully present to the burdens and blessings of the aging process invites us into acceptance of the final season of our lives. This course draws on various religious Wisdom traditions as well as philosophical and psychological perspectives to provide thought-provoking material to help you move into a new relationship with diminishment, death, dying, and open you to new ways of being. “How much kinder we would be to ourselves, how much wiser, if we were to have already transformed loneliness into aloneness, far before the time of our death.” Discover the liberation and joy which emerge in the process of “dying before you die” as mystics of various traditions invite us to do. Taught by Cliff Knighten, Ph.D.

YEAR 2 GATHERING #4: (June 1 - 5, 2026) - Emerging From the Forest

In this last part of our time together in community, we prepare for the journey out of the forest as elders, as “holy old fools” (Richard Rohr). Learning to live in a new, mystical understanding of the Body of Christ, living with mature paradigms of Resurrection and the afterlife, finding the peace of living in shared humanity. As I harvest the fruits of this Forest Dwelling journey, what will I have to give away? How will I share this growing freedom that comes with the unpacking of old wounds, the flowing of love and compassion for all, including myself? Who am I as I leave the forest shelter? How will I live in the Light of a new wisdom, informed and willing to surrender fully to life as it is? I am ready to live life as a wise elder, not just a person who is aging. Liturgy, talks, elder circles, and praxis will be a shared communal experience. Virtual attendance only. Recordings will be available.

Talks may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Blessing Others – Our Last Greatest Gift
Wisdom from St. David of Wales: ‘Remember the Little Things’
What’s Happening – Unfolding, Emerging, Erupting, Awakening
Emerging into Love: Be Thou My Vision
A Mystic’s Guide to Transformation
Elder Wisdom for Fractured Times
Beloved Community – The Search for Beloved Community in Our Midst
Prayer Language: New Words for New Seasons of Prayer
The Last Word is Legacy
Out of the Depths – Witnessing Dementia
Late Generativity as helping “Carry” the Tensions within the Community – to “Ponder” in the Biblical Sense

SESSION 4 | Emerging from the Forest: Becoming a Wise Elder

In these weeks, (August – November 2026), we prepare for the journey out of the Forest as elders, as “holy old fools” (Richard Rohr). This session will focus on what a wise elder is meant to bring to the community by offering a quiet prophecy to the world, radiating God’s compassion, rescuing God from narrowness, blessing the young and bringing God’s smile to the world. It is a movement designed to lead to the “beggar’s hut” of graced humility and wisdom. Participants will also be encouraged to harvest the fruits of their Forest Dwelling Program journey in some creative way. This may be an inner harvesting, knowing the joy of simply sharing their transformation with family, friends or community.

FDP Testimonials

Is it possible to blossom at age 80? In our culture, meaningful connection with other elders is a challenge and yet we sense we are not alone. The Forest Dwelling program invites you to proceed at your own pace and choose a life-changing, life-giving path to greater wisdom and faith. In a noise-filled world, we learn to listen to our souls.

— Pat Timpanaro

I am so inspired, encouraged, lifted up and amazingly proud to be among such good company as my fellow Forest Dwellers from Cohort #1 and the others who have followed. I cannot fully express how my experience in the very first cohort changed my life, both spiritually, intellectually and physically. And the bounty keeps on giving.

— Sam Gilliam

I am constantly amazed at the dedication of the Program instructors to the personal spiritual and human development of each participant. We are a very diverse group, but the leaders seem to know each of us individually and feed each of us exactly where we are, as the Spirit provides the sustenance we need through them.

— Paul S.

This is my fifth year in the Forest and maybe I am a slow learner because I keep learning more and more. I think that the mere fact that we do this in community, with people who are also questioning, and soaking in what we can receive from the Forest, really makes a difference. Being part of a community like this helps the natural process of evolving, deepening, and letting go.

— Maggie Meigs

God continues to bless us with beauty all around us as we are called to take a deep dive into diminishment, so we both take turns caring for each other, grateful to have each other and looking forward to the next 10 years, God willing. I certainly feel like I am better equipped for the last leg of our journey home because of the Forest Dwellers program.

— Gloria Hofer

I am noticing that, since being in the Forest Dweller Program, I really have gotten more motivation to make peace with my diminishments. That has been a very difficult thing for me to do. It is a major part of what I did as a Forest Dweller and what I continue to do now. I can see that I’m moving towards surrender. There is much more peace in my life and I think as I go through this process I notice that coming out of the Forest Dwelling Program – I am getting more [spiritual] directees. The reason for that is that I have been so engaged with making peace with my own diminishments.

— Nancy Shinn

I find that I am drawn to more times of silence and the graces of the Forest Dweller journey continue to emerge when I least expect them. My awareness of the presence of God in people and nature is richer and deeper and often I just gaze on what surrounds me with eyes or intentional love and gratitude. I am learning to hold all things lightly. I have grown in my capacity to let go.

— Anne Munley

Core Faculty & Invited Speakers

Our 2025-2026 core faculty and invited speakers help forest dwellers dive deeply into the spirituality of aging.

Paula D’Arcy

is a celebrated author and leads workshops and retreats related to spirituality, grief, writing, women’s gatherings, (including Women’s Initiation and Rites of Passage), and creating venues where men and women experience an opening of the heart and a change in their way of being in the world. She is also the founder of Red Bird Foundation which supports the growth and spiritual development of those in need throughout the world, including men and women in prison.

Beverly Tuomala

has over 30 years of nursing experience in critical/cardiac care, all of which have prepared her to do Hospice Care which she calls “work in heavens waiting room.” She believes dying shouldn’t be a cold, sterile fearful event. Beverly views it as a transformation to a different state of being. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Abode, a San Antonio non-profit whose mission is to teach the art of contemplative living and dying while providing a beautiful home and compassionate care for those at the end of life – at no charge.

William Martin

is the author of over a dozen books that explore the applications of Taoism to modern life, including The Sage’s Tao Te Ching, The Parent’s Tao Te Ching, and The Tao of Forgiveness. In his own words he describes his path as, “a winding one that has taken me through roles as a scientist, a minister, a psychotherapist, a college instructor in the humanities, a Taoist teacher, and author. It has led me to explore beliefs and ways of living, including Zen Buddhism, Christianity, and Taoism. I have lived in cities and towns and in the countryside. I have run marathons, hiked in the desert, in mountains and forests, and have found great beauty in the practice of Tai Chi and Qigong. For more than 40 years, I have translated, written about, and pondered the Tao Te Ching. Today, I live with my wife, Nancy, in the Sonoran desert of southern Arizona where the stark beauty of this landscape deeply nurtures my soul.”