Program Details
Living Arrangements
Live in intentional community at the Woods with other Center participants.
- Room: Shared house with living space and kitchen
- Board: Dining room for some meals and cooking group meals primarily
- Exception on Tuesday nights: SFTS housing at Baird Hall in San Anselmo
Schedule

Sample Weekly Schedule
- Sunday: Church worshiping community and Sabbath
- Monday-Tuesday: Community formation and ministry Apprenticeship
- Wednesday: Spirituality Concentration at SFTS plus spiritual formation and program integration with Nancy
- Thursday-Friday: Permaculture Apprenticeship
- Saturday: Sabbath
Monthly Schedule
- September
- Spirituality Concentration course at SFTS, plus spiritual formation and program integration with Nancy
- Holistic Financial Planning
- Learn the ecology of the land at the Woods
- October
- All of the above as regular monthly schedule
- Sacred Quest Wilderness Rite of Passage with Nancy, first two weeks of month
- November
- Regular monthly schedule
- One week break for Thanksgiving
- December
- Regular monthly schedule
- Two weeks break over Christmas and New Year’s
- January
- Work at SFTS, removing invasive and non-native plants
- February, March, April, May
- Permaculture course at the Woods
- Regular monthly schedule, including spirituality concentration and permaculture
- One week off for Easter
- June
- Regular monthly schedule for first two weeks
- Westminster Woods’ Summer Staff begins third week
- July
- Westminster Woods’ Summer Staff
- First week of August
- Closing ritual and retreat
Tuition Cost
$7,500 (Approximated total market value of the program’s components: $27,000)
The financial model for the Center is based on two components:
1) hands-on work exchange, which is the core of apprenticeships; and 2) mission-service fund raising of the $7,500.
Therefore, the participants will engage in a work exchange with those providing training and services. The Center encourages participants to seek mission-service support from families, friends, faith communities, and other supporters in raising funds for their tuition. The Center helps participants’ fund raising through mission-service support letters and ideas.
Participant Stipend
$200/month Participants receive this amount to offset incidental costs during the 11 months.
Collaborating Organizations
- Westminster Woods
- Program in Christian Spirituality at San Francisco Theological Seminary
Leadership Team
- Nancy Wiens, Center Director
- David Berman, Westminster Woods Environmental Education Director
- Christopher Peck, Holistic Financial Planning
- Katherine Steele & Benjamin Fahrer, Permaculture
- Beth Liebert, Professor of Spiritual Life at SFTS
- Sam Hamilton-Poore, Director of Program in Christian Spirituality at SFTS
- Matt Gough, Westminster Woods Program Director
- Christine Gough, Westminster Woods Program Manager
- Sheila Denton, Westminster Woods Executive Director