The Upper Room Academy for Spiritual Formation

05/28/2026

🙏 Listen to more from this month's podcast at https://www.upperroom.org/academy/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

05/19/2026

✨ Faculty Spotlight: Shively Smith

We’re excited to welcome Shively Smith as part of the faculty for the Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation #44. She will lead a session on New Testament Spirituality.

Dr. Shively Smith is a distinguished New Testament scholar, esteemed preacher, and dedicated teacher, currently serving as Assistant Professor of New Testament at Boston University School of Theology. She earned her Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Emory University, focusing her research on the traditions of Peter, diaspora studies, and African American biblical interpretation.

An ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Smith serves as Resident Scholar at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C. Her scholarship has been supported by esteemed organizations such as the Ford Foundation, the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, and the Mellon Mays Fellowship Program.

Learn more and apply today at
https://www.upperroom.org/academy/retreats/two-year-44/ 🙏

05/12/2026

"I learned what true community can be during my Two-Year Academy experience and at every Academy for Spiritual Formation experience since then."

Read more from Ashley Davis in this month's Academy bulletin 🙏

This month, we have a reflection from Claire K. McKeever-Burgett. Claire is the author of Blessed Are the Women and In the Beginning Were the Women, former Academy Associate Director, former Academy Podcast host, and Two-Year Academy #41 graduate. She is also an upcoming Two-Year Academy #44 faculty...

05/12/2026

In this episode of The Academy Podcast, host Shalom Agtarap sits down with scholar, teacher, and longtime Academy faculty member Luther Smith to explore how spiritual formation shapes the way we engage the world.

Drawing deeply from the wisdom of Howard Thurman and the witness of those who have lived with their “backs against the wall,” Luther reflects on the inseparable connection between personal spiritual practice and social transformation. He shares formative stories from his childhood during the civil rights era, the influence of family and faith community, and the ways prophetic remembering helps sustain hope in difficult times.

Together, Shalom and Luther reflect on five essential spiritual practices—listening deeply, prophetic remembering, transforming conflict, crossing identity boundaries, and celebration—and how these practices nurture beloved community even amid suffering and injustice.

Listen at https://www.upperroom.org/academy/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Now available on Spotify!

04/30/2026

As April comes to a close, we invite you to listen to host Shalom Agtarap’s conversation on compassion with Frank Rogers on this month’s episode of the Academy Podcast. Listen at https://www.upperroom.org/academy/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts 🙏

Compassion in Practice: The Way of Jesus, Revised Edition by Frank Rogers is out tomorrow! Order your copy at https://store.upperroom.org/