Formation Week is our annual pause in the academic rhythm — a sacred interruption intentionally set aside for McCormick students, faculty, and staff to reflect on vocation, healing, and the work of becoming. Rather than adding activity, Formation Week creates space … to listen, to process, to reconnect calling with context, and to cultivate practices that sustain ministry in difficult times.
Hosted by the Trauma Healing Initiative (THI), Formation Week situates theological formation within the lived realities of trauma, resilience, and communal care. It invites the McCormick community to ask not only what we are called to do, but who we are becoming while we do it.
2026 THEME: “HARD TIMES REQUIRE…”
This year’s theme draws inspiration from Alice Walker’s Hard Times Require Furious Dancing, in which she reflects on grief, inherited suffering, and the unexpected emergence of hope: “Sometimes it all feels a bit too much to bear… I have matured into someone I never dreamed I would become: an unbridled optimist… It may be half full of water… but in the other half there’s a rainbow… I have learned to dance.” Walker’s insight resonates deeply with a trauma-informed theological formation.
Hard times do not merely demand endurance — they require practices of embodiment, creativity, lament, solidarity, and joy that resist despair.
“Hard Times Require…” names the truth that:
Trauma is not only individual; it is historical, communal, and systemic.
Formation must include practices that restore agency, connection, and meaning.
Healing is not linear; it is rhythmic, embodied, and relational.
Joy, creativity, and even dancing are not distractions from challenging times, but responses to them.
Formation Week 2026 invites you to explore what a faithful life requires in times marked by division, exhaustion, injustice, and uncertainty — echoing McCormick’s commitment to teaching, learning, and living toward wholeness in these times.
YOU’RE INVITED: DANCE PARTY WITH A PURPOSE
Tuesday, March 17 | 6:00–7:30 PM
Location: University Church, Chicago
Livestream available on the McCormick Facebook page for those unable to attend in person
Join us for an evening of meaningful movement, reflection, and community. Whether you attend in person or online, come ready to participate, connect, and be refreshed.
Register to participate using the form below and be part of this unique Formation Week experience.
REFLECTION GUIDES
Join us each day for a guided reflection practice — a guided meditation, a Scriptural anchor, student echoes from the hallways reflections, and a listening companion from our Be Well podcast series.
(GUIDES WILL BE AVAILABLE ON MARCH 15)
PREVIOUS FORMATION WEEK GUIDES
In 2025, Formation Week at McCormick focused on embracing the sacred rhythm of "Rest". It was an opportunity to step away from the relentless pace of life and answer God's gentle call to replenish your mind, body, and spirit. Delve into the profound importance of rest, exploring its transformative power and the wisdom of Scripture, where even the Creator paused to honor the sanctity of renewal.
The first Formation Week at McCormick Theological Seminary took place in April 2024. During this time, we intentionally paused to reflect on our sense of call and formation as students, faculty, and staff. The Trauma Healing Initiative and the Office of Student Support collaborated to create a unique program centered around the theme of "RESTfull." A variety of resources were shared during the week, which we are pleased to share with you.