School For Ministry
DATES AND COURSES 2025-26
Dates and Courses 2025-26
SFM study weekends happen monthly, September through June.
SFM Study Weekends 2025-26 include the following Saturdays (morning class session, midday worship & community time, and afternoon class session; on site or online as noted)
Any Friday night sessions will be held on Zoom.
Saturday sessions will take place on site in the fall and spring, and online in the winter months.
For 2025-26, on-site courses are hosted at Diocesan House, 63 Green St., Concord, NH
These are anticipated dates as of early July 2025. Any adjustments made necessary by the parish commitments of SFM faculty will be made by mid August 2025.
Sept. 27 (on site) (4th weekend)
Oct. 18 (on site) (3rd weekend)
Nov. 15 (on site) (3rd weekend)
Dec. 20 (on site) (3rd weekend)
Jan. 24 (online) (4th weekend)
Feb. 21 (online) (3rd weekend)
March 21 (on site) (3rd weekend)
April 25 (on site) (4th weekend)
May 23 (on site) (4th weekend)
June 20 (on site) (3rd weekend)
SFM Wednesdays: A regular pattern of mid-week online gatherings for learning, reflection, conversation, and prayer has been a formative and vital part of SFM’s community life since the School’s beginnings. Wednesday evening gatherings for fall 2025 will begin in October. The schedule will be shared directly with enrolled students and SFM alumni.
Additional key dates:
Holy Week 2026 begins Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026. Easter is Sunday, April 5, 2026
For postulants and candidates in the Diocese of New Hampshire, attending these events is expected:
Diocesan Convention: Saturday, November 1, 2025: Business session and Eucharist, WMRS, Whitefield, NH
Postulants and Candidates Gathering (with the COM and Standing Committee, and the Bishop): April 17-18, 2026. Program runs on site Friday and Saturday; lodging available from Thursday evening 4/16/26. (There will be no fall Postulants and Candidates Gathering in 2025.)
Anticipated Courses, 2025-26
Year-long courses, for those seeking a lay ministry license, and postulants and candidates for the priesthood:
Scripture with the Rev. Steve Rugg
Theology & Ethics with the Rev. Jason Wells
The Episcopal/Anglican Ethos with the Rt. Rev. Dorsey McConnell
Preaching with the Rev. Fred Chisolm & the Rev. Cathy George
Shorter SFM courses for those seeking a lay ministry license, and postulants and candidates for the priesthood:
Preparing to serve as a Lay Catechist. Ms. Linnae Peterson, MDiv
Half-year; fall 2025.
Preaching Lab: Giving & Receiving Feedback/Mentored preaching practice
With the Rev. Cathy George. This course can be taken by those seeking a Lay Preacher license and by postulants/candidates as the continuation of SFM’s Preaching A (as taught in Spring 2025) or as a stand-alone by lay people with previous training in homiletics who are preparing to be licensed as preachers. Taught online; course length varies by size of cohort.
Tuition for SFM courses
Congregations that are sponsoring a person for ordination engage to support that person’s formation. If you are a postulant or candidate for ordination, please discuss with your congregation’s leadership how your SFM tuition might be cost-shared. Lay students, including lay preaching students and others seeking lay licensure: please discuss with your congregation’s leadership how your SFM tuition might be cost-shared. SFM tuition is substantially underwritten by the Diocese of New Hampshire’s annual budget. There is no charge to attend workshop-style short courses.
Tuition rates for the 2025-26 academic year will be announced in late July.
For reference, tuition rates for the 2024-25 academic year, for students from the Diocese of New Hampshire, were as follows:
Comprehensive tuition: Two or more full-year courses + community formation - $1,200
Partial tuition options:
One full-year course + community formation - $600
One half-year course + community formation - $400
Preaching lab only - $100
Shorter workshop courses for all the baptized, including those seeking a lay ministry license:
There is no charge to attend workshop-style short courses.
Leading Sunday Morning Prayer (half-day workshop)
When and where: On site, various locations (please express interest to Canon Kelly, including to schedule a congregational workshop)
What on Earth Do I Say?: Introducing Pastoral Care for Laypeople
A four-session workshop led by the Rev. Elsa Worth: Please express interest to Canon Kelly (last offered Spring 2025)