Apprentice Institute

Real stories from real attendees of the Apprentice Gathering. These stories are why we gather.
Don't miss the chance to be in the room with us. Register today for The Apprentice Gathering 2026. https://apprenticeinstitute.org/the_apprentice_gathering/

Meet Rebecca Letterman and Spenser Loman, two of our intensive speakers for TAG 2026! Register at https://apprenticeinstitute.org/the_apprentice_gathering/

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Letterman is an apprentice of Jesus Christ and a lover of God and all God’s beloved world. She is a wife and mother, and delights in the gifts of family and friendships, creation, hiking, gardening, playing the mandolin, cooking, and learning new things. She is Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Formation at Northeastern Seminary, a certified spiritual director and embodiment coach, and is ordained in the Free Methodist Church of North America. She is a frequent retreat facilitator, podcast guest, and workshop leader. She is a specialist in Christian embodiment and in Formative Spirituality, and is the author of the eBooks Being Like Jesus as a Body and Dust and Breath. She is co-author with Dr. Susan Muto of Understanding Our Story: The Life and Legacy of Adrian van Kaam in the Field of Formative Spirituality. She is also the founder of Embodiment Consulting Services (embodimentconsulting.com); and founder of the Christian Embodiment Consortium - a gathering of Christian spiritual directors, therapists, coaches, pastors and other leaders who intentionally integrate embodied awareness into their ministry contexts.

Spencer Loman serves in campus spiritual formation as Discipleship Pastor at Indiana Wesleyan University and teaches in IWU’s School of Theology and Ministry. A former church planter and entrepreneur, he is currently a PhD candidate at Kairos University, where his integrative research focuses on Adrian van Kaam’s anthropology of the heart.

Meet Murphy Alvis, one of our intensive speakers for TAG 2026! Register at https://apprenticeinstitute.org/the_apprentice_gathering/

Murphy Alvis is a lead mentor for The Companion: Apprenticeship in Spiritual Direction at Friends University and also serves as a coach, spiritual director, retreat leader, trainer, and consultant, partnering with organizations and individuals on prioritizing the with-God life. He writes (almost) weekly at the growing Whatever Is Substack on topics about theology, spiritual formation, and practical theology.

Meet Michael Stewart Robb, one of our intensive speakers for TAG 2026! Register at https://apprenticeinstitute.org/the_apprentice_gathering/

Michael Stewart Robb is a vocational writer, theologian, and director of Sanctus, a European Institute for Spiritual Theology and Formation. His award-winning book The Kingdom Among Us: The Gospel according to Dallas Willard is an attempt to introduce Willard’s theology to scholars. His latest book, Dallas Willard on God: An Introduction (available August 2026), points in the other direction, as an introduction of Willard to students and younger followers of Christ. God willing, one day he’ll also publish some beautiful books without Dallas Willard’s name on the cover!
He has been interested in the theology and “science” of spiritual formation since his undergraduate days at Wheaton College and has since worked with a variety of churches, most of which were during his 22 years on the European continent. He founded the Sanctus Institute in 2017 out of a decade-old desire to see spiritual formation come out of the retreat centers, conferences, and niche master's programs and enter churches as a serious and central enterprise. For most of his adult life, pastors have only smiled and nodded as he spoke about this vision.
He can be found most regularly on Sanctus Institute’s YouTube channel, recorded from his home in Munich, Germany. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he dreams of playing the guitar really well and touring the world, not necessarily at the same time.

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