How to Explore a Vocation or Become a Lay Spiritan with the Spiritans

If you are considering Spiritan life or want to become a Lay Spiritan Associate, start at spiritans.org under the Join Us section. It gathers the U.S. Province's discernment resources in one place: Listening to God's Call, the Path to the Spiritan Life, Become A Lay Spiritan, Spiritan Life and Spirituality, and Voices of Spiritans. These pages are for anyone asking "Is God calling you?" — whether you are exploring priesthood or religious life as a Spiritan, or a committed layperson seeking association with the Congregation. Note that Employment and Members Login also sit in this menu but serve different purposes (jobs and existing-member access), so don't confuse them with the vocation path.

The two paths under "Join Us"

The site distinguishes between becoming a Spiritan and becoming a Lay Spiritan Associate. They are separate options with separate entry pages.

If you are unsure which fits, read Spiritan Life and Spirituality first — it describes the charism both paths draw on.

Step-by-step: how to explore

1. Open the Join Us section on spiritans.org. This is the hub for all discernment and membership entry points.
2. Start with "Listening to God's Call." This is the discernment resource — read it before committing to any single path, since it frames the question of vocation generally.
3. Read "Spiritan Life and Spirituality." This explains the charism and spirituality that both Spiritans and Lay Spiritans share, so you can judge whether it fits you.
4. Choose your path:
   • For religious life: go to Path to the Spiritan Life.
   • For lay association: go to Become A Lay Spiritan.
5. Hear from actual members. Visit Voices of Spiritans for first-person accounts — useful for testing your expectations against real experience.
6. Learn the wider context. The Who We Are section (Our History, Claude Poullart des Places, Francis Libermann, U.S. Province Timeline) explains the Congregation's origins and identity. The What We Do section (Parish Ministries, Education, International Ministries) shows where Spiritans actually serve.
7. Make contact. The site also lists Employment and Members Login; use the general site contact channels for vocation questions rather than these, since they are not vocation intake.

Expected result: by the end you should know which path applies to you and have the specific page to act on — either the Path to the Spiritan Life or Become A Lay Spiritan.

What each resource gives you

• Listening to God's Call — the starting discernment material; read this if you have no clear direction yet.
• Path to the Spiritan Life — the route for those pursuing Spiritan religious life or priesthood.
• Become A Lay Spiritan — the route for lay association; pairs with the Lay Spiritan Associates page under Who We Are.
• Spiritan Life and Spirituality — the shared charism behind both paths.
• Voices of Spiritans — personal accounts from members.
• Spiritan Rule of Life and Prayer to the Holy Spirit (under Resources) — supporting material if you want to pray and read into the tradition before deciding.

Common sticking points

• Don't start with the Path page if you're undecided. "Listening to God's Call" exists precisely for the earlier stage; skipping it can make the process feel more committal than it is.
• Lay associate ≠ member login. "Become A Lay Spiritan" is an entry point for new associates; "Members Login" is for people who already have accounts.
• Employment is not a vocation route. It's listed in the same menu but is a separate area for job seekers.
• Use the wider site for context. If the discernment pages feel abstract, the Who We Are and What We Do sections show the concrete ministries — parishes, education (including Duquesne University and Holy Ghost Preparatory School), and international missions in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Rome — that you would be joining.

The site does not publish application deadlines, formation timelines, or eligibility requirements on these pages, so treat the Join Us section as the starting point for inquiry rather than a complete admissions guide.