Gain Actionable Insights to Transform Your Spiritual Formation Programs
A Transformative Approach to Spiritual Assessment
Most spiritual assessment tools lack scientific validation and produce data administrators can't actually use. SpiritPulse was built to solve both problems at once — rigorous enough for accreditation and research, practical enough to change what you do next semester.
Validated at scale — nearly 25,000 participants across 100+ institutions
Clear prioritization — innovative quadrant analysis shows exactly where to focus resources
High participation — a user-friendly experience that increases response rates 2–3x
Immediately actionable — concrete next steps for your programs and for every participant
The insights students gain about their personal strengths and limitations are often profound and always long-lasting. It's simply the best tool there is to help your faculty and students grasp the degree to which their attitudes and behaviors reflect Christian spiritual maturity.
We care deeply about our students' spiritual development, but it can be difficult for students to report how things are going in their relationship with God. The SpiritPulse was painless for our students to complete, and the results were both meaningful and easy to use as part of our institutional assessment and planning processes.
In the SpiritPulse Extended we finally have a robust tool to measure our effectiveness in spiritual formation. The SpiritPulse Extended allows us to accurately identify areas of growth and evaluate co-curricular activities in order to devise strategies to bring about spiritual health.
The SpiritPulse Extended has challenged and encouraged our interns as they discover strengths and areas of growth. The growth plans are uniquely suited for each student, encouraging them to become more connected to God and to those to whom they minister.
The SpiritPulse Extended has allowed us to evaluate the spiritual depth of our student leaders and identify deficiencies in our student leadership training. It has proven to be a very effective assessment tool for our SACS accreditation process.
The Connected Life Model
Spiritual formation isn't primarily a matter of beliefs or behaviors. It happens through relationships — with God, with self and others, with community. The Connected Life model, grounded in more than two decades of relational spirituality research, organizes spiritual growth around five domains of connection.
Relational connection sits at the center. It isn't a sixth domain; it's the foundation that runs through all five — which is why growth in one domain tends to lift the others.
Connecting to God
The felt quality of your experiential relationship with God — awareness of God's presence, intimacy through prayer and practice, gratitude, and attachment patterns with God. Not what you believe about God, but how connected you actually feel.
Connecting to Self & Others
Awareness of your inner life and your patterns in relationships, capacity for forgiveness and Christ-like love, ownership of your own faith journey, and secure connection with the people who matter most.
Connecting to Spiritual Community
Spiritual friendship, community involvement, sense of belonging, and how securely connected you feel to your faith community. Formation happens substantially within the body of Christ.
Connecting to Spiritual Practices
Not just how often you practice spiritual disciplines, but whether they're actually transforming you — prayer, Scripture engagement, spiritual coping, growth through suffering, and thoughtful use of media.
Connecting to God's Kingdom
Meaning and purpose, service to the church and the wider community, and evangelistic engagement. Formation bearing fruit in love for God and neighbor, expressed through concrete action.
One Instrument. Two Lengths.
SpiritPulse and SpiritPulse Extended are the same instrument at two levels of depth. Both measure all 33 areas of spiritual life across the same five domains. Both include the quadrant matrix module. Both generate individual and group reports. The only difference is how many items measure each area.
The Standard
Formerly the STI
33 — one per scale
165 — five per scale
Included
Included
10–15 minutes
Approximately 35 minutes
33 across 5 domains
33 across 5 domains
Individual and group
Individual and group
Campus-wide assessment, repeated and pre/post measurement, program evaluation, maximum response rates
Research, in-depth individual assessment, classes and cohorts where depth is the point
The Standard
Likert Items
33 — one per scale
Quadrant Matrix Module
Included
Completion Time
10–15 minutes
Areas Measured
33 across 5 domains
Reports Available
Individual and group
Best Suited For
Campus-wide assessment, repeated and pre/post measurement, program evaluation, maximum response rates
Formerly the STI
Likert Items
165 — five per scale
Quadrant Matrix Module
Included
Completion Time
Approximately 35 minutes
Areas Measured
33 across 5 domains
Reports Available
Individual and group
Best Suited For
Research, in-depth individual assessment, classes and cohorts where depth is the point
A Complete Picture of Spiritual Formation
Areas of Spiritual Life
SpiritPulse measures 33 distinct areas of spiritual life, organized around the five domains of The Connected Life — relationship with God, self and others, spiritual practices, spiritual community, and service to God's Kingdom.
Key Programs
SpiritPulse evaluates the importance and spiritual impact of 24 key programs, helping you identify which initiatives are most effectively contributing to spiritual growth on your campus.
Spiritual Outcomes
SpiritPulse captures 17 spiritual and emotional struggles alongside overall spiritual and personal well-being — surfacing what your participants are carrying, not just how they're performing.
Beyond Traditional Surveys
A score tells you where you stand. It doesn't tell you what to do. SpiritPulse goes further with dual-dimension analysis that measures both spiritual health and importance for each area, then uses proprietary algorithms developed by Dr. Todd Hall to place every domain in an actionable quadrant framework — so the question shifts from 'how are we doing?' to 'where do we act first?'
Prioritize
High importance, lower health areas that need immediate attention
Celebrate
High importance, high health areas showing program success
Review
Lower health, lower importance areas to evaluate for importance
Maintain
High health, lower importance areas that serve as foundations
Built on 20+ years of research and validated across thousands of participants, SpiritPulse combines the theoretical depth of the SpiritPulse Extended with a streamlined approach that dramatically increases participation rates.
Group Reports That Point to Action
Group reports aggregate your participants' results into a clear picture of where your community stands — and what to do about it. Available with either length of the assessment.
Get Meaningful Evidence
See exactly where your students are across all 33 areas, benchmarked against national norms from Christian colleges and universities. Real evidence on the impact of your formation programs, not impressions.
Two Reports for Every Assessment
You receive a standard group report that visualizes your results against national benchmarks, plus a separate action planning report that synthesizes everything into a clear path forward — cross-domain themes, priority growth areas, and recommended actions organized by time horizon.
Segment Your Results
Break results out by class rank, cohort, program, campus, or demographic group. Compare freshmen to seniors, one program to another, this year to last — and see where the differences actually are.
Report Key Metrics
Tracking and reporting spiritual formation outcomes to accrediting agencies becomes straightforward. Validated instrument, national benchmarks, documented action plans, year-over-year comparison.
A Personal Path Forward
Every participant can receive their own report — whether you're providing them for an entire class or cohort, or an individual is taking SpiritPulse on their own. Available with either length of the assessment.
Your Spiritual GPS
To grow in your spiritual journey, you need to know where you are. SpiritPulse shows you your strengths and growth areas across 33 areas of spiritual life, so you can stop guessing about what needs attention.
Personalized Feedback
Every one of the 33 areas comes with feedback written for your actual score — what it means, why it matters, and how it connects to the rest of your spiritual life. No generic interpretations.
Action Steps
Practical next steps for each area, including guided exercises you can work through on your own or with people in your community.
Delivered Immediately
Complete the assessment and your report arrives in your inbox. No waiting, no interpretation session required.
The insights students gain about their personal strengths and limitations are often profound and always long-lasting. It's simply the best tool there is to help your faculty and students grasp the degree to which their attitudes and behaviors reflect Christian spiritual maturity.
We care deeply about our students' spiritual development, but it can be difficult for students to report how things are going in their relationship with God. The SpiritPulse was painless for our students to complete, and the results were both meaningful and easy to use as part of our institutional assessment and planning processes.
In the SpiritPulse Extended we finally have a robust tool to measure our effectiveness in spiritual formation. The SpiritPulse Extended allows us to accurately identify areas of growth and evaluate co-curricular activities in order to devise strategies to bring about spiritual health.
The SpiritPulse Extended has challenged and encouraged our interns as they discover strengths and areas of growth. The growth plans are uniquely suited for each student, encouraging them to become more connected to God and to those to whom they minister.
The SpiritPulse Extended has allowed us to evaluate the spiritual depth of our student leaders and identify deficiencies in our student leadership training. It has proven to be a very effective assessment tool for our SACS accreditation process.
The Five Steps of Transformation
A streamlined process from invitation to actionable institutional insights.
Invite Participants
We send personalized links to your student email list
Complete Assessment
Participants reflect on their spiritual journey in a brief, engaging format
Receive Analysis
Our algorithms calculate scores against national benchmarks
Review Reports
Access institutional reports with actionable results, segmented however you need. Participants receive individual reports immediately and can take action to grow.
Improve Programs
Implement targeted improvements based on clear priorities
Seeing Is Believing
Review a sample group report and a sample individual report to see the depth of feedback and the specificity of the action steps that will help you strengthen your spiritual formation programs.
Validated by the Highest Scientific Standards
SpiritPulse meets rigorous scientific criteria for both reliability and validity, documented across more than two decades of research and more than 26,000 participants.
24,967
SpiritPulse
- Excellent internal consistency — Cronbach's α = .94 across the full instrument, .70 to .85 at the domain level
- Each of the 33 items correlates with its full five-item parent scale at .65 to .93, averaging .85
- All 33 items load on a general Relational Spirituality factor
- Domain scores predict spiritual flourishing at r = .35 to .71
1,317
SpiritPulse Extended
- Internal consistency of .75 to .94 across all 33 scales (mean α = .87)
- Every item loads above .30 on its intended factor (mean loading = .75)
- Convergent validity against established instruments, including a mean correlation of .62 with the Fetzer Spiritual Well-Being measure
- Known-groups validity demonstrated through an independent narrative assessment method — differentiating high and low spiritual health without relying on self-report alone
10,759
Quadrant Matrix Module
- Separately validated on its own large sample
- Domain scores predict psychological well-being on the PERMA model
- Domain scores correlate negatively with spiritual struggles, exactly as theory predicts
Ready to Help Your Students Flourish?
Three simple steps to get started:
01
Contact us to discuss your assessment needs and timeline
02
We'll help you plan the most effective implementation strategy
03
Receive everything you need to launch your assessment with confidence