Richard Valantasis is a well-known spiritual director and academic.  Raised and immersed in the Greek Orthodox liturgical, theological, and contemplative tradition, Valantasis has conducted retreats and workshops for clergy and lay people throughout the United States.  As an ordained Episcopal priest for over thirty-five years, he has ministered in a small urban parish that needed to grow in order to survive; to large urban parishes with significant outreach ministries; as chaplain to a religious order of women monks seeking to develop their contemplative life while performing active ministry; as spiritual director to clergy and laity exploring the riches of Eastern Christian theology and practice for their personal and ministerial lives; and as director of a spiritual and ministerial formation for ordination candidates at Candler School of Theology of Emory University.  His ministry has focused on adult education programs in parishes, diocesan clergy retreats, workshops for lay leaders of congregations, and parish retreat weekends.

            As an academic, Valantasis is known for teaching, research, and publication in ancient practices of spiritual formation.  He earned his doctorate from Harvard University's Divinity School, qualifying in two areas: New Testament and Christian Origins and in Church History, which enabled him to develop critical tools for the spiritual reading of scripture and the history of spiritual formation in the Christian tradition.  His dissertation, Spiritual Guides of the Third Century, explored the question of spiritual guidance in various religious and philosophical movements of Late Antiquity.  His teaching and research over the years centers on ascetical theology, the branch of theology that articulates the integrative and formative spiritual practices of religious people and organizations.  Known for his contemporary theory of asceticism, Valantasis has published numerous articles and books on ascetical theology and spiritually formative practices of the early Christian Church and various Late Antique non-Christian writers.  Currently Valantasis is Professor of Ascetical Theology and Christian Practice at Candler School of Theology, Emory University where he has been involved in formation, in the university's contemplative studies initiative, and in translating ancient ascetical and contemplative practices for use in our contemporary ministry and life.  For the past three years, Valantasis has worked with Native American religious leaders to explore the rich and complex interconnections between ancient Christian practice and Lakota and Diné ceremonial as a means to understand early Christian practice and at the same time to learn a significant native American system of formation.  He is the author of Centuries of Holiness: Ancient Spirituality Refracted for a Postmodern Age, The Gospel of Thomas, Lost Christianities, and Spiritual Guides of the Third Century.