INTRODUCING

CEPHAS-45™

Catholic Educator Pathway to Holiness Assessment™

WHAT IS CEPHAS-45?

YOUR DISCERNMENT TOOL FOR HOLINESS

CEPHAS-45 (Catholic Educator Pathway to Holiness Assessment) is a comprehensive spiritual formation tool for Catholic educational communities developed by Jim Owens, a Catholic behavioral scientist with 20+ years of clinical experience, in collaboration with veteran educators and Catholic administrators.

Based on the Great Commandment (Love of God, Neighbor, Self), the CEPHAS-45 ASSESSMENT integrates evidence-based psychology rooted in the Catholic Church’s teaching on the human person to provide personalized formation plans for teachers and strategic insights for leaders.

CEPHAS-45 gives educators a snapshot of their current spiritual formation, detailing strengths/growth areas across a spectrum of formative domains. The assessment report provides a roadmap for continued growth in discipleship. For admins, anonymized aggregate data informs targeted PD, wellness initiatives, and school or diocesan-wide adjustments to enhance culture, morale, retention, and mission.

  • CEPHAS-45 empowers superintendents with diocesan-wide insights, enabling targeted spiritual formation for educators.

    • Uncovers collective strengths and growth opportunities across schools: enabling strategic resource allocation for PD and wellness programs to promote mission unity and teacher retention.

    • Enables data-backed strategies to nurture thriving Catholic school culture, elevating morale and empowering leaders to address spiritual wellness issues.

  • CEPHAS-45 provides principals with school-specific analytics, highlighting trends in educators' spiritual wellness across Love of God, Neighbor, and Self domains, to guide focused formation efforts to strengthen and support the school community.

    • Pinpoints campus-wide assets and improvement areas, supporting tailored professional growth, wellness efforts, and tweaks to reinforce mission goals and staff morale.

    • Cultivates a unified, dynamic spiritual atmosphere, allowing principals to meet needs and create an environment that fosters better student results and institutional unity.

  • CEPHAS-45 supports teachers and staff in personal discipleship, offering customized insights into Love of God, Neighbor, and Self domains to foster growth in holiness and joyful witness to students.

    • Provides personalized spiritual tools to help educators grow in holiness and model the faith to their students.

    • Fosters the healthy integration of all aspects of an educator’s life including prayer, planning, study, and community.

  • CEPHAS-45 bolsters coaches in leadership, offering individualized feedback on Love of God, Neighbor, and Self to foster spiritual advancement for mentoring athletes in sports and life.

    • Furnishes custom strategies with tools for training in virtue, tackling coaching pressures to instill character in athletes

    • Advances well-being, preparing coaches to shape athletes holistically, improving team spirit, morale, and unity.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CEPHAS-45™ METHODOLOGY

The CEPHAS-45 is a spiritual formation assessment tool, based on the structure of the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40), measuring three domains and nine subdomains to gauge spiritual maturity:

  • Domain 1: Love of God (prayer, sacraments, faith knowledge)

  • Domain 2: Love of Neighbor (service, educational witness, community)

  • Domain 3: Love of Self (self-awareness, self-care, growth mindset).

    Uniquely, this assessment integrates the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change) to measure not only spiritual health in each area but also readiness to grow. This dual measurement enables highly personalized formation plans that meet educators where they are and support sustainable spiritual development. Educators get personalized profiles and plans with strategies like retreats or boundary training for holistic growth; admins receive aggregate data for targeted PD, retention, and faith-focused culture.

VIEW SAMPLE QUESTIONS

FRONTLINE FORUM

PSYCHOMETRIC VALIDATION STUDY

The FRONTLINE FORUM is an online formation, planning, community-building, and resource platform for Catholic educators, where each teacher can access spiritual practices, formative exercises, and other resources based on the results of their CEPHAS-45 assessment. The FORUM blends traditional Catholic spiritual practices like the Daily Examen, spiritual reading, and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy with science-backed, theologically-grounded health and wellness exercises. Stage-specific recommendations allow for realistic, incremental progress. The FRONTLINE FORUM is available to individual teachers, schools, and dioceses.

MENTORING

Beyond CEPHAS-45 and the FCF FORUM, educators and admins can schedule one-on-one mentoring sessions. Master teachers, seasoned coaches, or experienced admins serve as spiritual guides and allies. Drawing on biblical discipleship, mentoring offers wisdom, accountability, and encouragement through virtual/in-person sessions. It addresses classroom challenges, faith integration, wellness, and identity, fostering transformative discipleship—empowering teachers to model holiness and admins to nurture mission-driven communities. (Launching Fall 2027)