Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction is a formative and sacred journey with another person and the Holy Spirit. In direction the focus is noticing how God is already present and active in your life and to support you in responding more fully.
Listening, exploration, discovery, discernment, and response are all aspects of spiritual direction. A spiritual director is trained to hold space and confidence as you share your story. In prayerful conversation, your director helps you notice the Spirit’s movements—comfort, conviction, invitation, and guidance—in the midst of your daily life. Along the way, you may enter into silence, Scripture meditation, imaginative prayer, or other spiritual practices that open you to God’s presence. The goal is to help you grow in intimacy with God and to respond more freely to the Spirit’s leading, so that you may be formed more fully in the likeness of Christ.
Is Spiritual Direction New to You?
Many people have only recently heard about spiritual direction, but it has been part of the Church’s life for centuries. From the earliest days, Christians have turned to trusted companions for guidance in prayer and discernment, seeking help to notice God’s presence and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. While the forms of spiritual direction have varied across time and tradition, the heart of the practice remains the same: listening together for God’s voice and growing in faithful response to Christ.
In our own time, many people continue to seek spiritual direction as a way of slowing down and paying attention to God amid the noise and demands of daily life. Just as Christians through the ages found strength and clarity by listening with a spiritual companion, you too can discover how the Holy Spirit is moving in your life, drawing you closer to Christ and shaping your path of faith.
What to Expect
First, and most importantly, expect God to show up, because I’ve yet to be disappointed in this respect! We meet in the presence of the God who is present and active. As Eugene Peterson put it, we meet with a “cultivated awareness that God has been working diligently, redemptively, and strategically before I appeared on the scene, before I was aware there was something here for me to do.”
In many ways it is difficult to explain what happens in direction if one tries to define it in the left brain or analytical terms of structures and frameworks. This seems natural and expected, as the relationship that is nurtured is with a God who while intimate with us, is also mysterious and “his ways are past finding out” (Romans 11:33.) Despite this, Father God invites us to seek His face, to listen to the Spirit’s leading, and to become followers of His Son, Jesus. Spiritual direction provides space and companionship explore what this means for you.
How to Get Started
Whether you are new to spiritual direction and are curious or have been in direction before and are seeking a new director, an introductory session is a good next step. In this meeting we will get to know each other a bit. Your spiritual journey up until now, spiritual practices you’ve engaged in or are curious about, areas where you may feel stuck or dry spiritually, and questions you have about life events and decisions are some things you may want to bring into this time. You can also ask me questions about my background and training. After this we can prayerfully discern about continuing in a direction companionship.