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Spiritual Direction
Overview: Individual and Group
Spiritual Direction (Spiritual Companioning)
Are you longing for deeper meaning in your life? Or just longing but you don't know what you are longing for?
Do you sense the presence or movement of God (Sacred) in your life or lack of presence?
Are you discerning decisions about your life, your work or vocation?
Do you want to deepen your spiritual practices and awareness of God?
Are you searching and don’t quite know what you are searching for?
Do you just simply want a companion to walk with you on your spiritual journey?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, Spiritual Direction or Companioning may be something to explore.
Spiritual Direction, sometimes known as spiritual companioning, invites another person or group of people to walk prayerfully with us and bear witness to the heart of who we are. Spiritual companions can help us awaken to the sacredness of our stories, our life experiences, our hopes, longings and challenges.
“Our experiences, our memories, our stories, all that we carry around within us: this is material for pondering, for reflection, for prayer. Inscribed with the word of God in our very being, we are ourselves sacred texts. In becoming prayerfully present to a layer of our lives, we may realize that God inhabited that layer in a way that we didn’t perceive at the time.” Jan Richardson (artist, writer, and ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.)
Spiritual direction is the ancient practice of listening to the divine with an experienced guide. A spiritual director can help us listen to how God is inviting and engaging with us and see the movement of God in our lived experiences that we may not always be able to see by ourselves.
Ultimately, the spiritual director is not the director….God is. The director and directee are there to listen to God together.
“In Spiritual direction two people (or more if done in a group) experience God drawing them together to pay attention to love, the prayer of God unfolding in the heart of the person seeking spiritual direction. This prayer of God, really God’s yearning for the person, has long been a prayer before the person comes for spiritual direction. Whether or not we are aware of it, God is constantly engaged with the human heart.” (Rose Mary Dougherty, Group Spiritual Direction, Shalem Institute)
What does Individual Spiritual Direction (Companioning) look like?
- 1 hour introductory session to get to know each other, explore the reason for seeking spiritual direction, orientation to spiritual direction and determine the time and frequency of the sessions
- Normally sessions are 1 hour once a month but may meet more or less often based on need
- After 3 or 4 months we might check in to see how it is going. Does this seem to be a good fit?
- A typical session might begin with some silence, prayer or a reading, followed by an invitation to share what is foremost on the directee's mind and heart. The director may offer questions or observations for further exploration and conversation during the sessions and sometimes something to engage with outside of the session. The session is concluded with prayer or silence.
What do you talk about?
“God comes to you disguised as your life.” (Paula D’Arcy, author and retreat leader)
- You talk about your life.
- What is real for you.
- Your celebrations and hopes
- Your challenges, struggles and confusions
- Your sense of God and how God works in your life
- Your sense of loss of God’s presence
- Questions of vocation and meaning
Spiritual Direction (Companioning) in Community
“Group spiritual direction (Spiritual Direction in Community) is a process in which people gather together on a regular basis to assist one another in an ongoing awareness of God in all of life. They are seeking support for their responsiveness to God and they agree to support others in that same responsiveness.”
--Shalem Institute
So often, I hear from directees expressing a deep desire to be in an authentic caring community with others and yet this type of community is difficult to find. We are meant to be in relationship with one another. Our stories and our lives are more connected than we realize and as we walk with one another, we become open to how we are all a part of the story of God.
When we do our inner spiritual work in community with others, we find that our experiences are unique to us and may look different on the outside, however, there is a deeper common inner thread. Deep within all of us are struggles, sorrow, hopes, joys and a desire to find meaning in our lives. Sharing our stories in community with others who are seeking the same, can show us the holy wisdom that resides in each of us and open us to say yes to the life we are called to live each day. This yes, is not only for our own transformation but for the transformation of our communities and the world.
“When a group can give itself to the process over a period of time, and when individuals take seriously the responsibility to pray for one another within and outside their times together, transformation occurs. The group becomes a spiritual community where the uniqueness of desire for God and the commonality of that desire is celebrated, and where people want to be present to God for one another in the fullness of that desire. That desire for God becomes the ground for their discernment. Together and alone they continue to examine choices for responsible love.” --Shalem Institute
What does Spiritual Direction (Companioning) in Community look like?
- Session are 1 ½ - 2 hours
- Groups range in size from 4-12 people
- May meet monthly or weekly, for a total of 6 sessions
- A typical session looks very similar to individual direction in terms of flow. It will include silence, prayer, time for journaling, sharing our stories and experiences, listening to others with a deep heart and offering a loving presence and response.
- Depending on size, may divide into smaller groups at points during the session
- Commitment to reflect on your experience and to pray for the community between sessions.
- The Community is guided by a "Community Covenant." See link to view/download PDF below.
What do you talk about?’
The same as in individual spiritual direction however, the members of the community are companioning each other. The director helps organize, provides the structure, spiritual themes/focus and facilitates the process.
Next Steps:
If you are interested in exploring individual or group spiritual direction, please contact Julie for an introductory conversation using the contact form below. Please note that currently both individual and group spiritual direction are only being offered virtually.
Cost:
- Individual: $85 per session, 1 hr. monthly and may continue as long as mutually agreed upon
- Group: $150: includes six 2-hour group sessions
*Please don’t let the cost keep you from exploring spiritual direction. We can work together to find what is comfortable for you to pay.
Guidelines for Ethical Conduct
Julie follows the Guidelines for Ethical Conduct from Spiritual Directors International and can be viewed following this link: https://www.sdicompanions.org/docs/guidelines/Flip/guidelines_ethical_conduct.html
What if I’m not Christian, is Spiritual Direction for me?
Spiritual Direction is open to anyone who seeks to live a life of meaning in whatever way that meaning makes sense to them in their religious tradition or life philosophy. Trusting that we are all spiritual beings, that there is a deep wisdom in all of us and that we have a common desire to live a life of purpose that is integrated with and authentic to our truest self, spiritual direction is open to all who seek to earnestly walk this path.
Spiritual Direction is Distinct from other Disciplines
Spiritual direction is not therapy, counseling, coaching, or mentoring however there are places of congruency and overlap. As we are integral whole persons...body, mind and spirit, we bring all of ourselves to our experiences. Spiritual direction can serve as a complement to these other disciplines and vice versa. Each bring a unique gift for different needs and times in our journey,
"It is because one antelope will blow the dust from the other’s eye that the two antelopes walk together.” African Proverb