Exploration in Spiritual Direction
For those registered for the Contemplative Spiritual Direction Workshop, this is an opportunity to sign up for a one-hour session with a Selah-trained Spiritual Director.
Availability is limited, so please sign up as soon as you are able to commit. If all slots are full or these times don’t work for you, you are welcome to contact someone from our list of spiritual directors (graduates from our Selah Certificate in Spiritual Direction program) and inquire with them directly for spiritual direction.
LOCATION:
Online via ZOOM
AVAILABLE DATES / TIMES:
Thursday, October 21 2021, one-hour slots offered at 2:00PM & 3:30PM
Saturday, Oct 23, 2021, one-hour slots offered at 10:00 AM & 11:30 AM
(All times are in Eastern Time)
COST:
A suggested donation of $30-50 per session.
(This trends lower than one might typically offer their director for a one-on-one session; we’re suggesting this range simply as part of your introduction to the practice! Note that this particular donation will go directly to LTI’s Selah Gifts Fund, from which we offer need-based scholarships to Selah enrollees. The spiritual directors with whom we match you are donating their time as their gift to Selah enrollees.) We realize these are trying times financially for many. If you are unable to give, you are welcome to register anyway. If you are able to make a contribution, we would be most grateful.
Christian Spiritual Direction is the practice whereby one person helps another to pay attention to God, and to God’s presence, voice, and sanctifying work in his or her life. As in the Luke passage above, it is the shared noticing of Jesus, revealed in Scripture and the daily events of a walk and a meal, attended to in feelings of disappointment and hope, of joy and burning hearts.
Spiritual direction is God-oriented rather than goal-oriented–giving one’s attention to God rather than to a particular problem that needs to be fixed or behavior that needs to be modified. It is responsive rather than directive, listening together to the Holy Spirit’s presence and ways rather than the director telling the directee what to do. It is about listening with–together noticing senses of God’s voice and direction–rather than talking to. It occurs in an atmosphere of loving trust; trusting that God is for us (not against us), in love, and that God’s work over time is about transforming us into the image of Christ, through the loving shaping of his Holy Spirit, so that we might live life fully, and to the Father’s glory.
Spiritual direction meetings between a director and directee usually occur once a month, for an hour each time.
Spiritual direction occurs in an atmosphere of prayerful listening. Often beginning and ending in silent prayer, to create an awareness of God’s presence with the director and directee, it’s common for the director to ask a directee to return to a few moments of silence in the middle of a session, again to clear away the clutter of talk and notice more deeply what the Holy Spirit may be saying.
Spiritual Direction conversations include all the “stuff” of ordinary life–vocation, relationships, circumstances, health, the life of worship and prayer and service, joys and sorrows, boredoms and adventures–and seek to notice God’s presence, work, and invitations in the midst of those.
Begin by praying. God, who is stirring this desire in you, is also working to meet that desire!
Then prayerfully make contact with potential directors, by email and/ or by phone. Ask them about their theology of spiritual direction—how do they understand what happens in the direction session? How do they try to pay attention to God’s presence? What might regular times with them look like? As you listen to their answers, notice what goes in your own internal reactions. Is there a particular director with whom you feel a desire and freedom to share more deeply? Do you sense this as a relationship where already, in your back-and-forth conversation, there’s an awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence and leading?
Once you identify a potential director, set up a time to meet. (Although in-person direction is preferable, some directors do offer direction by phone or skype.) Unless it’s clear right away that this isn’t what or who you want, you’ll meet a further one to two times, before together discerning if this is a direction relationship that the Lord is inviting you into. Then you’ll commit to a period of time together, usually a year, before further evaluation.
Clarify with the director where you will meet, how often, and how you will offer financial compensation for his or her ministry. (Some directors request a particular amount, others suggest a scale based on your ability and freedom to give, others are covered already by their ministry organization. Do be prepared to offer something, either to them or to their ministry organization, for this is a ministry for which people have invested time and money in training, and your contribution enables them to give time to it.)
AVAILABLE SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS:

Amy Alves
Oxford, MA

Gil Banton
Columbia, CT

Gail Edmonson
Katy, TX

Ann Gemmel
Wheaton, IL

Roger Hornbeck
Glendale, AZ

Kate Laymon
Citrus Heights, CA

Clara Louie
Ardmore, PA

Tamara Murphy
Bridgeport, CT

Sylvia McGuire
Colorado Springs, CO

David Nichols
Bryan, TX

Brenda Nickerson
Surrey, BC, Canada

Celah Pence
Harrisonburg, VA

Joanna Polarek
Port Jervis, NY

Nina Whitnah
Paoli, PA
STEP 1: SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR
Click the Schedule Now button below to open a new browser window with a Sign-up Genius Page . There you will find available time slots to meet with the Spiritual Directors listed above. Reserve a time slot and then return to this page to complete your registration.