About the Ministry of Spiritual Direction
The ministry of Christian spiritual direction is available to anyone who wants to deepen their relationship with God. In a Spiritual Direction relationship there is the person offering this ministry (known as the Director) and the person receiving this ministry (known as the directee).
The role of the director is to help the directee focus on their relationship with God and so enable their personal vocation (to become the person they were created to be) to grow and be better lived out through the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. The directee’s life is lived in relationship to God, creation, the world, local and faith communities. Spiritual direction seeks to enable the directee to reflect on the dynamic interaction between their experiences of prayer and life, and theology and spirituality.
Is God calling you to be a Spiritual Director?
Do others come to share with you their hopes and fears about their Christian pilgrimage?
- Have you ever felt that God might be calling you to “accompany” other people on their journey of faith?
- Have you considered whether training might develop your gifts?
If you have answered YES to any of the above then the Introduction to Spiritual Direction Training course may be for you. The course is open to anyone (lay or ordained) who finds that God is leading them to walk alongside others in the spiritual journey and who would like to develop their ability and understanding of this ministry.
Spiritual Direction Training Course
Based on the Sheffield Spiritual Direction Programme, the course in Spiritual Direction, here in Liverpool, has been very successful. The course offers a variety of experiences that will be part of each participant’s spiritual journey.
Designed to be experiential, the intention is to enable in the participants the growth and development of appropriate inner awareness, gifts and insights, for the ministry of listening to others and of Spiritual Direction.
There are four key elements to each session:
- A time of prayer and reflection in which different approaches to prayer are experienced
- A time of listening and sharing in small groups to enable appreciation of listening and the value of sharing our spiritual experiences
- A time of reflection in tutor-groups on the growth points being experienced and reflections on this in relation to spiritual direction
- An exploration of the background of and issues involved in spiritual direction be they biblical, practical, historical or theological.
Integral to the course is a three-day individually guided retreat in the middle of the second term.
The fee for the whole course is £400 which covers the 14 sessions, course materials and retreat accommodation. Clergy can use their Diocesan Training Grant and Readers may be able to get help from the Readers Association.
Grants may also be available to those in urban priority areas.