Training to be a Spiritual Director
If you desire to journey with people well as they seek to deepen their experience of God, training in the art of Spiritual Direction may be for you.
There are now many good places to train as a spiritual director. We live in a time where there has been a resurgence of this art and charism being taught and passed on in many places. The breadth and diversity of these across denominations and networks is a delight to see, and seems expresses the generative and generous character of God. I won’t list them all here, but i will highlight the training where I’ve connected to this work.
Sustainable Faith‘s School of Spiritual Direction is an excellent 2-year certificate program preparing you to serve as a spiritual director. The training is a deeply formative, immersive and integrated. The curriculum is run in cohorts in a number of locations.
It has been a pleasure for me to participate in the teaching of these Schools of Spiritual Direction in the UK over the last 7 years. Previous locations I’ve enjoyed teaching the curriculum in UK have been: Oxfordshire, South Wales, East Yorkshire, Nottingham and the East Midlands.
NOTE: For the academic year (2024-25) I will be taking a fallow-year from teaching in schools of spiritual direction as I take a sabbatical from the work with SF.
What is the training like?
The School’s of Spiritual Direction are experiential and reflective. Each year runs over five (in-person) modules with reading, reflection and practice making up the time in-between. Cohorts (typically around 8-10 people) are marked by a deep level of friendship and community formed over the months through vulnerable sharing.
The intention is for the study to be compatible with your existing rhythms of work and life. In addition to the 5 module weekends, expect to give at least 12 hours a month to the work. Along the way there are many opportunities to practice offering spiritual direction and receive supervision.
Further details on this training search out the Sustainable Faith website.