Spiritual Directors International recently conducted a survey of our members to get feedback from their experience in the organization. This information has been extremely valuable in ensuring that Spiritual Directors International continues to provide the best possible benefits and resources to all current and future members.

You will be pleased to know that over 90 percent of those who responded were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their overall experience of Spiritual Directors International. This overall experience took into account leadership, staff, vision, and mission.  The high satisfaction rate among members also applied to the publications of Spiritual Directors International. Listen, Connections, Membership Moments, the Seek and Find Guide, and our educational resources received extremely positive satisfaction ratings, topped by the journal Presence which garnered a 95 percent satisfaction rating.

One of the best indicators of an organization’s health and member satisfaction comes through member referrals and word of mouth recommendations. Note that close to 97 percent of survey participants said they would recommend Spiritual Directors International to others!

Spiritual Directors International strives to keep membership costs reasonable, considering a variety of factors from the economy to postage and printing costs. Members agree. Over 81 percent think the cost of membership is affordable on their budget, and that over 12 percent more members think the membership cost is a bargain.

Your responses to the survey have already brought change. Based on your input, Spiritual Directors International has gone green in all publications, using recycled paper and FSC certified printers. 70 percent of the members said, as a form of environmental stewardship, they value e-mail renewal notices, e-mail with html, and e-newsletters that link to the Spiritual Directors International Web site, thus cutting down on paper. 

Thank all of those who took the time to complete this survey. Your feedback helps Spiritual Directors International grow and serve the community of compassionate listeners and seekers.

Jason Martinson
Membership Services Coordinator

Catholic nuns plant trees during a program marking World Environment Day in Manila, Philippines, June 5th, 2007.

Catholicism has Gone Green.  Pope Benedict XVI has garnered headlines for his repeated calls for environmental protection.  "Before it's too late, we need to make courageous choices that will recreate a strong alliance between man and Earth," he said.  "We need a decisive 'yes' to care for creation and a strong commitment to reverse those trends that risk making the situation of decay irreversible."

 To read more of the Catholic Environmentalism, please view here.

In the Summer 2008 issue of Hungryhearts, Spiritual Directors International member Kent Ira Groff lists seven basic practices for staying spiritually fit:

1. Honest-to-God prayer that expresses exhilaration and exhaustion;

2. Balancing one’s schedule with sabbath and action, silence and speech;

3. Self-nurturing spiritual practices in community and solitude;

4. Spiritual mentoring and healthy friendships with appropriate boundaries;

5. Transforming failure by mining gifts in weaknesses and strengths;

6. Integrating of the mystical, political, intellectual, and physical arenas;

7. A life mission that links personal passion and some need in the world.

The scripture for today comes from John 17:9-12 and Ephesians 4: 1-6: " I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on the behalf of the world, but on the behalf of the ones you gave me, because they are yours.....Holy Father protect them n your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one." " I (Paul) beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

The question at death may be not so much what I did or accomplished  for the kingdom but how much did I grow in love!

We do not create authentic Christian community out of good intentions--work, study and intelligence but we create community when we participate with God. In the giving, we receive and in the receiving we can give more--this creates authentic community.

In Christian community God is at the center of all that we do and God continually is drawing us into community---into oneness of Spirit.

Knowledge without love is nothing. Loving is the key to all relationships--with God, others and self.

Love looks for the good in all people. Love is gentle and kind; never rude or resentful. Love is at the center of true Christianity.

Love is willing to wait on God’s timing. Love is willing to trust completely in God. Love knows no bounds.

Spiritual practices help us know and experience the love of God. They draw us into God's friendship. Listening deeply to one another is the key to growing in love--through telling our stories, through sharing, giving and receiving.  Listening deeply grounds us in faith.

Listening deeply to one another in the Spirit of Christ's love is foundational to loving others.

Listening deeply permits each person to be who they are. It brings freedom to the soul.

Listening deeply for and to God, allows for the experience of God.

....and what comes from God has "staying power"....

We all have the gift of unity in Christ Jesus. We are One in Body and One in Spirit.

How will you live out your unity with Christ and others?

How will you listen deeply to God?

Thank you Cherri Johnson, FUMSDRL board member, for today's blog topic!

The overall conference theme is: The Heart of Pilgrimage: Living by the Spirit. This year’s daily themes come from the Eucharistic prayer: “By Your Holy Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes again. Amen.” The theme for today was Make us One with Christ. The schedule for each day begins with Morning Prayer at 7am. The FUMSDRL Board provides leadership for this contemplative service of Morning Prayer. There are about 100 people (of the over 400 at the Conference) who attend the Morning Prayer service at 7am. This morning Brenda Buckwell Lifland and Scottie Brafford, a spiritual director and the Director of The Center for Spiritual Formation in Memphis, Tennessee led the service.

There is a morning plenary session which is a lecture style presentation on the theme for the day. The teacher for the plenary sessions this year is Marjorie Thompson, Presbyterian minister and author of the best-selling book Soulfeast. Marjorie noted that “One with Christ” is a mystical expression of oneness, “One with each other” is a moral expression and “One in ministry to all the World” is a missional expression. She focused on John 15: 1-11 where Jesus invites – actually commands us – to “abide in Him.” Quoting from Julian of Norwich and Bernard of Clairvaux, she explained atonement as the “primordial inter-penetration of the Divine and human that preserves the difference of identity.”

 
Steve Bryant and Marjorie Thompson 

After a break are the morning workshops. As I said before, this is the third year that FUMSDRL has been invited to offer leadership and spiritual direction at Soulfeast. Each year we have led a three day morning workshop that introduces spiritual direction to participants. There are five members of FUMSDRL’s Board of Directors present this year and several other members of FUMSDRL and SDI in attendance. 

Sacred Center in the workshop space

 
This year the workshop is being led by Reverend Dr. Brenda Buckwell Lifland and Cherri Johnson. Brenda is the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of FUMSDRL and Cherri is new member on the Board who brings a wealth of experience as a spiritual director and a supervisor of directors. The workshop is entitled, “Formation from the Inside to the Outside.” Participants came from all over the country and many different walks of life. Today the session focused on individual spiritual direction and how the skills of spiritual direction assist believers in companioning folks on their journeys through life. Attention was given to the difference between spiritual direction and other helping ministries such as therapy, counseling and chaplaincy. Brenda also shared a little of her experience of teaching a dying congregation the principles of spiritual direction and formation and how that revitalized the congregation. Brenda and Cherri demonstrated a formal spiritual direction session which the participants found extremely helpful. Brenda sent the participants with two questions to contemplate:

How has God been present in our discussion?

What signs of joy and hope did you experience in our discussion?

and an assignment to remember the person sitting on either side of them and say prayers of blessing for them.

Brenda and Cherri demonstrate Spiritual Direction

After lunch there is free time when several “Sabbath Options” are available to participants. One of the options that FUMSDRL offers is Spiritual Direction. This afternoon Brenda led a Group Spiritual Direction Session which resulted in several people requesting individual sessions. All of us on the Board are available to meet with individuals when requested.

At 4pm there are one hour workshops offered on a variety of topics – everything from “Approaching the Heart of God: Walking the Labyrinth” to “Spirituality and Photography” to “Hula Hooping.” Linda Douty, author of How Can I Let Go if I Don’t Know I’m Holding On: Setting Our Souls Free and How Can I See the Light When It’s So Dark: Journey To a Thankful Heart, and a member of FUMSDRL from Memphis offered a workshop on “Prayers for Busy People.”

After supper there is a worship experience with lots of singing and original liturgy. Tonight we remembered and celebrated our Baptism.

Soulfeast  is an annual spiritual formation event sponsored by the Upper Room Ministries of The United Methodist Church. It is held in the beautiful surroundings of Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. This year the even is held July 20 through July 24. This is the third year that the Fellowship of United Methodist Spiritual Directors (FUMSDRL) has been invited to offer spiritual direction to the participants and participate in the leadership of Morning Prayer and lead workshops. More on FUMSDRL’s role later.

 

This year for the first year, United Theological Seminary is sponsoring a seminar for spiritual leaders interested in an enhanced experience of the event through reflection and dialogue with key leaders. On Sunday evening, July 20 the seminar began with conversation with Steve Bryant, Publisher, Upper Room Ministries and Associate General Secretary of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church and Jerry Haas, Director of the Academy for Spiritual Formation and Emerging Ministries.

 

At this meeting, Steve Bryant outlined the key elements of planning a spiritual formation event such as Soulfeast. He said that the planning focused on providing Presence, Practice, Pathways, Power, and Pilgrimage through Environment, Experience, Education, Exercise (of spiritual practices) and Engagement.

 

The purpose of the event, he said, was to provide opportunities for participants to notice the Presence of the Holy, and learn the basic Practices of the faith as they begin the Pilgrimage of walking in the Presence by looking at Pathways available to us in the journey as we become aware of the Power of God. This is done by providing a culture of Spiritual Formation with good leadership which fosters an Environment of Grace that allows others to feel appreciated, and to know themselves as children of God. Liturgical, visual, and physical, Experiences are offered that enable participants to Exercise a daily rhythm of the spiritual practices of celebration and contemplation, solitude and community, prayer and learning providing Education for the spiritual journey that prepares them to Engage life more fully.

 

Jerry Haas noted how extremely important the setting is. Attention to preparation, beauty, hospitality and prayer are essential to providing a safe and open setting for spiritual exploration. Language must be used sensitively in a way that is inclusive and non-threatening. He described such events as playgrounds of the soul providing permission and relaxed and safe ways enter more deeply into God.

 

Following their presentations, and dialogue with them, Elise Eslinger led the group in a time of reflection on the shared information.

submitted by Reverend Karen Covey Moore 

Compassionate listening around the world and across traditions.

As a multi-faith, global learning community and organization that honors the contemplative spiritual practices of compassionate listening, you’d think it would be difficult to help spiritual directors of every faith and community network and connect with each other.

Not true.

While we’ve always felt the ministry of spiritual direction grows stronger by learning and supporting one another, it’s nice to see a study that backs the notion up.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public life, a new major study finds that a “majority of those who are affiliated with a religion do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation.” In fact, “most agree with the statement that many religions – not just their own – can lead to eternal life.”

How wonderful to see this trend towards tolerance, a trend towards more open and respectful exchanges and acknowledgement of practices.

Three cheers to compassionate listening, respect and tolerance.

A recent article on longevity in Maclean’s magazine got Ron Rolheiser thinking: many studies, hints and tips for long life revolve around the same notions of the Sabbath.

Ron states that “much of our tiredness and sense of being over-burdened comes from not having a regular Sabbath in our lives.”

Read his tips for longevity, tips based on observing and keeping the Sabbath:

• Keep Sabbath with the discipline demanded of a commandment.
• Sabbath need not be just one day a week. Sabbath to can be an hour, a walk, a meal, a drink, a chat with a friend. Plan at least one Sabbath-moment every day.
• Every day, even if for just a few minutes, go to some place where you can’t be reached. Cell-phones, email, and electronic communications have made us the most efficient and connected people in history, but they are also making the observance of Sabbath all but impossible. Go regularly to a place where you can’t be reached.
• Honor the wisdom of dormancy, know that when you aren’t doing something that is productive you are giving your soul the time and space it needs to quietly take in the nutrients it requires to remain productive. Buy a rocking chair and sit in it regularly, not thinking, not praying, not talking to a friend, just sitting, your soul a fallow field that is quietly waiting.
• Spend some time in quiet and prayer regularly.
• Be attentive to little children, old people, family, food, wine, and the weather. All of these are non-pragmatic and Sabbath-invoking.
• Live by the axiom: If not now, when? If not here, where? If not with these people, with whom? If not for God, why?
• Stay in touch with and listen to your body. It will tell you when you need Sabbath..
• Drink a glass or two of red wine most days, preferably with others.
• Don’t nurse grudges and obsessions, they, more than anything else, will keep you tired and tense.

 

Thanks Ron for the great hints and tips.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) supports the conservation of forests and helps people lead better lives.  Choosing FSC® certified products does make a difference.

You can imagine the elation on green consumers faces when Consolidated press, Seattle's premier publications printer, announced last month a partnership that would change their entire inventory of regularly stocked coated papers to comply with global standards for forest and social sustainability.   All stock paper will now carry the FSC® logo, recognizing the 10% recycled designation and a higher standard for sustainability of our forests.

What does this mean for Spiritual Directors International?  As an organization who truly cares about the environment and maintains a standard for using recycled papers and soy ink, our publications which are printed through Consolidated Press will proudly bear the FSC® logo.  

Thank you Mother Earth for loaning us your resources. 

Regina Roman, Amey Upton and Liz Ellmann participated in Sojourner’s Training for Change conference. 

Jim Wallace, President of Sojourners, kicked off the Training for Change conference by inviting participants to find our stories that led to the desire to end poverty and to recall the biblical basis for ending poverty.

Marshall Ganz, PhD, lecturer at Harvard College in public policy, introduced participants to the ways values move to action.

Adam Taylor, senior political director at Sojourners, modeled telling his personal story and how it led him to care about eliminating poverty.

Spiritual Directors International seeks ways to support young adults who are entering ministry with the intention of working on justice issues. By offering spiritual direction to young leaders, we hope to create sustainable ministry and lessen the likelihood of compassion fatigue and burn out. 

 

Rev. Canon Dr. Howard Anderson, Warden of the Cathedral College, and Kathy Spaar, faculty member, share with Liz Ellmann the commitment of National Cathedral to prayer, pilgrimage and spiritual direction. 

In the past year, twenty two participants completed the inaugural “Art of Spiritual Companionship” course sponsored by The Cathedral Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, USA.  The course provides participants an opportunity to deepen their spiritual life and discern with others their gift for spiritual direction.

 

  Renee DeVigne, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Professorial Lecturer in Law, Regina Roman, and Rosanne O’Hara, Director of Academic Support Services  at The George Washington University Law School met with Liz Ellmann to continue conversations about supporting law students.  

Christina Puchalski, MD, Executive Director of The George Washington Institute of Spirituality and Health (GWISH) and Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences met with Regina Roman and Liz Ellmann to discuss ways that Spiritual Directors International might support physicians, medical students, and other health care providers.  George Washington University is committed to experimenting with ways to provide compassionate listening to medical and law students as they prepare for service in healing and justice.

Our spiritual life is like singing. Most of us can sing, but few of us do it in public. Even fewer can do it in public without embarrassment! Try these simple, soulful, spiritual workouts to help develop your religious voice so that you can--to use the words of the Psalms--"sing a new song to God."

-Rabbi Brian

Can you spend time 'not doing'?  Can you accept change?  If God wrote you an email what would it say?

Spiritual Directors International Member, Rabbi Brian Mayer, Author of "How to Find Out What (the) God (of Your Understanding) Wants from You" has written Ten Simple Exercises for your Soul.  

To view these Ten simple exercises, visit the full article at Belief.net  and let us know,
did these exercises help you?

John Flinn, the executive editor of the travel section of the San Francisco Chronicle, recently made a trek to Machu Picchu. In his May 25 article about the adventure, he listed “Five cool things about the Peruvian Andes.”

1. Hiram Bingham, the Yale archaeology professor who uncovered Machu Picchu, is widely believed to be the model for Indiana Jones.
2. Peru and Chile are among the very few countries in the world to designate a national cocktail, and they chose the same one: the Pisco sour. There's some history - and bad blood - behind this, so in Peru always make sure to tell them you like their Pisco sours best.
3. I'm aware of only one word of Quechua - the language spoken by the Incas and their descendants today - that has made it into the English lexicon: ch'arki, their name for dried meat. We pronounce it "jerky." (There must be others; I expect Quechua-speaking readers will fill me in.)
4. The larger ones are llamas; the smaller ones with the really nice coats are alpacas.
5. You'll probably be offered cuy, a delicacy of the Peruvian highlands. It's guinea pig, and it's not bad; tastes like dark-meat chicken.

To read his entire article, click here.

To read about the Spiritual Directors International pilgrimage to Machu Picchu, click here.

Jim Keegan, SJ and MaryAnn Scofield, RSM facilitated two programs in Korea communicating the value of spiritual direction.  Comments from one of the organizers of the programs, Sister Han Soon Hee, RSCJ:

It is really a historical moment in the Korean Church because it is the first lectures on spiritual direction in Korea.  The two of you really sowed the seed for God in Korea. It will grow and spread like a mustard seed, and one day it will become the biggest tree for God in Korea. The Korean Church needs to deepen the Gospel messages through … retreat and … spiritual direction. 

 

For more pictures, please visit us here.