spiritual direction

Noticing God’s Work in our Lives

There are times in our faith journey where we need people to meet us and walk with us along the way. A “Spiritual Director” is someone who can help us grow in faith by helping us pay attention to the presence and call of God in our life. A Spiritual Director is trained to listen, discern and sometimes ask questions. Spiritual direction is not counseling, friendship, teaching nor discipling - it is the commitment to discover what God is doing in a person’s life and to help that person come closer to Christ.

Richard Foster, a Christian theologian and author, shares the following key summary points to help understand spiritual direction:

1. Spiritual direction is an interpersonal relationship in which we learn how to grow, live, and love in the spiritual life.

2. Spiritual direction involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying.

3. Discernment is a crucial gift in the work of spiritual direction.

4. In spiritual direction there is absolutely no domination or control.

5. The spiritual director/mentor/pastor guides another in spiritual things through the spiritual world by spiritual means.

6. God has ordained that there be spiritual directors/mentors/pastors among his people. This is the structure of love in practice.

7. Supremely, spiritual directors/mentors/pastors are persons who have a sense of being ​“established” in God. Otherwise they are too dangerous to be allowed into the soul space of others.

Though not always called by this name, spiritual direction has been a vital ministry in many streams of the Church for hundreds of years. Lake Ridge has a relationship with several Spiritual Directors in the Calgary area. If you would like to know more about Spiritual Direction, or find a Spiritual Director, please email Pastor Preston at preston@lakeridgecommunity.com. He would be happy to help you find a Spiritual Director who can walk with you. If you would love to read more about Spiritual Direction in the Covenant Church, you can read this thoughtful article “The Gift of Spiritual Direction” by Dr. Rob Peterson.