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Spiritual Direction

About Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Direction involves meeting with another Christian to give prayerful attention to your relationship with God. In Spiritual Direction, you receive help discerning how God is speaking to you, how to respond to Him, and how to live out your relationship with Him.

Individual Spiritual Direction

In Individual Spiritual Direction, you meet one-on-one with a trained spiritual director once a month. Meetings take place in the Grove modules. Each meeting typically lasts 45 minutes. The purpose of Individual Spiritual Direction is to grow in your capacity to relate to God, therefore the attention of the spiritual director and the dialogue you carry together will be centered on that relationship. It is a time to grow in your capacity to discern the movement and direction of the Holy Spirit in your life. The spiritual director will ask you questions to gain greater understanding of your relationship with God and will often incorporate the reading of and reflection on Scripture as part of the time.

Group Spiritual Direction

Group Spiritual Direction covers similar aspects to Individual Spiritual Direction, but does so through community. It allows for space for students to talk about how the Spirit of God may be moving, calling, and inviting them, as well as listen to others share. A group consists of a maximum of six students, plus one trained spiritual director from the Institute of Spiritual Formation who helps facilitate the conversation. Groups commit to sticking together for one semester and meeting every other week.

How to Sign Up

To sign up for Individual Spiritual Direction:

  • Submit this online application or turn in a paper application to our office in Grove 1.
  • Staff will review your application and assign you to a spiritual director based on schedule availability and gender preferences (your application remains confidential).
  • Your assigned spiritual director will contact you to arrange an initial meeting.

How to get credit for Spiritual Direction

Each Spiritual Direction meeting is equivalent to one Spiritual Development (chapel) credit. Credits are not offered if Spiritual Direction fulfills a class requirement. Your Spiritual Director will report your credit earned directly to the Chapel Accountability office on the last day of chapel, which is typically the last Friday before finals week. Any sessions after that date will not count toward chapel credit for the current semester. Please plan your sessions accordingly.

Questions

For additional information, check out the Institute for Spiritual Formation website, or call them at (562) 944-0351 ext.3205.