The Lived Experience of Group Spiritual Direction

Front Cover
Paulist Press, 2003 - Religion - 288 pages
These moving, positive essays witness the experiences of participants in Shalem Institute's group spiritual direction workshops. Each author relates what he or she learned as a member, mentor or facilitator of a spiritual direction group--a community gathered together to seek and share a desire for God in communal silence, dialogue, intercessory prayer and discernment--and adapts it to a specific setting--the family, workplace, congregation, seminary, the homeless. The result is this collection--a loving, gentle testament to the power of spiritual direction groups--that enables young and old, clergy and laity of all faiths to realize, celebrate and proclaim a commonality of greater spiritual purpose. Fluid and well-honed, The Lived Experience of Group Spiritual Direction is of great value to seminarians, graduate students, church organizations, clergy and laity of all faiths, as well as to anyone seeking guidance on the value of group spiritual direction. It features biographies of its numerous contributors. +
 

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Contents

Choosing Between OnetoOne and Group Spiritual Direction
17
Reflections on an EightYear Journey
23
There Is a River
38
Spiritual Direction A Comparison
45
Group Spiritual Direction Within Communities of Worship
59
In a Parish Setting
65
Raising Holy Sparks
76
Groups in a Congregational Setting
94
Tending to Spirituality in the Workplace
169
Sacred Story Sacred Text
184
Group Spiritual Direction with Teenagers
198
Group Spiritual Direction in Seminary
214
Group Spiritual Direction on Capitol Hill
234
Core Understandings in Group Spiritual Direction
245
Experiencing Spiritual Community in Different Settings
249
Intercessory Prayer and Group Spiritual Direction
258

Prayerfulness in a Parish Community
115
Group Spiritual Direction with Clergy
127
Learning with a Clergy Group
131
Group Spiritual Direction with Clergy
145
Group Spiritual Direction in a Variety of Settings
165
Opening Space for God
268
It Would Have Been Enough
280
Contributors
283
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