Conference Workshops

Friday Workshops will be presented twice — once in the morning and again in the afternoon.

F1. Listening for Spirit “on the Margins.” What happens when traditional spiritual directors reach out and serve in halfway houses, prisons, homeless shelters, and program-supported apartment buildings? This workshop will describe this ministry, the nature of the inner work for the director, how to prepare directors, and practical lessons learned along the way. The information presented is based on the experience of City House in Minneapolis/St Paul, MN, USA. In two years, the ministry has grown to 34 trained volunteer spiritual directors and has provided visits to 1500 persons through 12 social service agencies.    

F2. Spirituality for the Long Haul. The middle years are a time when people yearn to abandon the trivial, create a better self, and begin living in relation to life's ultimate questions. Yet it's also a time when people need new energy, new reasons for being faithful not only to God but themselves.  Based on the presenter's award-winning book The Enduring Heart, this workshop aims to help spiritual directors better minister to those faced with the challenges of  the second half of life. The workshop will focus on spiritual attitudes and practices that can help those in their middle years continue to choose life, that is, to live "with soul." 

F3. Exile or Return?Accompanying the Journey into Contemplative Prayer. This workshop offers an opportunity to study and experience the director's role in a person's move into the beginning and early stages of contemplative prayer, silence, and openness to new sorts of praying.  It will explore the different ways in which people pray.  There will be generous provision of time for personal silence and for shared reflection, as well as for discussing experience and practice in this field.

F4. Bringing Business Home: Spiritual Direction for Business and Other Organizations.  For at least the past 50 years, business has been living in exile.  It has lost its moral and spiritual grounding. The Canadian film “The Corporation” and recent articles in Business Week and The Economist illustrate the current keen interest in bringing business out of exile. At the same time, many individuals in business (even non-profits) feel like they are living in exile. They find the cultures in which they work alienating and soul-killing. They long to come home to themselves at work, to bring their full selves to their workplaces. This is a critical moment for spiritual directors. What do spiritual directors have to offer that can help bring business out of exile and back home?  How can spiritual directors enter businesses and other organizations and tend the souls of ordinary individuals, business leaders, and organizations as a whole?

F5. Embracing the Earth, Encountering the Divine: Eco-Feminist-Spirituality Movement and the Return of an Immanent God. This workshop will explore issues related to the emergence of the Eco-Feminist-Spirituality Movement in the latter half of the 20th century as a life-giving response to the personal and environmental devastation affecting all of us and our planet. Particular emphasis will be given to the implications for a return from exile in a patriarchal, dualistic conceptual framework that has resulted in our being alienated from one another, our planetary community, and a Divine imaged solely as transcendent. 

F6.Reclaiming Your Creative Spirit — the Universal World of Color and Pattern. This hands-on experience will give participants a chance to get in touch with their personal creative spirit. Through guidance, focusing, group discussion and observing objects from nature, each individual will create a mandala, using oil pastels (non-messy) and the colors and patterns found everywhere throughout the world. Participanats will have a chance to reawaken their own unique uses of color and pattern in a non-judgmental and nurturing environment. This workshop requires no previous artistic experience. All materials will be provided.

F7. Exile from the Landscape: Exploring a Spirit of Place. Australia was called The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. The continent's landscape is characterized by an outer fertile rim, where 90% of the population lives, and by vast tracts of wilderness and desert.  At the centre stands a great red monolith called Uluru. What was once regarded by Europeans as the "dead heart" is, to Aboriginal Australians, a rich spiritual symbol of space and freedom. This workshop will use the landscape of Australia as a metaphor for our personal journeys to the deep centre of ourselves and will encourage participants to reflect on the landscapes of their own terrain. We will use poetry, music, art, and images of Australia to explore the spirit of place and relate it to our own spiritual terrain. Workshop participants will be invited to explore the ways in which they experience exile and homecoming in both their exterior and interior landscapes.

F8. Spiritual Direction with People Living in Exile. Living in exile is not easy. In 1978, I left Chile with my family to live in exile in Canada. I did not know the language; I did not know any one in Canada; I did not have a job to sustain my family; and I could no longer relate to my feelings and emotions as I had known them. My world was literally upside down. I had to go through a process of rediscovering the meaning of my life. This is not a unique experience. Many have similar experiences--death of a beloved, unemployment, the end of a long-term relationship, leaving a community or even changing careers. In these circumstances the tendency of each of us is to search for ways to connect with others. In this workshop we will explore our personal stories of exile and how we can assist the “exile” in re-connecting.

F9. Globalization, Immigration and Spiritual Direction. The idea of globalization was developed in response to an increased market share for businesses. Today we can see how globalization has impacted many aspects of our lives. This workshop will present information on how globalization has changed the immigration patterns in the world and the diversity that has resulted from those patterns. Do we need to use different techniques to address directees, based on culture/background? Do we need to pay attention to different aspects of conversation or life stories as a result of working with a diverse group? People approach experiences, including the experience of God, in different ways, but the essence of each experience ends up being the same no matter where one comes from. In this workshop we will look at the viewpoints that should be considered when directing people from different cultures and backgrounds.

F10. Men and Belonging in Spiritual Direction: Are We in Exile? We will explore the presence and absence of men in spiritual direction, both as directors and directees. Spiritual directors must reintegrate and appreciate the male experience in order to best serve the men who come with stories and experiences of the Holy. As spiritual direction establishes itself as a ministry in forms within and outside of the traditional religious institutions, it must also offer a serious reflection and perspective on men's spirituality. Led by two friends, a gay man and a straight man, both spiritual directors actively involved in the ministry, this workshop will support a fuller expression of male images and male experiences in our ministry. The first presentation of this workshop will be a circle for men to support the process of storytelling and shared support. The second presentation will be open to both men and women who are interested in better understanding and supporting their male colleagues and directees. The second presentation will be open to both men and women who are interested in better understanding and supporting their male colleagues and directees.

F11. Into Exile Towards The Heart Of God. Pilgrimage is an intentional spiritual journey with purpose, a journey of the human heart to the heart of the sacred. It is also a form of voluntary exile, an act of willing displacement in which one leaves a familiar, secure and comfortable place and sets out to discover the sacred in an unfamiliar and vulnerable setting. This workshop will (a) explore pilgrimage as an apt metaphor and archetype for the experience of spiritual companioning, (b) reference various experiences of exile in the scriptures and other sacred writings, including selections from the early Egyptian Desert Mothers and Fathers and the early Christian Celtic movement, (c) examine the interior movements commonly associated with the journey into and through exile, drawing on relevant application of pilgrimage in spiritual companioning, and (d) illustrate, through visual imagery, pilgrimage as a spiritual journey with purpose.

F12. Exile and Returning Home in Islam.  Designed as a brief primer in Sufi spiritual practices, this workshop will focus on the Five Pillars of Islam:  prayer, pilgrimage, tithing, fasting and the profession of faith. Using Carl Ernst's The Shamballa Guide to Sufism, Anne Marie Schimmel's Mystical Dimensions of Islam and Karen Armstrong's Muhammad, participants will be exposed to an Islam very different fromthat portrayed by the U.S. media. The desired outcome is a deeper understanding of Sufi spiritual practices and their potential within a broader spiritual direction context. This will not be a theological discussion; nor will it attempt to interpret the Koran. However, part of being an effective spiritual director is an openness to and awareness of spiritual traditions. This workshop will include active participation in Sufi prayers and practices.

Saturday Workshops will be presented once on Saturday morning.

S1. From Egypt Through the Wilderness to the Promised Land:  Exploring God, Prayer and Spiritual Life Through a Jewish Lens. Judaism offers an astonishing array of spiritual resources. This workshop offers a “guided tour” for Jews and non-Jews wishing to deepen their understanding of Judaism's spiritual practices and to see those practices through a Jewish “lens.”  This workshop will demonstrate how Jewish spiritual practices can be understood and appreciated in their own contexts. Activities will include sacred chant, meditation, Torah study, the path of blessings and a personalized exploration of how the Exodus story applies to each of us on our spiritual path. We will provide all attendees with a list of resources and a bibliography, including copies of all texts.

S2. Liberating Desires: Women's Experience and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. A contemporary and interactive approach to the Spiritual Exercises as a freeing and focusing process. We will draw on our own personal experience as well as that of participants in dialogue with the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. We believe that a contemporary revitalizing of the Exercises can be a source of personal and social renewal.

S3. Comprehensive Spiritual Care in the Wake of Large Scale Trauma. More and more spiritual directors are being asked to provide spiritual care for victims of mass disaster and war. In this workshop participants will learn how to provide a continuum of spiritual care in the wake of disasters, terrorism and war. Topics covered will be spiritual triage and assessment as well as off-site and long-term care. In additiion, how to determine post traumatic stress reactions, make referrals and/or work in conjunction with psychological professionals will be addressed. 

S4. In Exile from God: Discovering and Repairing Our Exiled Selves. What can we do as spiritual directors to keep waking up to God's love and guidance? We are in exile from our own deepest wisdom, guidance and love unless we are in daily connection and contact with God. This workshop will explore our Shadow qualities — those parts of our unconscious that inevitably contaminate our relationship with God and our ability to be clear vessels for our directees. The Shadow in this context refers to our wounds, flaws and defenses.  It also refers to our power, strength, wisdom, creativity and deep intuition. We will use writing, guided meditation, and group discussion to facilitate the increasing consciousness of how we can work with our difficulties and bring forth our strengths. 

S5. Ethphatah: Healing the Wounds of Religion.Healing the wounds inflicted by a warped Christianity involves a return home to the very one whose words can bring healing. The sacred work of changing the heart hiding behind a door of separation invites passing over the threshold to return —  not to religion, but to the Beloved whom one is seeking. Ethphatah, a sacred Aramaic word, preserved over the centuries within the Scriptures, offers a key. This and other words of Jesus in his own language, found in the ancient Aramaic texts of the Bible are chanted and danced, using simple, reverent movement within a circle, softening the heart to receive the power of sacred sounds that transform. Pronunciation, translations, chant and sacred dance are gently taught, respecting all who are new to this way of prayer.

S6 Claiming Roots, Soaring Wings: Beginning an Intentional Spiritual Formation Ministry within Institution Ministries. Believers around the world have been living in exile, feeling ill at ease within the institutional church. The plight of declining institutional participation, has led many to seek beyond structured institutions crying out ”Is this all there is?” The home-coming of radical hospitality through spiritual formation encourages institutional communities to become a place of transformation and prayer. Participants will: explore how being firmly grounded in ancient traditions of prayer leads to fruit filled ministries for the 21^st century and will experience Lectio Divina, holy listening, centering prayer, breath prayer, Mandalas and the Labyrinth; review prayer techniques; and discuss how these ancient ways provide new hope and build a solid foundation for the fast pace, diverse, multicultural world in which we live and work.

S7.Exploring God's Calling in Mentoring Communities: Group Spiritual Companioning as a Process for Young Adults' Vocational Discernment. This workshop is designed for those who desire to learn more about the ministry of group spiritual companioning and young adult faith development (age 18-30).  Participants will be introduced to a particular model of group spiritual companioning with young adults that incorporates a structured process for vocational discernment.  Participants will also have an opportunity to experience this model as they discern their own life calling(s) within a spiritual companioning group.  They will explore and discuss how the process of group spiritual companioning can be used to create mentoring communities for young adults in educational, community-based, and congregational settings.

S8. Coming Home: The Sacred Now of the Present Moment. How do I remain in touch with the Sacred in a day often filled with conflicting distractions and multitask obligations and demands?  As a means of homecoming to the Present Moment, this interactive workshop explores the invitations to be awake to the epiphanies of daily life as they are encountered, especially within the sacred context of spiritual direction. Stories from Zen, Jewish, and Christian traditions, coupled with personal experiences of presenter and participants, will be used to highlight the Present Moment as a normative lens to engage the Holy. The presentation will propose six Present Moment Guidelines to assist both directors and directees to be attentively focused, centered, and contemplative in the midst of our daily whirlwind activities.

S9. Grief and Spirituality. This workshop will explore the interaction between loss (from chronic illness to the shattering of a dream) and spiritual needs and practices. Participants will be encouraged to examine their own strengths and challenges in this area. Helping tools, working with directees of other faith traditions, and information specific to spiritual direction will be included.

S10. Coming Out of Exile. As we grow into wholeness we discover within ourselves aspects that need to be recognized, accepted, and integrated into our true self. What do we do with these parts of us that have been lost, rejected or forced out of our acceptance? As we discover these banished aspects of ourselves and welcome them as catalysts for our spiritual transformation, we can companion others in a more fruitful way as they, too, come out of their exiled places. This workshop will invite participants to ponder and integrate what has been exiled in themselves and to compassionately call this forth  by the use of song, story, dance, drawing or journaling, and dialogue.

S11. When the Shekhina Weeps: Images of Exile and Redemption from Jewish Tradition. Biblical, Talmudic, Kabbalistic and Hasidic stories and teachings provide seekers and their spiritual companions with an abundance of galut-ge'ula (exile-return) images with which to identify, name, explore and deepen spiritual experience, relationship with God, prayer, healing and social activism.  Some, like the Exodus narrative, are familiar but others may be evocative in startling ways:  a weeping Shekhina, cosmic accidents, broken worlds, hidden sparks, soul roots, etc.  We will study texts that introduce these images, work with them experientially, and discuss how they arise and can be used in spiritual guidance for both Jews and non-Jews.

S12. Directores Espirituales estamos invitados a reunirnos con todos los que acompañan a personas Hispanas y Latinas.  La reunion nos dara una oportunidad a planificar juntos para el futuro de este ministerio.  Vengan preparados para compartir los materiales (25 copias) que usan para los Exercisios Espirituales, retiros, dias de oración ó en la preparacion de Acompañantes Espirituales, ya que sean, tradicionalmente uno-a-uno, dirección espiritual en grupos, ó acompañamientos espirituales en la vida cotidiana.  Aqui podran acumular recursos para sus ministerios y darle voz a ideas que tengan para un futuro.  Este es el momento preciso para trabajar juntos, crear una red de asociados, y discutir nuevas ideas como la posibilidad de crear un programa nacional de entrenamiento para Directores Espirituales en Español y para buscar fondos para sed programas.  Facilitado por la Sra. Mayra Casas Hall y la Hna. Mariana Clifford Rodriguez, RSM.