Cultivating Potential ~ Purposeful Growth ~ A More Abundant Life
Spiritual Care Services for
Seasons of Life Change
Spiritual Direction
Regardless of one’s denominational heritage, the recovery of classical Christian spiritual traditions is essential for the growth and health of the Church. Each tradition preserves essential understandings of the church’s nature such as its worship practices, personal spiritual disciplines, and community life. In fact, the corporate disciplines of the sacraments, prayer, worship, confession, and scripture reading, including the individuals personal spiritual disciplines, unique spiritual gifts and temperament exist for the welfare of the entire body of Christ (1 Cor 12:1-26).
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​"A spiritual director is a Christian man or woman who practices the disciplines of the church and of the Bible and to whom you are willing to be accountable for your life in God." ~ Henry Nouwen
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Although one’s spiritual life may include these various disciplines, many need the personalized guidance of a soul friend or spiritual director. Thus, spiritual direction not only builds on the classical spiritual practices of one’s Christian tradition, but integrates the corporate and personal elements of the directee’s spiritual life. As a result, in spiritual direction the directee’s classical disciplines, whether corporate or personal, become a means of Grace, whereby a great reversal of the negative spiritual formation of our culture occurs.
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Spiritual direction is "a covenant friendship between Christians in which one assists the other in the discernment of God's presence and the contemplative living out of God's call. The term covenant friendship implies the importance of relationship as core of the Christian life. Unaided, we often misunderstand and misinterpret our deepest experiences" ~ Howard Rice
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Life Coaching
Coaching is similar to a partnership of co-equals, one of whom has skills, experience, perspectives, and knowledge that may be useful for the growth of the other party.
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​ ​ In other words, coaches help others to move from where they are in life to where they want to be. Here, the focusing is on the present and future possibilities in their life, reaching goals, and turning their dreams and visions into reality, thereby finding fulfillment in life. To accomplish this, the coach works with the client to identify their vision or what they sense they are being called to do or be. Therefore, coaching helps people to see what is possible in their life and where they want to go in the future.
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"Coaches come alongside to guide people through life's challenges and help them move forward
with confidence in the midst of life change." ~ Gary Collins
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Coaching does overlap with consulting, mentoring and discipling, however, a coach is a partner who comes along side people to help them not only envision their future, but formulate goals that align with their values and life purpose, and encourages them to take small incremental steps toward their goal. The coach is not a consultant, expert, or a wise partner that is imparting wisdom to a trainee, rather, the Christian coach is a partner with the mind of Christ that supports the coachee on their journey toward achieving a more abundant life - the life God has called them to live (John 10:10).
Restoration Prayer (Deliverance) & Healing Care (Inner Healing)
The Restoration Prayer is comprised of essentially five steps: intake assessment, (which includes a questionnaire), listening prayer, renouncing prayer, releasing prayer, and followup spiritual direction support to guide the client in spiritual practices that will help them maintain a healthy spiritual life. Following intake, the renouncing session resembles a pastoral counselling session, where the director leads the client through a series of renouncing prayers. If available, a second person provides intercessory prayer support, encouragement, and shares any relevant scripture passages.
The session resembles the ancient confessional where the participant renounces any non-Christian spiritual experiences, prays through the effects of trauma, sexual sin, rebellion, forgiveness, mental health issues, ungodly pronouncements, while proclaiming truths about God and their position in Christ. Essential to this process is ongoing spiritual direction, an accountability and prayer partner, and active involvement in the life of their local church where the client is able to exercise his or her spiritual gifts.
The Inner Healing framework I follow is a therapeutic approach, which resembles the layers of an onion, each layer representing aspects or levels of emotional and spiritual ill health. At the outer layer of the onion exists the life situation and its corresponding dysfunctional behaviour, which people use to deal with personal pain. The goal of the director is to be an active listener of the Spirit’s work in the directee’s life, helping them identify the underlying causes of their behaviour. Here, "the goal of inner healing is to position people for a transformative encounter with Christ in the places of their deepest pain and greatest dysfunction” (Terry Wardle).
Therefore, the goal of the director is to assist in identifying the directee’s underlying “core” wound, which eventually became a distortion of reality, resulting in emotional upheaval, and finally a dysfunctional behaviour in their life, which negatively affected their quality of life. Once the underlying wound at the core of the person is exposed, underlying lies are replaced with the truth of who they are in Christ, emotional upheaval is replaced with peace, then dysfunctional behaviours are replaced by Spirit empowered strength to stand firm in the midst of life’s daily challenges.
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Grief and Loss Companioning
My approach is a companionship model whereby I journey with a client as he processes his pain of loss. Companioning is not about taking away the pain, rather, it is being present with the bereaved. Bereavement, grief, and mourning are normal experiences. Although they can be traumatic, they can also be transformative.
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I follow the Dr. Alan Wolfelt's model whereby companioning the bereaved bears witness to and normalizes the grief journey of the client. Essential to this model are warmth, empathy, gentleness, and genuine care. Here, the client's physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs are addressed as we journey together. This process is also holistic in that it focuses on the past, present, and future to help the bereaved understand past relationships. The client will begin to understand their feelings, why they are changing, and how they relate to reality.
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Above all, my goal is to provide a secure and hospitable space for the bereaved to mourn and heal from their emotional and spiritual wounds. Then, as the client heals, they will begin to understand the new season of life into which they have emerged and how to negotiate it with others.
Speaking & Visitations
I am available virtually or in person to support the following:
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Worship services and sermon series on select topics. Group studies.
Hospital and nursing home visitations. Spiritual gifts analysis.
Group spiritual practices. Myers Briggs personality analysis.
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Group Spiritual Practices
The spiritual direction group you are exploring is intended to be a secure, welcoming place where you can share your Christian journey with others. Here you will share in the joy’s and struggles of your Christian journey by listening to God and one another. Some of the practices you will encounter will include Gospel contemplation, lectio divina, group discernment, visio divina, listening prayer, praying the Psalms, andpraying for others.
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In other words, here, as brothers in Christ you are coming alongside one another to “bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2 – NRSV)