Dates: Oct 21, 7:30 pm or Oct 22, 2:00 pm (information session), November 5, 2009 to March 26, 2010 (individual sessions)
Location: First†Metropolitan United Church
Would you like a mentor on your spiritual journey? Would you like to depen your relationship with God or the Sacred? Discover your deepest desire or Great Work? Advocate for social justice with renewed faith and energy? Renew your hope as you grow older and approach death? Explore unanswered spiritual questions? Accept the loss of a loved one or forgive an injustice? Make a difficult life decision?
First Met is sponsoring an individual spiritual direction pilot project for church members and adherents. Two trained, experienced spiritual guides, Terry Dance-Bennink and Linda Mulhall, will offer individual spiritual direction once a month between November 2009 and March 2010. Spiritual guidance is a gentle and open exchanged between two souls, one of whom has more specialized training for this purpose. The primary role of a spiritual guide is to listen in a loving, compassionate was and not to judge, direct or lecture. A good spiritual guide is skilled at asking the right questions at the right time and is comfortable with silence. Some typical questions which can be explored are: How have you been blessed this past month?, How have you been invited to grow?, What is your soul longing for today?, What spiritual practices nurture you?, How would you like God to touch your soul at this time?
Spiritual guidance is not counselling, therapy or a friendly chat. The focus is a person’s relationship to God or the Sacred. It differs from spiritual companionship in that one person is the focus of attention, not both. Lastly, spiritual guidance does not revolve around bible study, though scripture, from many sources, may be referred to if it is helpful.
Spiritual guidance will be offered once a month for about an hour during this four month period. We will meet in Room 110 (Gordon Cann’s office) with sessions starting at 2:00, 3:30, and 5:00 on Thursdays and Fridays. Another time and place can be arranged if health, disability or work commitments are an issue. Up to 20 people may participate in this four-month pilot program. Afterward, we will see if there is sufficient interest to continue and expand this service. The church is subsidizing this ministry, but participants are asked to contribute $20 per session (excluding the first free, exploratory session) unless financial hardship is an issue.
Linda Mulhall, MEd, leads “The Listening Heart,” a biweekly meditation group at First Met and offers retreat days for the congregation. She has her own spiritual guidance practice. She brings to this work her experience in Christ and Buddhist meditation, First Nations and Metis spiritual practices as well as the Sufi mystical tradition. A trained facilitator and professional coach, Linda is dedicated to helping others find their own spritual path, to listen and hear their own “still, small voice” and to find their own inner authority. She is a member of Spiritual Directors International and is a graduate of The Art of Spiritual Guidance program offered through Hollyhock.
Terry Dance-Bennink, MEd, is a spiritual guide/companion, writer and educator. She’s a former vice-president academic of an Ontario community college and a retreat centre program director. Since moving to Victoria, she has established three programs at First Met: Spiritual Companions, New Vistas, and Writing and Sharing Your Life Story. She has offered workshops on forgiveness and accepting loss. She has received and offered spiritual guidance for the past ten years and has a diploma in spiritual guidance from the Toronto School of Theology (Regis College). She is an open-minded Christian who respects the wisdome of all faiths.