Group Spiritual Direction

As with individual spiritual direction and companionship, the focus is on the Spirit as the director. It is a process where a small group gathers regularly to support each other in an ongoing responsiveness to God in all of life, based on the belief that in Christ, God enters our pain and joy.

Several conditions are essential to the life of the group. Each participant must be willing to:

	commit themselves to an honest relationship with God;
	attend the meetings regularly; and
	enter into the group process through prayerful listening and response, opening their spiritual journeys for reflection with others.

What draws people to the group is reciprocity of desire, God's desire and their desire. Having been touched by God's desire, they want to make their desire for God the determining factor of all their choices. The group's primary task is to make the shared desire explicit and to hold one another in it.

Yet as much as people know this faithful looking is why they are together and really want that for themselves and for the group, they unintentionally collude to avoid it by becoming too busy about many things besides listening. A process is needed that will help people do what they want the group to do.

A spiritual direction group meeting allows space for the unfolding of the process with a group of three to five people, each open and seeking God's best for the other. The time begins with about 20 minutes for people to gather in prayer, meditation, and silence. Out of the silence, the facilitator invites someone to begin sharing when he or she feels ready.

Sharing by one person (about 10 minutes) As each individual shares, the group listens prayerfully without interruption.

Silence (3 to 4 minutes)

Response (about 10 minutes) This is a period for dialogue, questions, and observations that have come up in silence. The facilitator encourages caring and yet honest responses, trust in Gods caring love for the presenter rather than holding onto ones personal agenda for the person.

Silence (about 5 minutes) During this time people pray for the person who has just presented.

The Sharing-Silence-Response-Silence is repeated until all members have presented.

(Group Spiritual Direction: Community for Discernment, Oasis Ministries for Spiritual Development; copied with permission. www.oasismin.org)

Meetings are held once a month at Serenity House. Please call about current meeting times or about starting a new group at my location ($20/session) or yours ($160/8 sessions).