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While the practice of spiritual direction is widespread and increasingly popular, there has been relatively little research on the practices of those perceived to be exemplary spiritual directors. The primary focus of this dissertation is Baron Friedrich von Hügel's spiritual direction of Gwendolen Greene, during the final decade of his life (1915-1925). It also analyses his direction of nine other individuals during this same period, enabling one to recognise and evaluate recurring trends in von Hügel's approach to spiritual nurture. The key to the interpretation of von Hügel's approach is his conception of the 'Three Elements of Religion,' the Mystical, Intellectual and Institutional Elements. The thesis illustrates through analysis of von Hügel's correspondence and diaries the extent to which these shape his whole approach to spiritual direction. The research is archival, focusing on von Hügel's letters of spiritual direction and his personal diaries. The methodology is critical historical research, based on a close reading and assessment of the materials available. To this end, a great deal of original material is unearthed and discussed for the purposes of articulating and evaluating the nature of von Hügel's role as a spiritual director. The findings of this investigation indicate strengths and weaknesses in von Hügel's approach to spiritual direction. His primary contribution is his articulation and utilisation of the 'Three Elements of Religion.' These provide a balanced and holistic approach to spiritual direction. The primary weaknesses in his approach to spiritual direction are evident when he succumbs to values more indicative of the age in which he lived, than of the essence of the Christian tradition.

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, presuppose Roman Catholicism, but are today made by many who are not Catholics. Moreover, even Roman Catholics who make Ignatian Exercises often are not spontaneously inclined to obey Roman ecclesiastical authority. Neither avoiding the ecclesial dimension nor an authoritarian ‘follow the rules!’ provides spiritual directors with adequate orientation when working with issues at Church frontiers. This dissertation in pastoral theology seeks to navigate a middle position by moving beyond the individualism and the a-historical assumptions of the existing relevant literature. The dissertation remains close to the Ignatian primary sources, in the awareness that the Ignatian tradition needs to be constantly updated and that the contemporary ecclesial frontiers are not fully foreseen in the canonical texts. The main hypothesis is that a notion is needed of a ‘pilgrim Church’ in space and time, with Christians who are related to one another in a deep and fundamental sense. The minor hypothesis is that the individual needs to be open towards and prepared to learn from the Roman Catholic Church, in order to understand and to be profoundly moved by these exercises, but not necessarily to become a Roman Catholic. Having presented and discussed various approaches in the writings of twentieth-century and recent thinkers, this thesis puts forward its own ecclesiological position informed by Charles Taylor, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Karl Rahner. The aim is to take Ignatian studies forward by combining relational anthropology, hermeneutics and a sacramental understanding of the Church, and to apply this synthesis to the practice of giving Ignatian Exercises. The final chapter discusses a selection of cases in the light of my ecclesiological position. The synthesis and application claim originality.

The NPO for this project is as follows: American Millennials (adults aged 25-45) experience a lack of safety and welcome in their communities of faith during a season of spiritual doubt, causing them to disengage from their communities of faith and falling into risk of negative outcomes. Throughout history, from Galileo to the American Colonies to present day, the church has not handled those who experience doubt in their faith with care, leaving the doubter feeling unsafe or unwelcome in their community of faith. However, a close reading of Scripture reveals that God is not intimidated or deterred by doubt; rather, God continually promises God’s presence to those who doubt. Meanwhile, psychological and sociological studies agree: there are both potentially positive and negative outcomes to a season of spiritual doubt, ranging from struggles in adult identity formation to psychological and physiological health markers. The deciding difference between the two is a sense of kind, curious community in which doubt can be held without removing presence and belonging. This project aims to address this need and problem by creating a seven-week online cohort community, in which participants will experience such community through engaging a journal resource and weekly group spiritual direction. It is designed to be used within the context of a spiritual direction ministry, facilitated by a trained spiritual director. I will begin within my own spiritual direction ministry in the Pacific Northwest, The Abode.

Mteule is a one-year program of Spiritual Formation designed for the camp mentors of Angaza Discovery Camp and other staff members of Missions of Hope International (MOHI). Mteule means ‘set apart’ in Swahili. Mteule was developed to address the following need, problem, or opportunity: Camp mentors and other staff from the Mathare Valley come with their own experiences of trauma and can be lacking the capacity to maturely minister to traumatized children. MOHI is a Christian non-profit providing spiritual development, education, physical well-being, and sustainability training/micro-finance opportunities to those living in abject poverty in Kenya. MOHI currently has 31 Hope Centers, most of which are in the Mathare slums of Nairobi and some impoverished rural areas of Kenya. Each Hope Center operates a school and provides food, medical care, and spiritual care for the students. Angaza Discovery Camp draws from these centers and ministers to over 3,000 sixth-grade students yearly. The camp mentors at Angaza are former MOHI students and have grown up in a culture of poverty, the same as the students they minister to. This project found its fruition in the Mteule program, which consists of three foundational spiritual retreats over the course of a year, twelve spiritual direction sessions, and involvement in a Mteule group on a bi-weekly basis throughout the year. The Mteule group will operate as an accountability group, a book club, and prayer partners. Five Mteule groups make up a cohort of the Mteule program. When they graduate from the program, the desired outcomes are a marked spiritual maturity as demonstrated by their interactions with children and other staff members, personal spiritual disciplines, an understanding of themselves that frees them to use their unique gifting for ministry, and a deep understanding of their identity as the beloved of Christ.

This thesis-project explores the ancient and contemporary tradition of spiritual direction. The chapters examine various developmental influences that shaped the current practice of spiritual direction. An examination of the contextual circumstances of the contemporary audience is also emphasized. The thesis-project also describes the author's ambition to retrieve and initiate the process of spiritual direction for the Iraqi Dominican Sisters as a source of healing from the trauma resulting from three wars in the past thirty years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore how emerging pastoral leaders develop in spiritual formation through structured peer relationships. There is a great need to understand how spiritual formation occurs and how to apply it in the rising generation of pastoral leaders. This study employed a qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with six pastors who were of non-denominational, Baptist General Conference, and Presbyterian Church in America affiliations. The review of literature and analysis of the six interviews focused on the experiences of these pastors in structured peer relationships in which the pastors grew spiritually, and in which there was a mentoring process. In addition to foundational biblical literature on mentoring and spiritual formation, three areas of focus were reviewed: spiritual formation, structured peer relationships, and literature on emerging adults. In the area of spiritual formation, the findings were that spiritual formation is best experienced in a community of trust, safety, and vulnerability. In the area of structured peer relationships, this model was found to be transformative as a learning community, with an inherent emphasis upon peer mentoring, emotional maturity, adaptive leadership, a healthy self, marriage, and family. In the area of emerging adulthood, the findings of this study noted the radical changes in the culture that have shaped a generation. That generation has unique gifts for collaborative leadership and creativity. It also has unique challenges and needs, and emerging pastoral leaders in this stage of life are seeking mentors to walk with them as they live life and grow in their calling as vocational ministers. This study has found that there is a great need for mentors and spiritual directors who attend to the spiritual formation of the next generation of pastoral leaders as they move into primary leadership roles in the church. The future health, well-being, and vitality of the church depends upon pastoral leaders genuinely living out a life of Christian character in the midst of their community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiritual direction-the historic practice of one person attending another in his or her life of faith-is experiencing a resurgence of popularity in the contemporary North American Church. With it comes the need for further training programs that have theological and methodological integrity. In response to this need, through the ministry organization Leadership Transformations I developed Selah, a certificate program in spiritual direction. Selah is intentionally Trinitarian and biblical in its spiritual theology, and contemplative in its methodology: Given who God is and how he works, what might we expect to see happening-both in the directee's life and in a spiritual direction session that involves attentively noticing and trustingly responding to God's Spirit-as God's Spirit shapes us into the image of Christ? Referencing the biblical Scriptures as well as many of the spiritual classics, both historical and contemporary, this thesis explores Selah's four rhythms of the spiritual life: Releasing, Resting, Renewing, and Rejoicing. It applies this spiritual theology to the content of contemplative spiritual direction-what tends to be going on in a directee's life and prayer when he or she is in each rhythm, and how does the ministry of spiritual direction help them to recognize, understand, and respond to God in the midst of their experience? The thesis is supported by written evidence from Selah's first cohort of interns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Methodist Church faces a crisis of leadership and a spiritual crisis. I wondered how the two might be related. I sent two questionnaires to 235 United Methodist pastors and lay leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area. I evaluated the 92 responses and discovered that the critical variable seems to be the number of years a pastor is in ministry. Overall, I found that the integrity that is present at the onset of ministry between the pastors' spirituality and leadership style indicators decreases over the years. As internal correspondence declines, pastors' satisfaction with their spiritual lives also decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This doctoral project document presents a curriculum of leadership development in spiritual formation for pastors and prospective pastors at Holy Light Theological Seminary in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Its background and context are introduced as well as definitions, delimitation, and the organization of the project. The major focus is on biblical teaching for spiritual formation in discipline, leadership skills in delegation and conflict, and leadership principles in vision and relationship. This is implemented through the evaluation of an expert panel for improvement and revision, and an analysis of student data for content. This project will be of value to the students who have been elected, appointed, or aspire service for spiritual direction and leadership development in the China Free Methodist Church in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this ministry project was to develop and implement a strategic church health plan for ministry at the beginning of the twenty-first century within the First Baptist Church of Fordyce, Arkansas. An eight-member select group worked with the author over a four-month period in developing specific goals for implementation. The project centered upon a basic study of church growth principles, demographic studies, and current trends in ministry. The desire of this project has been to allow the local church, both in Fordyce and in other places, to experience a renewed sense of God's empowerment and life. Six specific areas were concentrated upon in pursuing s greater level of spiritual health in the life of the church. These include the following areas: intentional spiritual development, faith-sharing, proper stewardship, worship, relationship-building, and community service. The author and the eight-member select group met twelve different times and prayerfully studied, analyzed, and planned action steps to be implemented in these different essentials in the church. The outcome of this ministry project in the life of Fordyce First Baptist Church was significant. Five specific goals were adopted and approved by the church in December 2000. Together the goals were helpful in targeting a more enhanced ministry outlook within the church. The implementation of the project created a more proactive mentality among the church leadership. Along with the adoption of the five goals, it should be noted that approximately twenty-one people from the congregation were enlisted to work in different capacities to see that each of the five goals were carried out in the course of the year 2001. It has been a rewarding ministry project that has served as a tool to refocus the church in Fordyce upon the reason the church exists. The great hope of this project has been that other churches might also learn from the structure and content of this ministry project some valuable principles for greater church health in their particular setting. From start to finish, the project was designed in such a way as to allow God's church to thrive in the many opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ in a world that continues to stand in need of his grace. Certainly all glory and praise belong to our Lord who is the head of the church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The project described in this dissertation explored The Sacred Art of Spiritual Direction: Walking in Wholeness and Holiness, a journey on the via dolorosa for the Christian. This journey was a Christian spiritual experience that involved the whole person that God created us to be: mind, body, and soul. Participants became aware of feelings that were lying dormant. In healthy ways they identified and acknowledged them. Military and civilian staff at Moncrief Army Community Hospital, Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, participated in this journey of walking in wholeness and holiness. Eight sessions took participants step by step toward awareness of feelings that were lying dormant. The process involved: Week one, praying with an art medium; week two, listing feeling words, and sharing them; week three, making a time-line of feelings from previous weeks' journal; week four, expressing feelings and having dialog with biblical characters; week five, reflecting from scripture on when emotions begin; week six, continuing dialog with biblical characters; week seven, praying; and week eight, praying with an art medium with a time of sharing. This process is described in the Project Leader's Guide in Appendix C. The participants risked getting in touch with some painful feelings that came out of their life experiences. They identified with biblical characters whose lives were much like their own. They became aware that it is Christian to have feelings, and, with integrity, learned to express them honestly to others. The project helped them to identify and express their feelings to one another. They learned to keep journals. They wrote letters to people who had hurt them without mailing them. They grew as they took this journey on The Way. During the project and in the final session participants responded with, “It was so healing. It was so calming, so peaceful. I let go of so much in my life that I did not know was there.” The Holy Spirit ministered wholeness and holiness to this group of the body of Christ. The participants became aware that walking in wholeness and holiness includes mind, body, and soul as each is on The Way with other Christians. The same positive evaluation is true for the project leader who also grew as she walked The Way with a group that drew together in extraordinary ways in a short period of time in the context of a structured process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a dissertation titled "Classical And Contemporary Experiences Of Spiritual Direction," by Richard Albert Di Leo, submitted to the Faculty of the Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, Illinois. Expectations of John of the Cross and the classical experience; Contemporary prayer and spiritual direction; Types of contributing factors to the healing process.

The purpose of this project is to create a resource that will better equippastoral caregivers to become spiritual companions for people with bipolardisorder. The resource, Spiritual Companionship and Bipolar Disorder,establishes that pastoral caregivers are gateway people for those with bipolardisorder to receive appropriate care and models multi-disciplinary collaboration.The resource is evaluated by twelve experts using a questionnaire that includesboth quantitative and qualitative questions. As a result, the resource is found tohave a strong foundation and creative spiritual experientials. Insights givedirection on how to improve the resource including format and cohesiveness.

This work embarks upon the role of Saint John of Avila as a spiritual director. A study is made of the principal moments during the saint’s spiritual path, along with his own works pertaining to spiritual direction. It is found that the Professor Avila was an accomplished spiritual director thanks to his profound experience with God and his exposure as son of our Merciful God Father. All this allows him to serve as a witness of the paths of the Holy Spirit and a guide for those who wish to follow. His studies in Salamanca are highlighted along with his fear of the prospect of traveling as a missionary to India. Something that did not pan out and that concluded in him remaining in Sevilla and being elevated as the great apostle of Andalucía. Special importance is placed upon the time that he spent in prison in Sevilla during the Inquisition. This is probably where Juan received the mystical grace which most profoundly impacted his life and apostolate. This Grace, «which he esteemed with great value, which was his profound knowledge of the mystery of Christ», impacted him in such a way that it inspired his apostolate and preachings for the rest of his life. Subsequently the writings of the saint, which pertain to the spiritual direction of lay people, priests and religious groups are studied. In first place comes his most important work, el Audi, filia. A general presentation is made of the book, the reason it was written, a brief history of its redaction and contents of the work. We continue with a study of his letters, a privileged medium which was highly esteemed by the saint in order to guide in the paths of the Spirit, a rich treasure of the avalist’s spiritual paternity, and an endless pit of material which, especially during his last years in Montilla, allowed him to continue guiding, consoling and advising his followers. This work concludes by presenting the conversations of the saint, filled with abundant and solid spiritual doctrine directed towards clergy, nuns and students.

La relevancia y actualidad de la dirección espiritual para la misión de la Iglesia, así como el hecho de su evolución, nos ha impulsado a estudiar la realidad de la dirección espiritual en España a través de Revistas de espiritualidad a partir de 1921, año de la publicación del primer número de las Revistas que investigamos. Partimos de la fundamentación que nos ofrecen los principales manuales y monografías de Teología Espiritual sobre el papel de la ascética en general y de la dirección espiritual en particular en la vida cristiana. La intención de este trabajo de investigación no es sólo definir la dirección espiritual en sí y las vicisitudes que ha sufrido en el curso de los años, sino también buscar la concepción de la vida espiritual cristiana que subyace en todo planteamiento de dirección espiritual. Hemos elegido algunas de las Revistas que reflejan las espiritualidades que han influido en la vida cristiana en España: Vida Sobrenatural y Teología Espiritual de espiritualidad dominicana, Manresa, órgano de los ejercicios ignacianos, y Surge Revista sacerdotal unida a la Obra Parroquial de Ejercicios espirituales. Según el criterio cronológico, hemos revisado todos los números de las Revistas y seleccionado los artículos relacionados con la dirección espiritual.

The research reported here addressed the questions 'what is spirituality?' and 'how should spiritual development be provided in education?'. The literature reviewed indicated confusion and uncertainty over the meaning of the concept spirituality, and the only guidance as to how spiritual development should be facilitated, was mainly from a religious perspective. This however, proved to be problematic for adoption into state-run educational institutions, where religious education is not provided for. As spiritual development is an aspect of the overall educative development of individuals, attention was given to what is meant by both 'education' and the 'educated person'. This initial research provided the context by which spiritual development could be understood and grounded in accepted and well argued notions of what interventions into the development of the individual are to count as educational. This also clarified the context for which the formulated framework of spirituality was to have implications. The major approach of this research was philosophical, in that an existential perspective was sought to develop a framework of spirituality that was able to embrace both religious and secular contexts of education. The major works examined were those written by Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger, because these were argued to have most relevance for spirituality and spiritual development of the educated person. While these works were analysed one philosopher at a time, the existential perspective that was relevant for spirituality was developed using common themes found in their writings. Consequently this approach produced a rather eclectic view of Existentialism that down-plays the many differences that exist between these philosophers. An existential framework of spirituality was then formulated using the philosophy of these contributors as the foundation. This framework is argued to be more effective than the other frameworks of spirituality that were identified in the literature reviewed. Its implications for education practice were developed and argued. The evaluative applicability of the framework was then illustrated and tested through a critique of an educational project in Queensland. It was beyond the scope of this thesis to test the framework any further than this particular case. However, further research is recognised as being required to test other aspects of the framework.