ONGOING FORMATION

If you are new to the Contemplative Path, consider the (Primer) Contemplative School. We can also help you find a spiritual director if you are looking for one.

If you are a bit further along in your exploration, and are searching out new formation opportunities, consider making the 18th or 19th Annotation of the Ignatian Exercises. On this page, you will find upcoming retreats and pilgrimages for 2024-2025.

If you are a Spiritual Director, don’t miss out on our Regional Gatherings or Monthly Online Trainings on pertinent topics.

More details below!

THE (PRIMER) CONTEMPLATIVE SCHOOL

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This online cohort will provide a chance to experience the formation of the Contemplative path and it is a great preparation for our 2-year certificate program in spiritual direction, if you wish to take it further. First, we link you with a qualified spiritual director so you have nine to twelve invaluable months of receiving direction. Second, we guide you monthly in a small group setting online through foundational aspects of the contemplative tradition via teaching, practice, debriefings, and short readings.

Each monthly meeting lasts about 3 hours and follows the same format: the welcome, a prayer exercise, an interactive teaching, a guided practice, a time to debrief the practice, and time to comment and reflect on whatever readings were assigned in the prior month. (The readings typically consist of 2-3 chapters). The next online cohort begins end of January 2025 and will be on Tuesday afternoons from 1-4PM U.K. / 2-5PM Central Europe time.

THE 9 MODULES

  1. Presence Over Performance

  2. Desire Over Duty

  3. (Inter) Dependence Over Self-Sufficiency

  4. Vulnerability Over Self-Protection

  5. Gratitude Over Entitlement

  6. Embodied Over Fragmented

  7. Mercy Over Judgement

  8. Mystery Over Certainty

  9. Consent Over Control

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The cost for the SSD Primer is £600 total. There will be a £100 non-refundable deposit with 9 monthly payments of £55.56 over the course of 9 consecutive months.

Other cost information:

Books (which are minimal) and monthly spiritual direction are not included.

If you’d like to find out more information before applying, please get in touch via our Contact Page.

FINDING A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR

Spiritual Direction is an ancient form of pastoral care with a very tight focus: it examines the substance, nature, and actual experience of the God-human relationship. In spiritual direction, the director comes alongside the directee for the primary purpose of focusing on the presence and activity of God in the directee’s life. In a word, spiritual direction is co-discernment. We learn to “see what the Father is doing (John 5:19),” not just in that moment, but over the months and seasons of a person’s life. The goal is to deepen the relationship with God by growing in attentiveness.

We have trained dozens of Spiritual Directors in Europe, the U.K., and beyond. If you need help finding one, just reach out! We would be happy to assist you!

THE IGNATIAN EXERCISES

→ We can connect you with an Ignatian-trained Director to meet weekly or bi-weekly for the 18th or 19th Annotation. Contact us if you want to sign up!

→ The 19th Annotation is a 9-month journey that aligns with the church calender and typically begins in the Fall to coincide with Advent and Lent.

→ The 18th Annotation is an abbreviated version that will give you a 10-week taste of this journey.

→ Each annotation has a component of daily exercises (consisting of Ignatian Contemplation of the Gospels, Ignatian Meditations, and forms of Prayer).

WHAT’S INCLUDED

MONTHLY TRAININGS

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  • If you are a Spiritual Director longing for more training, consider our Monthly Online Trainings. They are typically midweek on Wednesday evening 6-8 UK / 7-9 Central Europe Time. If you sign up for the year, you have access to all recordings, whether you can attend or not. If you’d like to sign up please fill in the Contact Form.

    Upcoming Trainings:

    +Spiritual Direction and Trauma (20 November)

    +Somatic Body Awareness and Spiritual Direction (11 December)

    +Spiritual Direction and Suffering (15 January)

    +Spiritual Direction and Ignatian Rules of Discernment (12 February)

  • Our previous students have shared these key areas of need for ongoing training. For some topics you will notice we will do 2 different trainings:

    + Ignatian Spirituality (2)
    + Somatic/Body Awareness (2)
    + Spiritual Direction and Trauma (2)
    + Enneagram
    + Interior Movements in SD
    + SD and Suffering
    + and more!

  • 11 December from 6-8 UK / 7-9 CET

    Join us for an exploration of Somatic/Body Awareness and Spiritual Direction. As Spiritual Directors, we accompany others in finding God in all things and prayerfully living holy and whole throughout our human experience. Everything we encounter filters in some way through our bodies. Intuitively our bodies know how to find God and guide us, yet circumstances of life can distract or disconnect us from that truest wisdom. Somatics and body-awareness practices can help us reconnect and remember the way of proceeding. By implementing a whole-body approach to spiritual direction we can better walk along-side our directees as they discover and discern God’s invitations and make choices of how to respond.   During this session, we will explore basic somatics and body awareness in spiritual direction like breath, feelings/sensations, posture and movement for ourselves and our directees. 

    To sign up, please fill in our Contact Form.

  • You can sign up for our Spiritual Direction and Trauma Training for £30. You can sign up using the Contact Form.

    If you sign up for the entire year before November you can get the early bird price of 10 trainings for £200 for the year. Save your spot with a £50 desposit now! You get priority availability, as well as the discounted rates! All trainings will be recorded and you will have access for the year!