After more than thirty years of receiving spiritual direction, Valerie Roberts reflects on the safe space it has offered her to explore her inner life, encounter God in deeper places, and grow into greater authenticity and acceptance.

As a hospice chaplain providing spiritual care to patients and caregivers, I have borne witness to the pain of many souls.  Some struggle with questions such as: ‘Is God still present?’ ‘What’s the meaning of life?’ ‘Why does God allow suffering?’  As they wrestle with these complexities, I seek to offer a safe, hospitable space – not only in the physical environment, but in the inner room of my heart.

In the following excerpts, Carolyn Officer shares reflections from her personal diary written during a difficult season of despair, healing, and rediscovered hope. Together they offer an intimate glimpse into the role spiritual direction can play in helping us remain attentive to God’s presence amid life’s storms.

Are you feeling drawn to becoming a spiritual director? The following insights into this unique ministry may be a helpful part of your research and discernment process.

Nicky Brown is a spiritual director with a background in nursing. She is also an artist, creating  art inspired by the natural world and enjoys gardening and walking her dog, Asha, on the local beach and bush tracks. Married to Simon, she is a proud Mum to three young adults. In this blog post, Kathryn Overall-Cass has a conversation with Nicky about her formation journey and finding her way as a spiritual director.

Anna Barker is a Porirua-based contemplative, accountant, reader, maker and traveller. In this blogpost, Kathryn Overall Cass has a conversation with Anna about her experience of completing the Spiritual Directors Formation Programme in 2022/2023 and why she is so glad she did so, even though she is not currently practising as a spiritual director.

Kenneth Fleck is a Dunedin-based spiritual director with a particular interest in companioning people who are deconstructing their faith, or on a spiritual journey outside of traditional faith structures. In this blogpost, Kathryn Overall has a conversation with Kenneth about his personal experience of deconstruction as “an act of love” and his insights for spiritual directors who are accompanying people on similar journeys.

Strahan Coleman is a spiritual director, musician and writer who creates his Commoners Communion offerings from a beach-side cabin in Tairua, before returning home to the noisy chaos of family life with his wife Katie and three growing boys. In this blogpost, Kathryn Overall has a conversation with Strahan about his new book ‘Beholding, his partnership with Practising the Way and his sense of the contemplative currents flowing throughout Aoteara, New Zealand.

Rachel Kitchens is a spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and workshop facilitator for the SGM Spiritual Directors Formation Programme. She is married to Andrew Shamey and is mother to three children. In this blog post, Kathryn Overall has a conversation with Rachel about how her contemplative journey collided with the realities of parenting young children, and how she rested in and journeyed creatively with God during those all-consuming years.

Alice Wood is a spiritual director, university chaplain and retreat facilitator with a particular gift for facilitating creative processes in a contemplative way. In this blogpost, Kathryn Overall interviews Alice about her experiences of the gifts of creative processes, both personally and in her practice as a spiritual director.

Kathryn Overall has a conversation with Naomi Holt about her formation journey as a spiritual director, being the youngest person in her cohort, and some of the changes that have happened in her life as a result of following her draw to contemplative spirituality.

Jim McInnes is a church leader, lecturer and a spiritual director with a particular interest in accompanying people in vocational Christian ministry. In this blogpost, Kathryn Overall has a conversation with Jim about his formation as a spiritual director during a ministry sabbatical and the gifts that are emerging on the other side of the deep soul-work of a mid-life transition.

Vic Francis is pastor of Shore Vineyard Church and a spiritual director. He has a particular interest in offering spiritual direction to pastors, and after 30 years in ministry has an inside understanding of the needs and challenges facing church leaders in post-COVID Aoteaora, New Zealand.

Joshua Taylor is an Anglican Priest from the Diocese of Christchurch. Currently he is based at St John's in Auckland working on his PhD in theology. In this blog-post, Kathryn Overall interviews him about his formation experience and the value of spiritual direction for people in their 20’s and 30’s.