{"id":13031,"date":"2012-05-07T09:51:58","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T15:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=13031"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:08:41","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:08:41","slug":"boston-globe-growing-demand-for-spiritual-directors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/boston-globe-growing-demand-for-spiritual-directors\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston Globe: Growing demand for spiritual directors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

It seems that the ancient art of spiritual direction is going mainstream. (H\/T Concord Pastor<\/a><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Details: <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Natalie Weaver, a 25-year-old musician who lives in Roxbury, does not go to church. But every three weeks or so, she visits a white vinyl-sided building on Dorchester Avenue, a former convent, to meet with her spiritual director.<\/p>\n

For about an hour, she sits with a gentle, bearded man in a quiet room with gleaming oak floors and talks about the experiences that most awaken her spirit, the people who make her feel most connected and alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s another person who is listening, and kind of asking questions and even just pointing things out,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI think it holds you accountable to dig deeper.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Spiritual direction is a tradition of religious mentorship with roots in ancient Christianity. For centuries, monasteries and seminaries offered direction to clergy and members of religious orders. But the practice is increasingly going mainstream, as more people, Christian and otherwise, seek help exploring their relationship with the divine.<\/p>\n

Membership in Spiritual Directors International, the largest such organization in the nation, has increased from about 400 at its beginning in 1990 to more than 6,000 today, including more than 250 in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Driving the growth are millennials like Weaver, who are more apt than previous generations to identify as \u201cspiritual but not religious.\u2019\u2019 Ed Cardoza, Weaver\u2019s spiritual director and the founder of Still Harbor, a South Boston nonprofit, mostly sees people in their 20s and 30s.<\/p>\n

Some, he says, are evangelical Christians who have a strong relationship with Jesus but realize, after arriving in Boston from the Midwest or South to study, that they differ with their parents\u2019 church over political or sexual issues. Others have little religious background but find themselves undergoing a spiritual awakening and do not know where to turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you recognize is there\u2019s this growing population of folks who are out of the purview of traditional institutions,\u2019\u2019 Cardoza said.<\/p>\n

Ardently faithful people of all ages form the other major group seeking spiritual direction. Often, they are confronting a trauma or transition or want to deepen a particular aspect of their faith or practice. Asking their priest or rabbi for spiritual direction is not always an option. Often clergy limit the number of sessions they have with individuals in order to focus on the broader congregation. Many also lack the training to provide the kind of \u201csacred listening\u2019\u2019 required in spiritual direction.<\/p>\n

In a society that is increasingly comfortable hiring experts as private consultants \u2013 personal trainers, personal organizers, life coaches \u2013 the decision to seek out a personal spiritual director no longer seems as exotic as it once might have.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems that the ancient art of spiritual direction is going mainstream. (H\/T Concord Pastor) Details: Natalie Weaver, a 25-year-old musician who lives in Roxbury, does not go to church. But every three weeks or so, she visits a white vinyl-sided building on Dorchester Avenue, a former convent, to meet with her spiritual director. For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1121],"class_list":["post-13031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-spiritual-direction"],"yoast_head":"\nBoston Globe: Growing demand for spiritual directors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It seems that the ancient art of spiritual direction is going mainstream. 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