There is so much to consider when you’re setting up your spiritual direction practice… even if it’s been years since you’ve done so.

At our April 27 SDAO event, we’ll have a panel discussion where we discuss what you need to know. And because we believe in the wisdom of the group, we plan to make this an interactive dialogue with all who are attending so you can share what has been working for you.
 
Based on our brief survey, the top things you want to know about:

• ways to find directees

• bookkeeping and accounting practicess

• marketing yourself and your practice

• setting appropriate expectations for yourself

• pricing your services

• managing your time and calendar

 Come! Be in community with your sibling spiritual directors. Let us support and encourage one another as we continue to serve our community.

Register here

We invite you to consider joining the Wellstreams first year experience of spiritual awakening in deep community. This one-year program is designed for anyone who is seeking:

• A more contemplative life

• Greater freedom to bring more compassion to the world

• To nurture healthier personal and professional relationships based on a holistic view of self

• Enhanced skills for empathetic listening, discernment, and community building

• Deepened expressions of spirituality

• Explore my relationship with the divine, self, others, and the world

• Seeing broadly and feeling deeply

• Discernment for the practicum in spiritual companioning

While this is a prerequisite for the second phase of Wellstreams, participants are encouraged to join this whether or not they are considering spiritual companioning.

If you would like to learn more about this program, please sign up for one of our informational sessions (all are offered via Zoom and you’ll receive a link once you’ve signed up).

We invite you to consider joining the Wellstreams first year experience of spiritual awakening in deep community. This one-year program is designed for anyone who is seeking:

• A more contemplative life

• Greater freedom to bring more compassion to the world

• To nurture healthier personal and professional relationships based on a holistic view of self

• Enhanced skills for empathetic listening, discernment, and community building

• Deepened expressions of spirituality

• Explore my relationship with the divine, self, others, and the world

• Seeing broadly and feeling deeply

• Discernment for the practicum in spiritual companioning

While this is a prerequisite for the second phase of Wellstreams, participants are encouraged to join this whether or not they are considering spiritual companioning.

If you would like to learn more about this program, please sign up for one of our informational sessions (all are offered via Zoom and you’ll receive a link once you’ve signed up).

We invite you to consider joining the Wellstreams first year experience of spiritual awakening in deep community. This one-year program is designed for anyone who is seeking:

• A more contemplative life

• Greater freedom to bring more compassion to the world

• To nurture healthier personal and professional relationships based on a holistic view of self

• Enhanced skills for empathetic listening, discernment, and community building

• Deepened expressions of spirituality

• Explore my relationship with the divine, self, others, and the world

• Seeing broadly and feeling deeply

• Discernment for the practicum in spiritual companioning

While this is a prerequisite for the second phase of Wellstreams, participants are encouraged to join this whether or not they are considering spiritual companioning.

If you would like to learn more about this program, please sign up for one of our informational sessions (all are offered via Zoom and you’ll receive a link once you’ve signed up).

Attachment Styles impact relationships throughout the lifespan. The four basic styles are secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized. A person’s Attachment Style is heavily impacted by their early years but can and does change over a lifetime. 

Having an awareness of your own style allows you to be more intentional in your interactions with others. Considering another’s style provides some insight both into that person and into the interactions between you and them.

This workshop will begin with a resource packet for you to review before we meet including recommendations about attachment quizzes available online. You will be encouraged to consider both your primary style and secondary tendencies. We will cover signs in others and ways to react if someone is either not compatible with you or is very unstable. Attachment styles can change – we will look at the latest research regarding how to support positive change.

After the two hour in-person workshop there will be an additional resource package available to you for further exploration.

This workshop is suitable for all audiences, but especially appropriate for spiritual directors and spiritual directors in training.

Please share with friends and family who might benefit from this experience.

PUBLIC: To register click here.

SDAO Members: To register click here.

Our presenter

Laura Gaines has twenty years’ experience as a child and adolescent mental health clinician and Crisis Text Line volunteer working with children, adults and professionals to improve communication and mental well-being. She has trained professionals and parents for over 30 years regarding mental health, human development, ethics, trauma informed care, and resilience. Her goal is to empower others to overcome challenges and to build strengths so that they can pursue their goals. Her training style is lively, evidence based and interactive. As a former child therapist, she incorporates play/art in all workshops. Participants will go home with new ideas to try in their day-to-day life and work.

We invite you to consider joining the Wellstreams first year experience of spiritual awakening in deep community. This one-year program is designed for anyone who is seeking:

• A more contemplative life

• Greater freedom to bring more compassion to the world

• To nurture healthier personal and professional relationships based on a holistic view of self

• Enhanced skills for empathetic listening, discernment, and community building

• Deepened expressions of spirituality

• Explore my relationship with the divine, self, others, and the world

• Seeing broadly and feeling deeply

• Discernment for the practicum in spiritual companioning

While this is a prerequisite for the second phase of Wellstreams, participants are encouraged to join this whether or not they are considering spiritual companioning.

If you would like to learn more about this program, please sign up for one of our informational sessions (all are offered via Zoom).

You are invited to join us to explore two congruent spiritual practices- both Pathways to the Interior: SoulCollage© and Walking the Labyrinth

*Gathering and browsing images begins at 8:45 am, opening circle 9:00 am.

Led by Saralise Ward and Heather Monkmeyer

Cost - $50, student/scholarships available $30

All supplies and materials provided along with Hot coffee, cocoa, tea, water, bring your own water bottle

Registration is closed

**May bring your own lunch and/or please bring a snack to share if you are able.

Accessible free parking available in First Congregational Church parking lot

We invite you to consider joining the Wellstreams first year experience of spiritual awakening in deep community. This one-year program is designed for anyone who is seeking:

• A more contemplative life

• Greater freedom to bring more compassion to the world

• To nurture healthier personal and professional relationships based on a holistic view of self

• Enhanced skills for empathetic listening, discernment, and community building

• Deepened expressions of spirituality

• Explore my relationship with the divine, self, others, and the world

• Seeing broadly and feeling deeply

• Discernment for the practicum in spiritual companioning

While this is a prerequisite for the second phase of Wellstreams, participants are encouraged to join this whether or not they are considering spiritual companioning.

If you would like to learn more about this program, please sign up for one of our informational sessions (all are offered via Zoom).

We invite you to consider joining the Wellstreams first year experience of spiritual awakening in deep community. This one-year program is designed for anyone who is seeking:

• A more contemplative life

• Greater freedom to bring more compassion to the world

• To nurture healthier personal and professional relationships based on a holistic view of self

• Enhanced skills for empathetic listening, discernment, and community building

• Deepened expressions of spirituality

• Explore my relationship with the divine, self, others, and the world

• Seeing broadly and feeling deeply

• Discernment for the practicum in spiritual companioning

While this is a prerequisite for the second phase of Wellstreams, participants are encouraged to join this whether or not they are considering spiritual companioning.

If you would like to learn more about this program, please sign up for one of our informational sessions (all are offered via Zoom).

In person
Free!

Join your fellow spiritual director board game buffs as we gather to play board games at First Congregational Church. We will have a variety of games ready to play, snacks to share, and maybe a little bit of competitive spirit thrown in to spice things up. RSVP is required by February 10th.

Contact Christine Hiester (christinehiester73@gmail.com) or Rachael Miller (rachaelmiller0@gmail.com) to sign up. 

In these polarized times, "diversity" is either seen as the hope for the future or a dirty word. Join us for the next in our Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) series where Sherrice Thomas from the Columbus Chamber of Commerce shares her views on why it's important to embrace diversity, and to go beyond finding what we have in common with one another.

As part of this interactive workshop, we'll have an opportunity to explore the various dimensions of our diversity and the intersectionality that often exists.

To register click here.

Our presenter

Sherrice Thomas is vice president of diversity, equity, access and inclusion at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. She activates systemic change strategies for equity and inclusion in the business community.

Prior to joining the Chamber, Sherrice served as the Director of Change Management at NiSource, one of the largest fully-regulated utility companies in the United States. Sherrice spent 19 years at Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company, holding leadership roles in Organization Effectiveness, Talent Management, and Leadership Development.

Sherrice holds a Master of Business Administration with a focus in Organizational Leadership and Management from Franklin University and a Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus in Women’s Studies from The Ohio State University. She cooks with her family and practices yoga in her free time.

Sherrice holds a Master of Business Administration with a focus in Organizational Leadership and Management from Franklin University and a Bachelor of Arts degree with a focus in Women’s Studies from The Ohio State University. She cooks with her family in her free time, creates herbal medicine, and practices yoga.

Join us in January at our SDAO virtual gathering, as we explore using Neurographic Art in Spiritual Direction.  Neurographic Art is an intuitive form of art that involves mindfulness and intentionality that can be used to help support our directees in relieving anxiety and finding greater clarity and peace. It can be used stand alone or with other forms of creativity like SoulCollage© or art journaling. 

Participants are welcome to draw along with the demonstration and begin creating.  All you will need is a sheet of paper, black ultra fine point Sharpie, thick chisel tip black sharpie, and colored pencils or highlighters.  Your paper weight can vary from 30lbs and up. 

Free to 2024 SDAO members, $10 for non-members

Click here to register.

Save the date for additional Spiritual Directors Association of Ohio (SDAO) 2024 meetings:

April 27   9:30 a.m. - noon   (Saturday workshop Starting your Spiritual Direction Business) 
July 22      7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m
October 26   9:30 a.m. - noon  

If you have a topic you would like to see presented in 2024 or 2025, click here to let us know!

Presented by Annie Dalby

Join us for this engaging workshop where we'll explore ways to compassionately sit with those who are grieving. Whether you're a spiritual director or not, Annie Dalby will explore elements of grief and loss, with a strong focus on the healing process.

Cost: $40 for the public
Register here

Cost: $32 for SDAO members
Register here

Come! Break bread with us at our open house to commemorate our 2023 annual appeal. Chat with us about our dreams for the future and about how your donations will be used. We welcome the chance to talk with you and share about the great work happening. And while you’re here, see our new updated office.

Please register so we can plan for your visit.

Our Wellstreams Training Program in the Art of Spiritual Direction is seeking individuals to work with our intern spiritual directors for one year beginning January 2024. This is an ideal opportunity for those who have never been in spiritual direction – or have limited experience with it – and are ready to see if this might be helpful to their spirituality and faith.

The intern directors are in the final phase of their training and are supervised by experienced director supervisors. Anyone interested in participating would need to be willing to commit to monthly sessions with an intern spiritual director beginning in January 2024, ending in February 2025.

There is no charge for this service.

All of the following informational meetings will be held via Zoom.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

If you are interested but not able to attend during this time, please let us know.

Contact Amanda Stone Cushing via email: ascushing4@spiritualitynetwork.org to request further details.

Many of us are familiar with Lucy Abbott Tucker, Spiritual Directors International (SDI) co-founder and worldwide expert on spiritual direction supervision.

We have the blessing of tapping into her wisdom when she joins us November 30 through December 2. If you’ve ever considered being a supervisor, or you just want to enrich your practice, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.

Thursday evening, November 30 will be an informal gathering open to all, even those who are not spiritual directors. Thursday’s gathering will be a suggested donation of $25.00. The workshop on Friday and Saturday will run from 9:30-4:30.

Reserve your workshop spot with a $50.00 down payment.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Please consider this exceptional opportunity to continue your faith journey.

Many of us are familiar with Lucy Abbott Tucker, Spiritual Directors International (SDI) co-founder and worldwide expert on spiritual direction supervision.

We have the blessing of tapping into her wisdom when she joins us November 30 through December 2. If you’ve ever considered being a supervisor, or you just want to enrich your practice, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.

Thursday evening, November 30 will be an informal gathering open to all, even those who are not spiritual directors. Thursday’s gathering will be a suggested donation of $25.00. The workshop on Friday and Saturday will run from 9:30-4:30.

Reserve your workshop spot with a $50.00 down payment.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Please consider this exceptional opportunity to continue your faith journey.

Many of us are familiar with Lucy Abbott Tucker, Spiritual Directors International (SDI) co-founder and worldwide expert on spiritual direction supervision.

We have the blessing of tapping into her wisdom when she joins us November 30 through December 2. If you’ve ever considered being a supervisor, or you just want to enrich your practice, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.

Thursday evening, November 30 will be an informal gathering open to all, even those who are not spiritual directors. Thursday’s gathering will be a suggested donation of $25.00. The workshop on Friday and Saturday will run from 9:30-4:30.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Please consider this exceptional opportunity to continue your faith journey.

Our Wellstreams Training Program in the Art of Spiritual Direction is seeking individuals to work with our intern spiritual directors for one year beginning January 2024. This is an ideal opportunity for those who have never been in spiritual direction – or have limited experience with it – and are ready to see if this might be helpful to their spirituality and faith.

The intern directors are in the final phase of their training and are supervised by experienced director supervisors. Anyone interested in participating would need to be willing to commit to monthly sessions with an intern spiritual director beginning in January 2024, ending in February 2025.

There is no charge for this service.

All of the following informational meetings will be held via Zoom.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Or another opportunity is:

• Monday, December 4, 2023, from 3 pm – 5:30 pm

If you are interested but not able to attend during these times, please let us know.

Contact Amanda Stone Cushing via email: ascushing4@spiritualitynetwork.org to request further details.

With Dan Clark, Director of Regional Organizing, Faith in Public Life

It's no secret that life does not lay out a level playing field for all. Many of us have unearned privileges that make things easier for us, even if they are not always easy. Join us for an engaging conversation with Dan Clark, regional director of Faith in Public Life, as we explore the faith-based connotations and opportunities to create more equitable community.

Register here.

Our Wellstreams Training Program in the Art of Spiritual Direction is seeking individuals to work with our intern spiritual directors for one year beginning January 2024. This is an ideal opportunity for those who have never been in spiritual direction – or have limited experience with it – and are ready to see if this might be helpful to their spirituality and faith.

The intern directors are in the final phase of their training and are supervised by experienced director supervisors. Anyone interested in participating would need to be willing to commit to monthly sessions with an intern spiritual director beginning in January 2024, ending in February 2025.

There is no charge for this service.

All of the following informational meetings will be held via Zoom.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

Other opportunities are:

• Wednesday, November 16, 2023, from 7 pm – 8:30 pm OR

• Monday, December 4, 2023, from 3 pm – 5:30 pm

If you are interested but not able to attend during these times, please let us know.

Contact Amanda Stone Cushing via email: ascushing4@spiritualitynetwork.org to request further details.

This meeting will include a brief business meeting followed by a discussion continues a 5-part conversation on YouTube.com titled Reconsidering Spiritual Companionship. On Reconsidering Spiritual Companionship that was hosted by Spiritual Directors International (SDI) posted   SDI Executive Director Rev. SeiFu Singh-Molares and SDI Creative Director Matt Whitney consider and reconsider common elements common to the work of spiritual direction and companionship. Using this published discussion, we will continue the conversation, to offer each of us an opportunity to reflect on our own practice and journey as spiritual companions.

Register here.

You are invited to join us to explore two congruent spiritual practices- both pathways to the interior:

SoulCollage© and walking the labyrinth

Go deeper with your inner work as you create and interact with images and meander First Congregational Church’s beautiful floor labyrinth…a pathway of inner discovery…pathways to prayer…

A meditative discernment process that engages the imagination and the intuition using images, scissors, paper, and glue in a quiet, prayerful space. No artistic tendencies required, just an open heart and a willingness to engage.

Led by Saralise Ward and Heather Monkmeyer
All proceeds go toward the The Spirituality Network
Cost - $60 minimum (which includes a $10 supply fee)
All materials and refreshments provided
Accessible free parking available in First Congregational Church parking lot

For public registration, please register here.

For Trinity Lutheran Seminary students, please register here. ( Have the password ready.)

John Edgar, will be our keynote speaker and the topic will be “A Divine Economy of Abundance”

The Living Faith Awards honor individuals who create a more hopeful, peaceful, and faithful world. Recipients of the awards are those laypersons who exemplify dynamic faith in their lives, those whose faith is both “lived” and “alive” in ways that inspire, challenge, and serve. Honorees embody any or all of the following values:

• Peacemaking...In their own homes, their life work, and/or in the community

• Tending to the “least of these”...Visiting the sick or imprisoned, feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless

• Caring for creation...Creating sustainability and being a good steward of God’s creation

• Loving neighbor AND self...Reaching across divisions in our culture and community to honor common ground; caring for oneself in addition to caring for others

Awarded to Phil Hart, Kimberly Miracle, Barbara Pelleriti and Denise Youngsteadt-Parrish

In addition to the Living Faith Awards are awards in three special categories:

The Alvin R. Hadley Social Justice Award: This award is given in recognition of exemplary work in the field of social justice. Recipients have engaged in efforts to give voice to the voiceless, and/or seeking access to basic civil and human rights for all, and/or working toward changing unjust laws and practices.
Awarded to Susan Carter

The Interfaith/Multicultural Award: This award recognizes an individual who creates bridges of understanding and acceptance between different faiths or cultures while exemplifying the best of his or her own faith tradition and culture.
Awarded to Skip Cornett - to be awarded posthumously

The Hope for Tomorrow Award: This award recognizes an individual who lives his or her faith balanced with action that will serve as a model for spiritual development.
Awarded to Inderjot Hansra

We’ll also have a special celebration to recognize the impact John Edgar has had on the South Side Columbus community through his work at the Church and Development for All People. John will be recognized with the first ever Enduring Hope Award.

This workshop is an exploration into the profound wisdom and knowledge that can be gained by paying attention to our bodies. In this transformative workshop, participants will embark on a journey of self-discovery, reconnecting with their physical selves and learning valuable lessons that can enhance their overall well-being. Through various experiential exercises and discussions, attendees will deepen their understanding of the body-mind connection and gain practical tools for nurturing their physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

All materials provided.

Space is limited.

Cost: $65

Register here.

Facilitator Bio….
Ryan McGuire is an Independent Marriage and Family Therapist, Somatic Psychotherapist, and Trauma Specialist who runs his own private practice in Columbus Ohio. Ryan received his Bachelor’s of Arts in Comparative Religious Studies from the Ohio State University in 2010, and his Master’s of Arts in Counseling Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California in 2014. Ryan’s therapy practice is inspired by various spiritual traditions and therapeutic modalities including Hakomi therapy, Somatic Experiencing Trauma Resolution, Transformative Tocuh Therapy, and transpersonal psychology. Ryan has also served as a wellness consultant for various local companies and has hosted several workshops on mindfulness, trauma resolution, and somatic-based stress reduction practices.”

Did you know… drumming:

• Reduces tension, anxiety, and stress

• Helps control chronic pain

• Boosts the immune system

• Alleviates depression

• Produces deeper self-awareness by inducing synchronous brain activity

• Accesses the entire brain

• Induces natural altered states of consciousness

• Creates a sense of connectedness with self and others

• Helps us to be in resonance with the natural rhythms of life

• Provides a medium for individual self-realization

• And is a heck of a lot of fun!

Join us for this special afternoon event where Joyce Phelps helps us find our voice with confidence. We will build a cohesive, diverse community through the power of deep listening. No experience necessary!

Cost is $40.

Space is limited. All materials provided.

Register here.

“In his new book, Genius of Justice (Cascade Books, 2022), Timothy C. Ahrens shares what he has learned from conversations with 53 remarkable activists of justice—mentors, friends, and co-leaders who embody biblical teaching and tireless advocacy. The book serves as testimony to values that have inspired Ahrens in his own steadfast ministry for decades. Justice work, he says, is unapologetic, cross-racial, cross-cultural, communal, personal, nonviolent, unshakeable. It hears the biblical command to walk humbly with God and dignify people who go neglected, malnourished, undetected. Justice is a fearless forethought, never an afterthought.”
- Ray Waddle

Join us for this enlightening conversation Rev. Ahrens.

Recommended donation: $10.

Be sure to invite friends and family.

Register here.

Understanding Affirmative Prayer and Spiritual Companionship as a Healing Art

Led by Paul Cuffee

Paul Cuffee is a Poet, a Licensed Practitioner, a Filmmaker, and a writer of Sacred texts. His mission is to erase the line between the Sacred and the Profane and to remove the veils between awareness of Self and awareness of Divinity. Paul is devoted to expanding everyone’s awareness of their own wholeness and perfection, through prayer, meditation, Prac sessions, and teaching. 

This is a Zoom meeting.

Music has long been central to people’s spiritual practices. The Spirituality Network is honored to present an evening of music offered by friends of the Network who will share their talents in a uniquely contemplative environment.

You’ll enter the sacred space in reverent silence and take a seat around a simple, candlelight altar. Quiet reflective music will play as everyone gathers. 

The event will begin and end with a blessing. Musical offerings will be spiritual expressions rather than performances. Applause will be replaced by a period of silence to allow for the music to touch attendees’ hearts and souls. 

Musical expressions will be instrumental (piano, guitar, cello, violin, hand pan, etc.) and/or vocal.

Following the musical event, we’ll share in a dessert buffet.

Registration is closed.