Friends,
As promised last week, I am happily giving my Friday Extra over to Kate Forer, to introduce herself and her ministry to you a bit more.
Happy reading!
Mark of St. Mark
What the heck is spiritual direction? ...You might be wondering….
In response, let me ask you a few questions:
When was the last time you sat down and honestly talked to someone about your relationship with God?
About the state of your soul?
About ways to go deeper - to grow more fully into the person God has created you to be?
About what gets in the way, for you, of being your full, true self?
If you have someone with whom you have such honest and open conversations, then that is wonderful. But most of us don’t. And many of us have never even thought to ask those questions in the first place.
Spiritual direction is an ancient Christian practice that allows an individual to explore their spiritual life with a seasoned companion. So much of our life is lived busily on the surface - we go to our jobs, we take care of our children or our parents, we try to find time for friends and recreation - and often the deeper questions of the heart are left unattended. Spiritual Direction is a chance to attend to these matters, to fully engage in one's life, to discern how the Spirit is moving and calling.
A few months ago I let Pastor Mark know that I was starting a spiritual direction practice (something I had dreamed of doing when I left full-time local church ministry. Just a quick aside: being a full-time senior pastor, as I was, does not leave enough time and space for these kinds of conversations with congregants - not when you have close to 300 of them). Mark quickly asked if I was interested in having office space at St. Mark. “YES!” I responded. I have been attending St. Mark off and on for several years now, and the idea of being planted within such a wonderful congregation seemed like a dream come true.
And so here I am! I am meeting people one-on-one in my office for such conversations as mentioned above. I am looking forward to working with the St. Mark staff at some point to plan retreats (something I have done for many years and for which I have a real passion) and I’m hoping to be more involved in this lovely community.
From two decades of pastoring, I know how hard church communities like St. Mark work. I know you are busy with your commissions and your service work - not to mention careers, kids, parents, etc. To do the work of being God’s hands and feet in the world we all need times to replenish and nurture the soul. Remember, even Jesus escaped crowds to spend time with God. I hope that I can offer a sense of nourishment and encouragement as you continue your profound work of loving and serving this broken world.
If you’d like to learn more about working with me, I invite you to visit my website: https://www.
You can also always email me at kate@stmarkpresbyterian.org
I am so very happy (and grateful!) to be a part of you!
Blessings,
Kate
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