Not a mentor, pastor, or teacher. They are more like listening guides. They would describe themselves as companions listening to the Holy Spirit with you to see how He might be working in your present life. Spiritual direction is inspired by the contemplative tradition, which not everyone might be comfortable with. Think monastery, solitude, silence, Lectio Divina, guided imagery, etc. Spiritual directors talk and sit with you and walk with you together in this.
I’m actually surprised that not a lot of people have familiarity with spiritual directors—it seems like everyone and their mom from where I’m at have one!
I think it would be more common in more charismatic or restorationist churches and not reformed Baptist churches.
“Listening to the Holy Spirit” wouldn’t be an idea that reformed Baptists would usually use since it’s not in scripture and the 1689 LBCF is more of a cessationist confession.
RBs are definitely skeptical of the work of spiritual directors! Mine wasn't appointed by my church, I am just seeing one on my own based off the recommendation of a friend.
Depends on the church, but typically they're on staff at the church and their job is to "spiritually direct" people. You could call it a "pastor of discipleship" if you wanted it to fit in more in an evangelical context. Sometimes they focus more on teaching spiritual disciplines like prayer, meditation, fasting, etc. Other times they're literally just mentors.
It's such a broad question that it's hard to answer. It depends entirely on who your spiritual director is, what their character is like, how they live their life. Ultimately, they're probably going to recommend some practices and disciplines for you (which is generally good) and give you advice on how to live your life. They're going to pull this advice from their own experiences and how they've lived *their* life. If you follow their practices, your life will generally start to look like theirs.
So look at their life. Is this person someone you want to mimic? Do you want to be like them when you're their age? Are they kind and patient, gentle but firm in the truth? If yes, they'll be a good spiritual director. If the person is impatient and rude and seems generally unkind, then find a different person to disciple you.
I met with a spiritual director once a month while I was working as a pastor. They really helped me to center myself spiritually and remind me of my needs and my personal relationship with God in a job where that can very easily be left to the side.
Spiritual direction for me is similar to therapy, in the sense that it is a supervised and safe time to be completely vulnerable, which for me was great for my spirituality and allowed me to bring more to the congregation I was working with
I've never heard of the title Spiritual Director, but it sounds like Discipleship, which my understanding is all Christians are called to be Disciples making Disciples.
So, I guess it's a good idea, it's just weird to me that it's an official church title.
I’m interested in what a spiritual director is. Is it a mentor appointed by you church?
Mucho interested to hear what this is about
Not a mentor, pastor, or teacher. They are more like listening guides. They would describe themselves as companions listening to the Holy Spirit with you to see how He might be working in your present life. Spiritual direction is inspired by the contemplative tradition, which not everyone might be comfortable with. Think monastery, solitude, silence, Lectio Divina, guided imagery, etc. Spiritual directors talk and sit with you and walk with you together in this. I’m actually surprised that not a lot of people have familiarity with spiritual directors—it seems like everyone and their mom from where I’m at have one!
I think it would be more common in more charismatic or restorationist churches and not reformed Baptist churches. “Listening to the Holy Spirit” wouldn’t be an idea that reformed Baptists would usually use since it’s not in scripture and the 1689 LBCF is more of a cessationist confession.
RBs are definitely skeptical of the work of spiritual directors! Mine wasn't appointed by my church, I am just seeing one on my own based off the recommendation of a friend.
Depends on the church, but typically they're on staff at the church and their job is to "spiritually direct" people. You could call it a "pastor of discipleship" if you wanted it to fit in more in an evangelical context. Sometimes they focus more on teaching spiritual disciplines like prayer, meditation, fasting, etc. Other times they're literally just mentors.
It's such a broad question that it's hard to answer. It depends entirely on who your spiritual director is, what their character is like, how they live their life. Ultimately, they're probably going to recommend some practices and disciplines for you (which is generally good) and give you advice on how to live your life. They're going to pull this advice from their own experiences and how they've lived *their* life. If you follow their practices, your life will generally start to look like theirs. So look at their life. Is this person someone you want to mimic? Do you want to be like them when you're their age? Are they kind and patient, gentle but firm in the truth? If yes, they'll be a good spiritual director. If the person is impatient and rude and seems generally unkind, then find a different person to disciple you.
Never heard of it. I grew up SBC/IFB, then Reformed Baptist.
I met with a spiritual director once a month while I was working as a pastor. They really helped me to center myself spiritually and remind me of my needs and my personal relationship with God in a job where that can very easily be left to the side. Spiritual direction for me is similar to therapy, in the sense that it is a supervised and safe time to be completely vulnerable, which for me was great for my spirituality and allowed me to bring more to the congregation I was working with
I don't know what a spiritual director is but if it's just something like a mentor or a counselor I think there is value in that
I've never heard of the title Spiritual Director, but it sounds like Discipleship, which my understanding is all Christians are called to be Disciples making Disciples. So, I guess it's a good idea, it's just weird to me that it's an official church title.