Resources & Events
Spiritual Direction
“It is easier to find guides, someone to tell you what to do, than someone to be with you in a discerning, prayerful companionship as you work it out yourself. This is what spiritual direction is.” – Eugene H. Peterson
At Anam Cara, we believe in the unconditional value of every human being. In spiritual direction, we offer the ministry of holy listening in group and individual settings by providing a non-anxious, non-manipulative presence. In this kind of spiritual friendship, we dive beneath the surface of our daily lives to experience interior freedom, healthy relationship, and what Thomas Merton calls your inmost truth: the likeness of Christ in you
Scripture Circles
In the Scriptural record, Jesus was 40 times more likely to ask a question than to answer one. Practicing an ancient model of integrative teaching, Jesus brought together real-life scenarios with Scriptural stories to evoke new awareness and freedom in those around Him, opening them to God’s love, not through answers but through wonder, curiosity, and communion.
In Scripture Circles, we follow this ancient rabbinic style of teaching in sacred community to wrestle, wonder, and learn together. Much more than any conventional Bible study, this immersive experience of the text is pastoral and mystical, practical and personal, and allows a sacred community to engage God, community, and the text in transformative ways.
“I feel like I’ve been given the Bible back” is the most common feedback we hear after people experience Scripture Circles for the first time.
Supervision
Why Supervision?
In supervision, spiritual directors are accompanied on the holy ground of their practice to deeper healing, interior freedom, and self-awareness on behalf of their directees. At Anam Cara, we practice compassionate, contemplative, evocative supervision based on the Together in the Mystery model. We believe this kind of supervision allows for flourishing and wholeness for both the director and the directee. Together, we explore your spiritual direction practice with an awareness of relational dynamics such as countertransference, trauma-informed care, and somatic experiencing.
What directors have said about supervision with Anam Cara
“I am able to enter into the direction time more peacefully and confidently because of the encouragement and wisdom of my supervisor and fellow directors. I would not want to offer direction to others without the support that monthly supervision offers.” – Jo
Supervion Offerings
Individual Supervision – offered in a one on one format either in person in Colorado Springs and Nashville or online via Zoom.
Group Supervision – Offered in an online format. Each group consists of up to 5 directors and facilitated by a trained supervisor. Groups meet in 6 month sessions.
Supervision Intensives – Coming in 2024! A multi day retreat with a small group of directors and two trained supervisors that will walk along side you in a review and refresh of your direction practice.
To inquire about supervision, email us here.
Pilgrimages
“Do you know the origin of that word ‘saunter’? It’s a beautiful word. Way back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, “A la sainte terre,’ ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.” -John Muir
At Anam Cara, we believe that pilgrimage can occur in our own neighborhoods as likely as they can happen in holy lands. Together, we craft communal experiences of sauntering that allow us to experience God, the land, and community in ways that leave us changed: more open, more willing to love fully, more whole, and more free to live lightly and generously in the world. We keep our pilgrim communities small for the sake of transforming intimacy and offer them only rarely so as to honor the environment, our resources, and the sacred nature of travel.
Workshops
One of the ways we support spiritual directors is by providing continuing education workshops. These quarterly gatherings are usually hosted over Zoom on Fridays for 2 hours. They are taught by a combination of in-house and guest speakers and cover various topics pertaining to the practice of spiritual direction.
Some recent topics include:
- Decolonizing the Spiritual Direction Space
- It’s Not Therapy: 5 Therapeutic Temptations
- Ignatian Discernment in Spiritual Direction
- And many more . . .
Retreats & Speaking
How Do We Do an Event for You?
In addition to individual and group spiritual direction, Anam Cara Ministries leads retreats on a variety of topics related to spiritual formation, such as prayer, contemplation, and discernment. We also craft retreats focused on more specific topics and practices, including
- the Enneagram
- the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius,
- the Rule of Life,
- the image of God,
- Scripture meditation,
- women’s spirituality,
- sexuality and spirituality,
- and a number of other topics.
We especially enjoy crafting and leading silent retreats and retreats “in daily life” that introduce and incorporate spiritual practices into the daily lives of retreat attendees. For example, we guided a group of believers in the media in New York City and Washington, DC, in contemplations of vocation and the story of God through the lens of Exodus.
Tara brings a wealth of teaching experience to this process. She has taught classes on the Enneagram, spiritual formation, spiritual disciplines, types of prayer, and understanding your prayer personality. At present, she teaches on critical issues in soul care for the Potter’s Inn Soul Care Institute. Recent topics include
- lament,
- race and formation,
- sexuality and spirituality,
- technology and the soul,
- death, dying, and grieving.
Tara also develops guided contemplative experiences, such as Advent Labyrinth Walks and Discernment Days.
Jeremy has been leading and teaching groups for over two decades. Much of his work has been focused on providing refreshment and renewal retreats for pastors and ministry leaders and their partners. Some of the topics Jeremy teaches on include belovedness, identity/purpose, spiritual practices, sabbath, grief, and the enneagram.
Jeremy hosts multiple retreats each year for pastors and ministry leaders through Sacred Journey Retreats and is available to curate and facilitate retreats for your church staff, leadership team or community.
If you’d like to contact us to speak at or direct a retreat, please email us or call us at (719) 233-5568.
Retreat Curation
If you’re not looking to bring Tara or another member of the Anam Cara Ministries team in to teach or lead, but you would like help planning, designing, or executing a retreat for your congregation, team, small group, or yourself, Anam Cara Ministries also offers retreat curation. In this affordable option, Anam Cara will come alongside you to help you plan a retreat you can lead yourself.
You can choose from a menu of services, which include
- an initial evaluation of needs and desires
- personalized retreat theming (such as silence, contemplation, or discernment) that fits your journey, needs, and longings
- help finding the best retreat locations that fit your budget and schedule
- a detailed retreat guide that provides a customized schedule you or your team can follow during the retreat
- resource curation (anything from music to books to guided meditations) to help you lead or plan a retreat
- one-on-one spiritual direction via Zoom during the retreat time
- a follow-up evaluation after the retreat, including next steps moving forward.
Costs vary based on the particular services and situation. For more information or to get an estimate, please email us or call (719) 233-5568.