Spiritual Direction Goals
The purpose of spiritual direction is to assist others to see the presence of God in their lives, to find the truth of their own existence and encourage them to be faithful to it. There is a necessity for someone whose soul has been awakened to find a soul friend with whom to share their whole life interior journey and help them see God at work in their lives.
All spiritual directors (companions) who are authentically called to this ministry want to assist directees (companions) in realizing their spiritual goals or desires—growing in relationship with God, entering into discernment regarding a particular decision (See discernment below for further description), righting a relationship with another, discovering the presence of God in the ordinary, learning how to pray, or living a life of greater justice or compassion. Whatever the spiritual desire of the directee, spiritual directors (companions) want to assist their directees (companions) with these endeavors. The spiritual director is not a therapist, solving life’s problems, but a guide caring for the directee’s soul, helping the directee see God working in his or her life.
Discernment
- Most fundamental task of discernment: to see beyond surface appearances to the intangible spiritual identity, e.g., a felt sense of one’s authentic identity in God. To help directees (companions) to see and experience their foundational identity in God; then help directees (companions) distinguish authentic and inauthentic expressions of that identity in the actual practice of direction.
- The process of distinguishing or sifting through interior movements to discover whether their origin is from God or some other source—one’s own ego, cultural conditioning, e.g., that which moves you away from God rather than toward God.
- The process of weighing alternative courses of action in order to choose the one that seems most congruent with God’s will.
Spiritual Directors in Arkansas
Fayetteville
Episcopal
479-582-4722 | k.bernard@yahoo.com
William “Skip” Cochran
Little Rock
Episcopal
501-221-1607 or 501-413-9520
No fee required; optional charitable donation to church of choice
Tom Elliot
Sherwood/Little Rock or FaceTime/Skype
Roman Catholic
501-478-5060 | Tom@DeepWardly.com
www.DeepWardly.com
$55/session
The Rev. Merry Helen Hedges
Little Rock
Episcopal
501-868-7506 | mhhedges@earthlink.net
Donation to St. Francis House
Sam Loudenslager
Little Rock
Episcopal
sam.loudenslager@gmail.com
No fee
Betsy McNeil
NW Arkansas
Roman Catholic
479-366-1052 | spiritualdirectorbmc@yahoo.com
$40-$60/hr, or ability to pay
The Rev. Sara Milford
Episcopal
Bentonville, Ark.
479-799-1890 | sara@everydaysimple.org
No fee
Alice Nahas
Paris, Ark.
Roman Catholic
479-651-1616 | anahas@me.com
$40-$60/hr or ability to pay
Dr. Lance Sawyer
Mena, Ark.
Inter-denominational Christian
479-234-7943 | lmjlsawyer@yahoo.com
Negotiable fee
The Rev. Joanna Seibert
Little Rock
Episcopal
501-425-8525 | joannaseibert@me.com
$50/hr, donated to the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Clergy Discretionary Fund
David Sims
Fort Smith
Episcopal
479-782-9912 or 479-474-3144 | dsimsefm@aol.com
Negotiable fee