If you would like more information about our ministry of spiritual

direction, you may contact one of the following:

St. John’s Convent and Guest House233 Cummer Avenue

Toronto, ON M2M 2E8Telephone: 416-226-2201

Fax: 416-226-2131Email:

spiritualdirectioncoordinator@ssjd.ca

St. John’s House, BC3937 St. Peter’s RoadVictoria, B.C. V8P 2J9

Telephone: 250-920-7787Fax: 250-920-7709

Email: bchouse@ssjd.ca

www.ssjd.ca

The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine is a registered charity. Our

charitable donation number is BN 11925 4266 RR0001.

What are you seeking?

Spiritual Direction

A Monastic Community within the Anglican Church of Canada

About Payment

We are often asked about our policy on payment for this ministry.

For those who are seeking an on-going spiritual director, the financial arrangement is decided between the person and the spiritual

director. The usual fee is between $35 and $50, with meetings about once a month. Most spiritual directors have a flexible sliding scale based on ability to pay.

For those who desire to receive spiritual direction while on a retreat in the Guest House, the fee is $35 for each one-hour session, and it is paid directly to the Spiritual Director.

Bursary assistance is available through the Guest House and no one is turned away who desires spiritual direction on retreat.

are psychologically aware, who are seekers, and who have no romantic illusions that they can or must be quasi-monastics as they cope with jobs, spouses, partners, children, taxes,

and unpaid bills.”

The Ministry of Holy Listening

Those offering spiritual companionship

seek to help those they accompany to know the unconditional love and forgiveness of God, and to appreciate

the activity of God in their life. The prayerful support of a trusted spiritual companion who cares about us, but wants nothing from us, can set us free to know ourselves better as we reach out to grow in our relationship with God.

Telling the story of our lives, in a prayerful atmosphere

with a trusted companion, helps us to recognize where and how God has been and continues to be present and active in that story.As we reflect upon God’s activity

Many of us feel a need and a hunger to deepen our relationship with God and

to seek someone to help us on our Christian journey, to help us articulate, search out and trust our questions. Who are we in our relationship with God? How do we pray? How do we live out our faith? What do we do when we feel we have fallen short of the “more” that God desires for us?

These are some of the questions we may bring to spiritual direction. Often

called spiritual companionship, this ministry is an ancient tradition within the Church. In today’s individualistic and secularized western culture, more and more people are feeling a need for such companionship to help them satisfy that profound but unarticulated yearning for a deeper relationship with God that is so much a part of our humanity.

In The Practice of Prayer, Margaret Guenther writes: “. . . It remains for us to build on [this

ancient tradition], and to work out a model of spiritual direction that is alive and meaningful for those in the “mixed life”– those who

in our life, and allow the spirit of God to shape us in the image of Christ through the ordinary events of everyday life, so we grow in discernment.

Spiritual Direction in the Sisterhood

Within the context of a

monastic house whose way of life is a balance of work, study, prayer and leisure, some of the Sisters and Associates offer the ministry of spiritual companionship. All who offer this ministry under our sponsorship follow a policy established by the Sisterhood, which requires our spiritual companions to be under regular spiritual direction themselves, and to be in a process of continuing education and training in this ministry.

If you are considering spiritual direction for yourself, you may call one of the numbers listed on the

back of this leaflet. If there are no openings available, we will be glad to refer you to other possible spiritual directors.