Spiritual Direction
'listening to the other'Helping you recognise God in the ordinariness of your daily life
Helping You Achieve Success
What is spiritual direction?
Learning to recognise God in the ordinariness of your everyday life including your work, your leisure, your dreams, your daydreams and your conversations.
My Values & Beliefs
Listening to the other
Prayer is not an exercise like riding a bike or making coffee. Prayer is our walking, talking and listening relationship with God as revealed in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Developing your prayer
Prayer can become a conversation between us and God so talking about prayer is like talking about our relationship with God (Sister Wendy Beckett, 2006).
God’s invitation to the directee
In spiritual direction the focus is always on God’s invitation to the directee. Provocative questions help the directee to uncover any perceived constraints, and can help to evaluate whether those constraints are real or imaginary.
Spiritual Direction
Everyone should be able to afford Spiritual Direction. My prices start at $50 plus gst per session for the retired, unemployed, students and beneficiaries. If you earn more expect to pay more.
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Focusing questions for beginning Spiritual Direction
Focus on one or two areas only at a time for discussion during the spiritual direction session. Above all remember what you want to get from it and what you put in will largely determine what you receive from spiritual direction.
You set the agenda! So prepare and take the lead. What do you want to use the hour for? Be mindful in your preparation of inner events such as prayer experiences, feelings, questions, dreams and insights. Keeping a journal may help.
Questions to reflect on as you prepare for a session could include: How am I praying? What is God saying to me in my Scripture reading / meditation times? What is God like for me at present? How well do I know Jesus? What more of himself is he offering to me? In what ways do I sense the Spirit at work in my life?
What others are saying
“Spiritual direction has been a life-saver for me. In my line of work the privilege of helping others comes with its challenges. Post-Covid, and after an intense period of difficulty personally and professionally, I found myself in a state of near-burnout. On on one spiritual direction with Andrew provided me a safe space to process my burdens, thoughts and emotions. Andrew brings such an amazing balance of insightful questioning, great listening skills, spirit-led sensitivity and a deep focus on the word of God.”
“Andrew is an accomplished spiritual director. He listens carefully, helps his clients to gently identify God’s activity in their life and journeys with them from there. With a mature and accepting Christian faith, Andrew is well placed to be an excellent spiritual resource for people.”
“I have deeply valued journeying with Andrew over the past six years during my ministry (Youth, young adult and Māori congregations) and studies (Te Reo Māori and theological). Andrew has been an immense support over these times – actively listening, drawing out holistic connections, and assisting me to see a fuller picture of situations. Rather than offering quick/easy answers, Andrew has a wonderful ability to draw on whakapapa, and spiritual insight to prompt the individual to realise these themselves.”
Spiritual Direction.
Find Your Balance and tipping points.
My faith / spiritual background
I currently attend Gracecity church where I also support staff one day a week. My family tends to go to a local church in the suburb in which we live. My church experience has included Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian and AOG churches. My work experience included ten years leading ‘Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship’, a evangelistic and evangelical mission on NZ’s tertiary campuses. I have also taught Religious Education and run spiritual retreats in a Catholic school (Marcellin College). My upbringing in Lynfield Community Church was also formative.
My faith has evangelical roots but has been broadened by others streams of faith including the contemplative life; the spiritual empowered life; a determination to strive for personal holiness and to work towards social justice for all.
Training and experience
I completed Spiritual Growth Ministries (SGM) two year Spiritual Director’s Formation Programme in 2020 and am a full member of the Association of Christian Spiritual Directors. I receive regular professional supervision and personal spiritual direction.
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