Years ago I was invited into a spiritual direction group - a group helping each other grow in relationship with God and others because that is what spiritual growth is and what spiritual direction helps facilitate.

That group experience was unusual for many reasons but one is because spiritual direction is usually one-onone where one seeking direction meets alone with a trained spiritual director. We did it as a group. It was also unusual because I felt like I knew near nothing while my four fellow participants had been on their journeys for years. One was clergy and a trained spiritual director using this as her own spiritual direction time. Another was a deeply spiritual senior medical doctor. The two others were women of deep faith who served the church in many ways including in the healing prayer ministry. And there I was, an academic who they once said “had an interesting alternative way of looking at things.” I think that was a compliment. Anyway, I remained a member of that group for several years, meeting about monthly.

I cannot say that I saw it did much for me, but I came to understand that we are not always good at seeing how we have grown spiritually. You see, before becoming a participant in this group I had met with our diocesan assisting bishop to talk about a call to ministry. When I saw him again three years later, he said “Something has changed. You are different. What have you been doing?”

Spiritual growth is like that. It is a slow process of becoming closer to God, to love of God and love of neighbor, through disciplines practiced again and again over a long time. Disciplines like reading and meditating on scripture, like regular times and rituals of prayer, like regular and purposeful acts of service. Once or twice will not change much, but like running or weightlifting or playing golf or painting or playing an instrument, little by little changes happen and accumulate. Only after some time might others say “You have changed.”

We all start somewhere and end up somewhere closer to love of God and neighbor. For some of us, spiritual growth begins by learning basic beliefs and practices. Our Episcopal 101 classes do some of that as well as our Lectionary Bible Study and our Lenten Supper Series. For those who have the basics, spiritual growth moves toward also learning prayer practices like how to pray the Anglican Rosary, Lectio Divina, Contemplative Prayer, praying the Daily Offices, and developing a deeper understanding of the Eucharist.

Our recent RenewalWorks parish assessment suggests that 67% of our congregation fall into these two groups: (14%) those just starting out and who are exploring basic beliefs and practice and (53%) those who are growing deeper in their relationship with God by developing a toolbox of varied prayer practices.

And the other 33%, these are people who have largely filled in their beliefs and practices buckets and are now growing spiritually by living out their faith as mentors and models to others and as evangelists. They are disciples who grow by making disciples.

Spiritual growth is for everyone and it begins with a commitment to engage. But where? That is something you will need to discern for yourself. How confident are you in your knowledge of basic beliefs and practices? How full is your spiritual practices toolbox? Are you ready and willing now to teach and mentor others? Your Adult Spiritual Formation Committee and I will be meeting soon to talk more about promoting spiritual growth at Good Shepherd. Please know I welcome your thoughts as we all seek to walk more and more in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

A work in progress,
Fr. Bill