About Spiritual Direction
Seeking God. Seeking Life.
Spiritual Direction also known as Spiritual Accompaniment, provides a one to one setting for people seeking a deeper awareness of the presence of God in their lives, and discernment within life choices.
The Aylesford clergy training programme teaches both the theory and practice of spiritual direction. It aims to deepen understanding of the process of spiritual growth and the insights of different spiritual traditions. The course offers a supportive environment where you will learn to give and receive accompaniment.
This one year course runs each year from January until November commissioned by the Archdiocese of Southwark at Aylesford Priory, Kent. This course is a continuation of the inspiring Franciscan programme, which ran for over 20 years in Canterbury.
About The Training Programme
The programme is based around monthly Tuesday training days at Aylesford Priory. Mornings are usually interactive teaching sessions. Areas covered will include (a more exhaustive thematic list can be found here):
The nature and purpose of spiritual direction
Discernment
Spirituality and psychology
Spiritual direction and prayer
Supporting people through conflict and struggle
Managing a spiritual direction relationship
Insights from different Christian spiritual traditions
Afternoons will usually focus on practical work: most importantly, spiritual direction practice in threes [triads], this offers the opportunity to offer spiritual direction, to be the directee and to be an observer offering constructive comments, there will also be a tutor facilitation the triad. This enables development of the skills of listening and discernment, and confidence in your practice of accompaniment.
One of the tutors on the course, Marie gave a talk for The Meditation Centre, London via Zoom. The talk was entitled “The Listening Church” and is an outline of Spiritual Direction - it can be found via the following link: https://vimeo.com/475873865/a0e8f64ba4
Comments from previous students
“Spiritual Direction, Holy Listening, Spiritual Midwifery, all will be revealed as you seek to unravel the mystery surrounding the Journey of Accompaniment. An opportunity to learn the unfamiliar skills required, to be challenged and taken out of your comfort zone. An informative, deeply enriching experience designed to promote spiritual growth.”
“I came into this Course expecting to gain skills to better support others in their spiritual journey. To my surprise, I was blessed with the ability to journey myself growing in self-awareness and feeling a sense of freedom in my personal journey into God.”
“I feel blessed participating in the Course as it has made me aware of the skills which I need to cultivate for the fruitful practice of spiritual direction. Also, the ecumenical dimension of the Course has been very enriching as insights from various spiritual traditions have been generously shared by all on the Course.”
“I found this Course to be rooted in learning from the saints and mystics and modern psychology teaching. Exploring both is a great encouragement to press on and go deeper into my own spiritual journey. I am sure too that it is overall a transforming experience in terms of spiritual accompaniment.”