Since 2021 the diocese has offered a Spiritual Direction course in partnership with Sarum College, Salisbury. This has proved hugely beneficial to the diocese and to Sarum College, expanding the range of resources and experience available.

The course runs over two years, with online, two-day teaching modules every two months, and with ongoing teaching, contact and support between.

Here are comments from three current participants:

Alice Thomas

“Henry Nouwen, time and again, reiterates that, “We can’t always see God’s activity by ourselves.” Spiritual direction aids us to see God’s purposes and direction for our lives more clearly. This became evident to me only when I embarked on the course with Sarum College. The teaching, workshops, retreats, the resources like Sarum Learn and the well stocked library and staff on hand to guide us every step of the way, are instrumental in training and equipping us to become effective spiritual directors. There are enormous mutual benefits in the partnership between the UK and European participants in terms of sharing experiences, contexts, resources, teaching staff and speakers, creative ideas, cultures and backgrounds, becoming aware of sensitivities, the dos and don’ts, the taboos etc. With all of this, it is vitally important that information about the course and finding spiritual directors is made readily available.” 

Henry Martin

“The course has introduced me to some great new people, new resources and new ways of thinking. It has been especially helpful to learn from other people’s experiences of directing and being directed. The sessions are varied and carefully planned for a Zoom classroom. The workload is far from onerous and I feel able to progress at my own speed.”

Jamie Johnston

“The diocesan course on Spiritual Direction offers unique opportunities for learning and encounter. Participants from across Europe are able to share questions, insights and reflections, each contributing to the discussion their spiritual and cultural perspectives that make the Diocese such a fascinating community to be part of. The partnership with Sarum College provides both the sense of a consistent (albeit virtual) location for the encounters to take place, as well as all the benefits of the College’s online library resources and teaching materials.”

The next course will begin in March 2023 and interviews will be taking place this autumn. 

If you live within the Diocese in Europe and are connected to one of our chaplaincies, please contact us to find out more about the course and the ministry of spiritual direction within the diocese. 

In the first instance, please contact Polly Freeman, Ministry Team Administrator