Spiritual Direction Forum UK

For me it was by far the best event the Forum has yet offered. Maria's gentle and joyful way of presenting material that was essentially simple - in the best sense of the word - and with depth and texture was something I found deeply enabling; the break out groups were relaxed and well engaged; and the final examen was offered with grace and simplicity.

Thank you Maria and the Team - the evening was so well organised and having a leader in the breakout rooms made sharing go more smoothly. the subject of Deep Listening was dealt with so creatively - so sensitively - and I took away self given homework - nudges from the Holy Spirit to look afresh on how I could make the sacred space more centred and focused.

I liked the format of the SD forum 'Can my soul live here' in the Edge Walkers series. Introductory information set the stage and gave guidance for the information we would share - more about how we can respond in a healing and positive way rather than exploring grievances. The questions to prompt sharing in the small group focused thoughts and there was time enough in this part of the evening for silences as we considered what had been shared and also reflected inwardly about our responses.

I especially value the small group discussions. A real opportunity to share with others our experiences.

I found it very helpful. Two of our group of four were unable to display an image. It felt that conversation was more difficult as a result of that. I went away with a lot to reflect on. Thank you,

Really enjoyed the conversation about directing 'sideways.' Helped me think more broadly about accompaniment. Also helped me realise there are opportunities for this in already existing gatherings - it may not always be about staring something but it could be about being more intentional about presence and offering. Thank you!

I found the thinking about innovative forms of offering spiritual accompaniment exciting. I wondered how safeguarding would be/is maintained when a new group walk or kitchen table meeting occurs. Would insurance be affected?

Excellent exploration of the breadth of Spiritual conversation which meets a hunger of people to participate in meaningful conversations from their heart and soul .Beautifully led.

Exellent. Graham and Eirene Palmer worked well together to give a very useful and encouraging intro to Spiritual Writing. It was grounded and practical illustrating the theory with clear and helpful illustrations from their own experience. Many thanks

As always this was a stimulating, informative and well presented topic. Very appropriate for accompaniment and for personal use too. The Breakout group was excellent and good that we kept the same group for both sessions. Thank you,

I've done a fair bit of creative writing, have a MA, but found this spiritual perspective fresh and inspiring. Thank you for bringing the two sides of myself together, as spiritual director/accompanier and writer. I was helped especially by the tool of freewriting, which for some reason I've always fought shy of!

This was an excellent course. I enjoyed the content and the delivery was easy to listen to, fun and so helpful. I can't believe how much we covered in a couple of hours. The writing sessions and discussions after were very enlightening and I'm sure, have encouraged us all to keep writing. Thank you so much.

A really good and helpful evening exploring parables as Jesus told them. Also exploring our /my own thinking

David Runcorn gave a pair of very well researched, balanced, clear and inspiring pair presentations, using the Jewish Mashal (enigmatic) tradition of story and truth-telling, which for me is helpful in engaging with and responding to the stories brought by my directees. The break out groups were less successful for me, but still useful.

It was such a helpful evening. Thank you