Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” (Gen 28:16)
What Is Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual direction is conversation with another person about your relationship with God, or the relationship you are hoping it is possible to have with God.
The idea of spiritual direction is based on God’s constant, never-ending desire for a relationship with each of us, revealed to us over time in all the events and surroundings of our lives. In meetings with a director, individuals have a chance to reflect on these experiences of God’s presence, talk about their attempts at prayer and reflection, and discern where and why God is calling them next.
How We Approach Direction
Spiritual direction is a journey of discovering, appreciating, and responding to the presence and invitation of God, in the hope that we can live with a heightened awareness of love, and a deeper commitment to love.
We go about this in a very gentle, nonthreatening, evocative approach. As the directee tells his/her story (everyone has a story and desires that story to be heard), the director listens deeply to what is being shared. The atmosphere of nonjudgmental, positive regard allows for the directee to develop a deep trust in the director, as this is essential to any direction relationship. While this bond grows, directees become freer to go more deeply into their story and open the space for God’s activity.
In this process, the director acts like a midwife encouraging but never pushing, and knowing when to stop and invite the person spend some time lingering. All of this is done in the spirit of invitation and never insistence.
The approach is first about helping the person notice what is going on with his or her life, what prayer has been like for them and their feelings about any or all of it. Next, the hope is to savor this experience, and in doing so begin to notice even more.
Ultimately, the hope is that a response will be uncovered that leads to greater freedom for the directee and a deeper relationship with God.
All of this is a humble attempt to explain how we approach the ministry, but none of this happens overnight. It is the slow work of God throughout the course of a lifetime journey.
How Do You Start?
All of us associated with Jacob’s Ladder would be happy to talk with you informally about whether spiritual direction might be right for you, and to answer your questions about how we go about it. Simply contact any of us listed below and we will try to answer your questions, by phone or via a video call. There would, of course, be no obligation to continue on after this initial discussion.
Deciding on a particular spiritual director to meet with is a very personal decision. You should find someone with whom you are comfortable, and who respects your privacy and your life choices.
If you have other questions about what spiritual direction is like and how to get started, read our Frequently Asked Questions.
Meet Us
Thomas Baker
Tom is a permanent deacon at St. David the King Parish in Princeton Junction, NJ, and has served in the diaconate for 29 years as a parish minister, including work in adult faith formation, RCIA, and marriage preparation. He is also a volunteer prison minister at FCI Fort Dix. Some of his homilies are available at lectionaryhomilies.com.
His orientation to direction is in the Ignatian tradition, but he welcomes people who don’t know anything about it at all, and who are simply looking for some way to explore their relationship with God. He is also very open to individuals whose relationship with the church is ambivalent (or over), or from backgrounds other than Roman Catholic.
He completed his spiritual direction training in a four-year formation program from Fairfield University, and he also has a certificate from the St. Raphaela Center in Haverford, PA in offering the Retreat in Daily Life (19th Annotation) form of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises.
He is married with three grown daughters and is retired from a long career in the media industry, including as publisher of Commonweal. He has degrees from Princeton University and Columbia Business School. Tom can be reached at deacontombaker@gmail.com.
Nanci Bachman
Nanci received her bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University, and earned her master’s in theology from Georgian Court University. She has over seventeen years’ experience in Catholic ministry. Currently she is Director of Lifelong Faith Formation at St. David the King Roman Catholic Church in Princeton Junction, NJ. In December of 2006 she was commissioned as a Lay Ecclesial Minister in the Diocese of Trenton and in May 2010 completed the Spiritual Director Program at the Upper Room in Neptune, NJ. She is a Mercy Associate for the Mid-Atlantic Region, with the Sisters of Mercy.
Prior to working full time for the Catholic Church Nanci spent over twenty years in pharmaceutical industry management both domestically and internationally. Nanci brings a unique set of skills and a joy for the Lord to her ministry.
Nanci can be reached at nbachman@stdavidtheking.com.
Anne Ryan
Anne Ryan received her bachelor’s degree from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY and her master’s from Loyola University Chicago. She received her certificate in spiritual direction from the Upper Room Spiritual Center in Neptune, NJ in 1992 and has been working at this center as a spiritual director ever since. Anne also received training as a supervisor of spiritual directors at Chestnut Hill College in Pennsylvania, and worked as a trainer of spiritual directors at the formation program at the Upper Room Spiritual Center.
This coming September, Anne will complete The Living School’s two-year program at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM. This experience has been a great journey with seekers from all over the world. The school has a particular emphasis on Father Richard Rohr’s Franciscan heritage.
Anne has been married for 52 years and has three adult children and four grandchildren. She has spent the better part of her adult life in ministry in the church, first as a volunteer and then for the last 28 years in the ministry of spiritual direction. Anne brings a compassionate heart and an ability to listen deeply to her ministry.
Anne can be reached at 609-731-2848 or at Maryan44@aol.com.