A small group--4 to 8--of individuals committed to helping each other become more aware of God in all of life, and of their own response to God...that's group spiritual direction. This page describes a process for such a group.

The process builds on a metaphor for the layers of life experience using the image of the globe of the earth.

• Weather
• Soil
• Bedrock
• Fire

When the earth is seen from space, the swirling weather patterns are what catch the eye.  These invite us to look at the top layer of our experience. 

Below the atmosphere is the layer of the soil which forms the surface of the earth—inviting us to look a little deeper into our experience. 

Below the soil is the bedrock, a still deeper layer. 

And below the bedrock, at the core of the earth, is fire—the deepest layer of all, where our being is continually issuing forth from the creative energy of God.

This process is suitable for a group of 4-8 people.  With 4, all would share their experience at the meeting, each taking a turn in the Rounds.  With 8, the group might wish to have 4 people share each time (and perhaps meet more frequently).  In either case, one participant should serve as convener for each gathering.  His or her role is to announce each element in the process, with a brief reminder of what it is about, and to keep track of the time and keep the group moving from one element to the next in timely fashion.  It is particularly important not to allow the group to shorten the silent times!  Keeping those silent, open prayer times will make all the difference in the nature and depth of the mutual direction process.

Trust that the Holy Spirit is directing each person’s life journey.  The group’s role is to help each participant to notice his or her own experience in more detail, to notice how God is present and acting in that experience, and to notice how he or she is responding.  To notice, not to advise or interpret or comfort or fix!  God can offer better guidance, comfort, understanding, and healing than we can.  What we can do is help each other to recognize and receive what God is offering.

It is important to remember that God is present to us and with us on each level, though in different ways.

This metaphor is drawn from one used by Margaret Silf in her book, Inner Compass (Chicago: Loyola Press 1999), pp. 6-8, although it has been significantly reinterpreted here. 

A Process for Group Spiritual Direction

1.            15 mins            Silent prayer
A time to allow participants to become still and present, to gather their hearts into a common desire for God, and to dedicate their time together. This should be a peaceful letting go of distractions and anxieties, and a settling into attentiveness and openness.

2.            10 mins            Journaling
In silence, participants journal about their experience since their last gathering—just noticing and noting down what has been happening in their lives, attending to the four levels of weather, soil, bedrock, and fire.

3.            3-5 mins            Silent prayer
Participants allow themselves to connect again with their own desire for God and with each other’s desire for God, asking God to clear and open their attention so that they may receive God’s presence—in their hearts, through each other, and in the sharing.

4.            Rounds:  repeat the process below until each has shared:

10-15 mins

One person shares his or her experience without interruption, while the group receives his or her sharing in silence.  This is followed by a minute or two for questions for clarification only.

2 mins

Silent prayer: The group rests with God with what has been shared, listening to the Spirit within on behalf of the one who presented. This is a time to allow God to cut through our accustomed ways of responding so that we might respond from a place of freedom.

10-15 mins

Participants ask questions or share comments that arose in the silence to help the presenter to notice more about his or her own experience.  Allow pauses during this time to allow more material to be brought to the surface by the Holy Spirit.  Speak only if speech will improve on silence, and ask questions that might help the presenter to name all four levels of his or her experience (weather, soil, bedrock, fire).  The focus is on helping the presenter to notice more, to expand his or her awareness—acting on the assumption that the Spirit is communicating to him or her, through the group and in his or her own heart.  All should be focused on what the Spirit seems to be drawing attention to or communicating.  Pay attention to feelings; ask about them, if they are not expressed or reported.  Feed back, without interpretation, what you notice about the shape or flow of feelings, the shape or flow of the conversation. Feed back to the presenter where you are experiencing God present for you or speaking to you in the sharing of his or her story.  WHEN THE FLOW SLOWS, ask, “Is there anything else coming up in you?  Do you want to say it out loud, or would you rather make a journal note about it?”

3 mins

Silent prayer for the one who has just presented (the presenter may wish to journal during this time).

5.            3 mins                      Reflection on the process
Gently look and notice:  how were we prayerful?  Notice silence, words, group dynamics—what served our prayerful presence to God, and what got in the way of it or distracted us from it?

6.            3-5 mins            Closing prayer
The group chooses and uses a simple, standard form of closing prayer.  Suggestion:  join hands or stand in “group hug” formation; offer spontaneous petitions; end with a familiar recited prayer, such as the “Glory be.”