Interest in Unitarian Universalist Spiritual Direction Growing

Many people today are seeking ways to deepen their spirituality as they wrestle with life’s difficult questions. For Unitarian Universalists interested in a personal journey of spiritual exploration and growth, UU spiritual directors are available to guide and accompany them.

In 2005, the Unitarian Universalist Spiritual Direction Network (UUSDN) was founded as a network of professional UU spiritual directors who are trained in this particular form of care and accompaniment. Twenty years later, membership has leapt from about forty-five to about eighty members.

Some are ministers, but many are not; an increasing number come from the field of religious education. UUSDN’s members agree to adhere to ethical guidelines for spiritual direction, and they must belong to at least one UU professional organization, such as the UU Ministers Association (UUMA), UU Society for Community Ministries (UUSCM), Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA), or the Association for UU Music Ministries (AUUMM).

Each spiritual director interprets the process in their own way. It may mean meeting once a month, for example, over the course of a few sessions or many years. A session might include meditation, prayer, journaling, and discussion of spiritual questions. Each director sets their own session fee, and it’s fair to estimate these fees range from $50 to $150 per session, according to Linnea Nelson, a spiritual director and former president of LREDA. Some offer a free first session or sliding scale.

“We encourage people to read the bios on the [UUSDN] website and choose [a spiritual director] they feel drawn to,” says Nelson. “If funds are a challenge, they can ask that [spiritual director] if they offer reduced fees.”

Whatever the format, it is “really focused on listening together for the sacred and the way the sacred is moving in our lives,” says Rev. Darcey Laine, minister at UU Church of Athens and Sheshequin in Athens, Pennsylvania, and consulting minister at UU Church of Cortland, New York. Laine, a spiritual director who has done this work for eleven years, is on the network’s coordinating team.

How Spiritual Direction Differs from Pastoral Care and Therapy

Spiritual direction is different from pastoral care, which tends to be shorter-term and often in response to a particular need (for example, counseling after a difficult experience). It also differs from psychotherapy or working with a life coach.

“In therapy you’re typically bringing something to work on, and you go to a life coach for action-oriented transformation,” says Laine. With spiritual direction, “it’s my role to hold sacred space and ask questions that help you connect to the universe, to the God of your understanding, as well as to your own wisdom.”

Nelson says, “I companion people who hold a broad range of spiritual and religious beliefs, including those who identify as atheists, theists, and pagans. As a spiritual companion, I can carry or hold space for people no matter what their spiritual or religious experiences are.”

Nelson is former executive director of UU Wellspring, which offers a broad series of online and in-person programs for UU congregations to deepen their spiritual lives. While there is a lot of similarity between the two, especially an emphasis on deep listening, UU Wellspring offers programming for small groups of UUs, often from the same congregation, to meet regularly together to work on developing their spirituality.

By contrast, spiritual direction typically takes place between a director and an individual, although it may involve a small group.

Both practices offer “a chance for people to see what they actually believe, and that strengthens them as UUs as well,” says Carolyn Bjerke, intern minister at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, California, and a member of the UU Wellspring board of directors.

Ministers in formation and UU Wellspring participants are encouraged to have a spiritual director; indeed, “We hope everybody does both UU Wellspring and spiritual direction,” although it is not required, says Nelson.

Spiritual Direction Training Programs Emerge

In 2022, Meadville Lombard Theological School, the UU seminary in Chicago, launched an online program, Spiritual Direction Formation & Certification, to equip people in becoming certified spiritual directors as part of its Leadership Institute for Growth, Healing, and Transformation. The Meadville program is open to laity as well as religious professionals, according to Rev. Tandi Rogers, who developed the program and is its director.

Rogers is a member of both the network and Spiritual Directors International, a global educational nonprofit committed to supporting and growing access to spiritual direction for people of all faiths.

Between 2024 and 2026, forty-eight new spiritual directors will emerge from the Meadville program, according to Rogers, which is greater than the total number of people in UUSDN when it started, Laine notes.

“Of course, there are many training programs that UUSDN directors come from, and not all who graduate from the Meadville program will become members of UUSDN, but an upward trajectory is unmistakable,” Laine adds.

It was the experience of working with a spiritual director to enhance her own spiritual growth that led Bjerke to attend seminary.

“My previous spiritual director kept notebooks” of their sessions together, recalls Bjerke. “When I stopped working with her, she gave me these notebooks—and it was the most incredible gift!” The notebooks included the many questions Bjerke posed during the process. This, as well, as participating in UU Wellspring, “led me into my final steps of ministry now.”

Meanwhile, many UU ministers and religious educators are becoming spiritual directors. “There is a sense among those doing spiritual direction that it can be a wonderful tool for helping people access and deepen their spirituality,” Bjerke says.