A Spiritual Director might be described as a midwife, someone who brings something new to birth, or as a mentor, who companions you on your spiritual journey. Spiritual Direction brings together a director and a directee on a regular basis, usually once a month, for an hour in person, on-line, or by phone, for the purpose of exploring and bringing to clarity the directee’s inner life journey.
A potential directee might seek out a spiritual director:
To find a spiritual practice that nourishes and sustains
To explore a closer relationship with God
To develop a more conscious experience of the Holy in one’s daily life
To identify and trust one’s own experience of God
To share one’s hopes, struggles, and losses
To integrate spirituality into one’s daily life
To discern and make difficult choices
To develop a sensitivity for justice and concern for the marginalized
To live the essence of one’s spiritual affiliation with integrity
Peer Discernment
Peer discernment is a specialized form of group spiritual direction, not unlike the Quaker Clearness Committee, which focuses on one person and a small group of their peers when a significant decision is to be made. The Spiritual Director trains the peer group which then meets with the person with the issue to be discerned. There, the role of the Spiritual Director is that of coach. The process can be completed in one day.
Conversations with Parents and Other Adult Caregivers
If you are wondering how you can be an effective participant in your children’s spiritual formation, schedule an appointment with Barbara Gulick.
Conversations with Kids
Kids have fears and kids have questions. If they seem to be above your pay grade, schedule an appointment for your child’s conversation with Barbara Gulick.
Barbara Gulick received a Master of Religious Education from Union Theological Seminary in 1966. After discerning a call to do Spiritual Direction, she received a Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary and was commissioned as a Minister of Spiritual Direction-at-Large in the United Church of Christ, both in 2008. In 2010 she was commissioned as Spiritual Director-in-Residence at Billings First Congregational United Church of Christ. She is now a member of First Church staff as Spiritual Director and a Member-in-Discernment (MID) for ordination to authorized ministry in the United Church of Christ. Her Service of Ordination is scheduled for Saturday, October 26, at 2:00 p.m., with music beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Barbara’s office hours at the church are Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 9:00 –11:30 a.m., and she is available for Spiritual Direction either in her church or home office by appointment. Suggested donation for spiritual direction is $30 - $50 per hour to Billings First Church, but any amount is appreciated.
