Using the Bible in Spiritual Direction

Spiritual direction is increasingly popular among Christians of all mainstream traditions, with demand for directors outstripping supply in many places. And although the Bible is central to the practice of spiritual direction, very little has been published on how best to use it in this form of ministry.

Experienced spiritual director Liz Hoare explores the central role the Bible has played in Christian experience, in order to discourage poor, shallow, or rigid use of the Bible, which can lead to damage and inhibit spiritual growth.

According to Hoare, the goal of spiritual direction is not a personal improvement plan but a people who are being shaped into the likeness of Christ, for the flourishing of the church as a whole. Using different methods of praying with the Bible and drawing on historical traditions of Christian spirituality, as well as current literature and practice, this book offers a rich, stimulating, and thoroughly biblical resource for all those who give and receive spiritual direction.

Liz Hoare is Tutor for Spiritual Formation at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and has been giving and receiving spiritual direction for over twenty-five years. She is the author of Spirituality and Remembering (Grove Books 1996), What is Celtic Christianity? (Grove Books 2008), Nurturing the Spirit of a Child (Grove Books 2009), and the chapter on Anglican Spirituality in The Blackwell Companion to Anglicanism (Wiley-Blackwell 2013). She was one of the first women to be ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1994.

Daniel L. Prechtel is a spiritual director, educator, church consultant, retreat leader, and priest in the Episcopal Church who draws on more than 30 years of experience in spiritual guidance. His previous book, Where Two or Three are Gathered: Spiritual Direction for Small Groups, has been widely received for its contributions to the field of spirituality and spiritual guidance. He is founder of Lamb & Lion Spiritual Guidance Ministries and teaches at the Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership (CALL) at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, and at The Chaplaincy Institute.