Spiritual Director

You are here: Home / Spiritual Director

Kerry Wilson

Spiritual Director

Kerry Wilson, an experienced Spiritual Director in Guelph since 1997, sees herself as a “spiritual midwife” who helps to hear others’ spiritual journeys into being. Listening deeply, with one ear on God and the other on her directee, she holds safe space for going deep. Kerry is part of the Ontario Jubilee Program leadership team, a SoulStream Companion, an official facilitator of the Work That Reconnects as well as offering one-on-one spiritual direction, supervision of other directors, workshops and retreats for adults and youth. She has been a guide in the Ecumenical Week of Guided Prayer since 1996, and is also a guest director/retreat facilitator/workshop leader at Loyola House Retreat Centre, Guelph. Kerry has a passion for youth spirituality and has been a youth leader and Covenanted Spiritual Companion with Harcourt, then Dublin St. United Churches 2006 – 2019. She has also volunteered with the Ecumenical Campus Ministry at the University of Guelph teaching spiritual practices, leading a spirituality group, and is co-author of Encounters – a series of digital spiritual exercises for youth.

As a daughter, mother and wife, Kerry is a passionate, ongoing student of the school of life, having taken life’s hardships and woven spiritual threads through them. She has training in directing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, applied mindfulness, embodied spirituality, IFS, NVC, youth spirituality, Celtic spirituality, feminist Spirituality, the Enneagram, and creative spiritual practices. Kerry has a deep background in environmental and social justice work, embracing diversity and creating welcoming space for those outside of the mainstream. Kerry is part of Guelph’s Eccumenical Christian community, is a member in good standing of Spiritual Directors International, abiding by their ethical standards, and has attended many SDI courses, workshops and conferences. Spiritual Direction & Supervision are available by appointment only.

What is Spiritual Direction?

I believe that life is a spiritual journey, and in that, Spiritual Direction is a conversation between two people in which we gently explore your understanding and experience of “God/the Sacred” (in whatever way you may name it) in all of your life. Guided by God, my role is to hold safe space, to be deeply present to what we hear, and to support your growth, exploration of spiritual practice, and deepening of relationship with God. Our relationship is characterized by deep trust, respect and love as you engage in this journey of discovery.

Services Offered

Both remote and in person

 

 

 

Ongoing Spiritual Direction – one on one, in person or remote

 

Directing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises (Annotation 19) – a retreat in daily life.  Journeying through these exercises with directees has been a major focus for Kerry.

 

Ongoing Supervision for Spiritual Directors – one on one, in person or remote

 

Leading Spirituality Groups & Retreats – for youth, young adults, & adults in every stage of spiritual growth (including Prayer 101, “Praying in the Messiness of Life”, Spiritual Parenting, Creativity & Spirituality, Work That Reconnects, seasonal retreats and more)

 

Ecumenical Week of Guided Prayer – individual guiding, training workshops for guides, leading rituals

 

Events

Both remote and in person

 

 The Listening Heart

 

The Listening Heart is a training course for beginning directors who want to learn and grow in basic spiritual direction skills.  This course covers the foundational elements needed to understand what spiritual direction is, what the role of the spiritual director is, how to navigate a spiritual direction session, and ethical guidelines for conduct.  It will include theoretical content through classes and readings, and practical application through practice sessions with fellow classmates.  The instructor is Kerry Wilson, longtime spiritual director and a member of the Leadership Team of the Ontario Jubilee Program.  Kerry will offer one-to-one supervision and support to each participant.

 

The Listening Heart is appropriate for any individual who has done the Week of Guided Prayer, received spiritual direction regularly, has done the Spiritual Exercises, and has demonstrated abilities in the area of spiritual direction.

 

Upon completion (and with supervision), participants’ readiness to do a practicum as a companion in the Week of Guided Prayer will be discerned. You will need to attend and complete the assignments for all sessions to be considered for guiding in the Week of Guided Prayer in the coming year.

 

This course be offered in six sessions, all from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, on Sept. 21, October 12, November 2, December 7, January 4, and February 1 at Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Ave., Guelph.

 

 

The cost for the course is $240.  Financial assistance is available.

Please contact Kerry directly for more details or registration 

 

 

Past Events

July 2019, July 21, 2022 and July 27, 2023 – Creativity & Spiritual Direction Workshop at Loyola House, Guelph

Creativity and creative responses of the spiritual director to the needs of the directee – full day workshop

July 26, 2022 and July 18, 2023 – Ethics, Professionalism & Supervision Workshop at Loyola House, Guelph

Ethical Conduct, power differentials, professional boundaries, working as a spiritual director inside and outside institutions, SDI, the what when where & why of supervision – full day workshop

Coming Back To Life Book Group
March 21 – May 9, 2022 from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST

For those of you who are interested in learning more about The Work That Reconnects and the Spiral, Kerry Wilson will be hosting a free book group based on Joanna Macy’s book Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World. Read chapters independently, then we meet on Zoom for group discussion, viewing videos of Joanna Macy’s teaching, and group activities. There will also be the option of additional one-on-one spiritual companioning with Kerry throughout the weeks.

March 21 – Introduction, March 28 – Gratitude, April 4 – Honoring Our Pain For the World, April 11 – Seeing With New Eyes, April 25 – Deep Time, May 2 – Going Forth, May 9 – Closing

Amazing Friendships Weekend Retreat – postponed
June 3, 2022 @ 7:00 pm – June 5, 2022 @ 12:30 pm EST $170 – $299 at Loyola House, Guelph, Ontario

Facilitated by Kerry Wilson & Greg Kennedy, SJ

Saints have much to teach us. So do animals. When we put the two groups together, we receive living lessons of compassion and wisdom. Based on their award-winning book, Amazing Friendships between Animals and Saints, Greg and Kerry will help retreatants expand their circle of friends to include more of our fellow creatures. Through stories, artistic exploration, music, time in nature and multiple modes of prayer, participants will hopefully grow both in saintliness and creatureliness, so as better to inhabit and care for God’s good Creation. This is a guided retreat that includes daily celebration of the Eucharist, presentations on a topic and may allow for a short period of time for consultation with a spiritual director. Each day provides ample time for personal prayer and reflection. There may be other communal prayer times in addition to the daily Eucharist. Spiritual direction is optional.

Light in the Darkness – A 2021 Advent Retreat

Many are experiencing grief, numbness, and paralysis in response to both the ongoing pandemic, the climate crisis and the general state of the world. We often feel stuck and don’t know what to do. How can our Christian faith inform and transform this experience, helping us to tune into how God is calling us to bring the best of ourselves to our current world situation?
This retreat will focus on opening to God’s light, healing and inspiration in this dark time, and will help directees discern how they are personally being called to respond in their own lives. Rooted in deep ecology and the Work That Reconnects, it is based on the four Advent themes: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Each themed unit begins with “Breathing In” (focus on the inner life), then “Breathing Out” (focus on discerning how we move from the inner life into the world). Units will include a scripture reading, a contemporary reading, a suggested spiritual practice, music, and creative response opportunities with a focus on discernment. Participants are not expected to complete all the material, but instead to choose what speaks to them and use it as a springboard into prayer. Participants will meet with their director daily as they reflect on incarnation during this season. Through these embodied contemplative opportunities, directees can go deeper into their own experience of Emmanuel – God with us, and discern how they are personally being invited to respond.

 

 

 

 

My Training

 

 

 

Ongoing Supervision has been my most important form of training as I regularly examine case studies with my supervisor and Peer Supervision Group on my vocational journey as a Spiritual Director. 

 

Formation:  I Have Completed the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in 3 different forms:

– Ann. 19 directed by Lorraine Dykman

– Twenty-four Spiritual Exercises for the New Story of Universal Communion directed by Lois & Kuruvila Zachariah (English & Zachariah)

– The New Spiritual Exercises (Savory)

 

Spiritual Direction Training

2023-2024  Evocative Spiritual Direction Training Intensive (Wendi Bernau)

2023 Trauma Informed Spiritual Direction through SDI

2021 Feminist Perspectives on Spiritual Direction through SDI

2021 graduate studies at Tyndale University, Toronto

2016 Spiritual Directors’ Workshop, Loyola House, Guelph

2006 Approaches to Spiritual Direction and Discernment, Loyola House, Guelph

1996 Course on Spiritual Direction (John Veltri, Tarcia Gerwing & Jean Mitchell), Loyola House, Guelph

 

2022-2023 Facilitator Development Program in the Work That Reconnects directed by Molly Brown, Mutima Imani & Constance Washburn

2022 Racial Justice Training Courses Levels 1-4, United Church of Canada

 

Supervision Training

2022 Supervision Training Course through SDI (Lucy Abbott Tucker)

2019 Supervision Practicum Retreat through the Ontario Jubilee (Miriam Frey, Maureen McDonnell, Jan Evans)

2015 Supervision Workshop with Janet Ruffing, Loyola House, Guelph

 

Authorship/Creations

– Illustrator of Amazing Friendships Between Animals and Saints by Greg Kennedy

– author of spiritual practices for children and lesson plans (online resources) that accompany Amazing Friendships Between Animals and Saints

 

Earth Day Liturgy author (with Greg Kennedy) – 2018 at Dublin Street United Church & 2019 at Guelph Unitarian Congregation

 

co-author of Encounters – a series of digital spiritual exercises for teens (co-author Andre Auger)

 

2013 directed the Les Miserables project – a 6 month musical theatre production involving 80 teens in spiritual practices & consciousness raising about social justice issues in addition to doing the show