The Art of Holy Listening

Contemplative Spiritual Direction Training

The Art of Holy Listening creates safe, sacred space:

To uphold a monastic rhythm
To practice contemplative prayer
To engage in silent reflection
To deepen your spiritual journey through building beloved community, formation, worship, and listening circles (supervision).
To emerge and discover your ministry as a Spiritual Director

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What is Spiritual Direction?

First and foremost, spiritual direction is a relationship between two people wherein one is trained to companion the other as he/she seeks to discern where and how God is at work in his/her life. This relationship is one of deep trust, because it is rooted in confidentiality and is safe, sacred space. On their website the North Carolina Institute for Spiritual Direction and Formation describes spiritual direction in this way:

Believing that God is at work in our lives at all times, spiritual direction is the opportunity to meet regularly with a trained spiritual director to talk about how you see and experience God... [and] you will explore how God is active in your life and what God is saying to you. Spiritual Direction is also an opportunity to grow in discernment as you seek to distinguish God’s voice from many other influences.

Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality defines a spiritual director as:

A spiritual director is a privileged witness in the spiritual unfolding of another person. The focus is on the relationship between the “directee” and God, rather than on the relationship between the director and directee.

So, a spiritual director is one who practices the Art of Holy Listening, one

who listens deeply and witnesses the spiritual unfolding of another person.

What does the curriculum cover?

Participants will learn The Art of Holy Listening through Dr. Heidi Miller's formational lectures involving experiential creative learning, required reading, and practicum work. The arc of Dr. Miller's teaching includes the following:

Introduction to Sacred Listening
Discovering Belovedness
Awakening to Spirit and Becoming a Beloved Community
Sacred Listening and the Journey of the Soul
Learning to Listen in Painful and Anxious Places
Building Beloved Community: Listening as an Act of Justice
Sacred Listening and Spiritual Discernment
Discernment with Communities: Incarnational Soul Tending
Extending Beloved Community through Spiritual Direction

Dr. Heidi A. Miller, Faculty, Art of Holy Listening, Spiritual Direction Training

The faculty member for our 2026 – 2028 training is Heidi Miller. Heidi A. Miller, Ph.D., is the director of the Doctor of Ministry program and is associate professor of Spirituality and Christian Ministry at McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, Georgia, USA. She has directed programs and served as faculty at Duke University, Southern Methodist University, Eastern Mennonite University, and Pfeiffer University. Dr. Miller has also co-founded and served as a Managing Director in non-profit organizations. Her areas of teaching, research, and writing focus on transformative aspects of leadership, spirituality, spiritual guidance, justice, and worship. She has also worked with business executives regarding the connection between theology and spirituality and has been a consultant with congregations undergoing transition and trauma, as well as with communities working with refugees. For more than 20 years, she has been training sojourners throughout the U.S. and Canada, and designing curriculum in spiritual direction, and soul tending in one-on-one, small group, community, congregational, and organizational contexts.

Click for Information on Other 2026-2028 Training Staff Members

Where does the Journey lead?

Graduates receive a certificate of completion at the end of the two-year training program. Participants emerge as spiritual directors and find they will engage in spiritual direction in different contexts. Our graduates report they experience transformation from the training, bearing fruit in their daily and work lives, in their community, and in the world. Many clergy express their disappointment that this was not offered in seminary and how this training has transformed their ministries. Lifelong relationships are built in the two years they spend together.

What is the Commitment?

Full participation at each gathering; however, participants can miss one gathering. You will be required to complete all missed work in order to receive a certificate of completion. Receiving a certificate of participation will be awarded if you miss more than one gathering.
To read the required materials as well as completing the home-based practicum work between gatherings. Required reading will include 2-3 books prior to each gathering.
To be open to new ideas and ways of being.
To learn how to be a part of Beloved community.

What are the Expectations?

To come to the gatherings with an open mind, heart, and spirit
Give additional time, prayer, and study between the gatherings
To be in Spiritual Direction
To be present at each gathering
Submit all payments to The Art of Holy Listening once an invoice is received
To uphold the Center for Sacred Space's core values:
- Practicing Holy Listening
- Practicing Hospitality of Spirit
- Practicing Discernment
- Practicing Contemplation

Opportunities for Discernment: Come and See

Online Zoom Meetings:

Sept 18, 2025 7-8 p.m. Central

Feb. 5, 2026 7-8 p.m. Central

April 17, 2026 12-1 p.m. Central

What is the cost?

Non-refundable application fee of $75.00
$5,600.00 for the two-year training, a $1,500 down payment and $205 per month for 20 months.
Tuition does not cover the cost of books required for each retreat.
A limited amount of scholarship money is available. Please contact Kaye Westmark, kwestmark@centerforsacredspace.org or 850-516-7812 for more information.

Where will the gatherings be?

Blue Lake Camp

8500 Oakwood Lane

Andalusia, AL 36420

Registration Link

TESTIMONIES

"I was hungry to find a spiritual rhythm for my life that would sustain me. Not only do I have a spiritual rhythm now, but I learned to help others find theirs as well. Watching others grow deeper spiritually is so rewarding. The spiritual rhythm I learned grounded me during the pandemic."

- Chris Ross

"Spiritual direction training is one of the most significant things I've done and is inseparable from who I am these ten years later. It helped me "become who I am" - who God created me to be and to gain an ongoing understanding of God, myself, and others. I gained a community of like-minded companions - a "pearl of great price" so important when traveling the life-giving, yet countercultural way of Jesus."

- Sonja Crawford

"My time in spiritual direction training was and continues to be the most spiritually transformative period of my life. I learned another way of being with all that is Holy, and the spiritual practices I learned forged a new way of listening to God, myself, and others, which made it possible to persevere in the face of great pain and suffering. It was a truly sacred moment in kairos time."

- Deb McCranie

"Spiritual direction training was a soul-refreshing oasis for learning and practice. I recommend this community experience for all desiring to explore new depths of sanctification."

- Rev. Dan Morris

What drew me to this course was the possibility of becoming a better listener for my family, but I received so much more! I have deepened my relationship with Christ, met wonderful people I would have otherwise not know, and my general view of things have changed! The course has provided me with the skills I need to listen to people on a different level. I feel truly blessed to have taken this course!

- Tammy Rivera

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