In 1995, Rose Marie Dougherty, who holds a M.A. in spiritual theology from St. Louis University and who is on the staff of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Washington, D. C., is the author of Group Spiritual Direction, which explores the nature and possibilities of this type of ministry. In 2000, she and Lynne Smith began an extension program for the development of facilitators of group spiritual direction. Tilden Edwards, founder and senior fellow of the Shalem Institute, writes in his foreword that these groups can "help meet the widespread hunger of many people for a safe, challenging, accountable group of spiritual friends with whom to probe the deep mystery of God's presence in the unfolding of their lives over time."
The essays in this volume are by 22 people who have been involved in these workshops. These clergy and laity from Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish traditions recount the process of group spiritual direction in congregations, a seminary, among the homeless, on Capitol Hill, with teenagers and clergy groups, and in the workplace. As Dougherty points out, the group spiritual direction process is built upon the following principles: a shared desire for God, a reverence for the uniqueness of the Spirit's manifestation in each person, and a willingness to be prayerfully present for each other during the time in the group and to pray for one another outside the group. This format involves four people, five maximum and three minimum, who are interested in sharing their spiritual journey with others and are eager to have companions in prayer and discernment.
The essays explore the ample benefits of group spiritual direction which include harvesting silence, spiritual deepening, learning to listen to another, coming to see more clearly how "Spirit" is the animating force behind all private and public activities, the value of intercessory prayer, and the rewards of intimate community.
