If you feel you are missing something in your discipleship or wanting to simply slow down and spend even a short time with God, The Sanctuary is designed for you. The Sanctuary is a place for Christians wanting to go deeper into their relationship with God. 

The Sanctuary services are designed for people to come for however long they need. A person can come for a half hour sitting in a garden prayer spot; walk a contemplative path and sit for another half hour journaling in a quiet space. As we grow, we will host day-long retreats that are self-guided or hosted by a leader. 

The Sanctuary staff and board hold to the Protestant Christian Tradition as expressed in The Apostles and Nicene Creeds. Our focus is on ‘first order’ theology where we point you to God, in Christ, by The Spirit through the two forms of revelation: Scripture and Creation. We are a sanctuary from contemporary social and theological ideologies that may distract us from these first order Christian commitments.

The Sanctuary is not affiliated with any specific denomination. We are aware of the various concerns many denominations champion but our work is not to move participants toward or against any of these. People from many different denominations are welcome to The Sanctuary as they seek God, in Christ, by The Spirit. 

The Sanctuary is not a platform for any social or theological ideology beyond these first order things. In our workshops we welcome dialogue around various issues but do not impose particular perspectives on participants. Directees may have theological convictions that our Directors respect; however, the work of our Directors is to ‘direct’ your attention toward God, in Christ, by The Spirit as you see God at work. 

Focusing on your time with God, we provide sacred spaces in creation through prayer walks and quiet garden space. We provide Spiritual Directors as prayerful companions to process with you. We provide non-formal learning experiences such as debrief and topical conversations dedicated to contemplative Spiritual Formation. For Spiritual Directors we offer workshops and supervision. 

It seems like today; anyone can call themselves a Spiritual Director. At The Sanctuary our affiliated Spiritual Directors (SDs) have been certified through a formal 1-3 year learning process.  They have had at least 2 yrs of experience and have Supervision (accountability partners) as part of their professional development. Spiritual Directors at The Sanctuary have deeply invested in the discipline of holy listening and discerning the work of the Spirit with others. 

Spiritual Direction is not like counseling, mentoring or coaching. A counselor responds to specific difficulties with more clinical approaches. A mentor seeks to give advice and move a mentee toward different decisions in their lives. A coach offers advice from their own learning so as to foster greater interpersonal or professional competencies. In Spiritual Direction, the Director and Directee walk side by side in discerning Gods’ presence or clarifying the dioecies’ disposition toward God so that they may be more closely formed by God. A Spiritual Director is less likely to ‘give advice’ from themselves when their work is to direct attention to God. 

At The Sanctuary, we can connect you with various Spiritual Directors with which we recommend you to interview and discern together for best ‘fit’ in a first interview. Your relationship with them begins at that point where you times, fees and location of meetings. 

It is strongly recommended that a potential Directee and Director have conversations around, personal theological convictions, season of faith and life space each other is in, areas of specializations a Director might hold, times to meet and what to expect in a session to name a few topics. Typically, a session lasts one hour. They meet in a safe, hospitable environment where the Director begins by drawing attention to God’s presence through silence, reading of Scripture or a prayer, or lighting a candle. After which the Directee is invited to continue with silence or name what God has placed on their heart to share. Clarifying questions, a time of silence, or reading of scripture may occur. The Director will check in when it seems like enough has been shared or the time is coming to a close. The session will close with what the Directee feels comfortable with; silence, prayer or a closing blessing. This is only an approximation of a session and some Directors share particular disciplines that help the Directee connect with God more closely.