By Mary Stadnyk | News Editor

The Upper Room Spiritual Center, Neptune, recently presented certificates to five women and men for completing its rigorous two-year training program in spiritual direction.

The certificate recipients hail from several dioceses including one from the Trenton Diocese, Teresa Knipper, a member of St. Paul Parish, Princeton.

“A spiritual director is a person who helps another person to notice the presence of God in their lives,” said Sister of St. Joseph Trudy Ahern, one of the Upper Room’s three co-directors.

“A person might want to become a spiritual director because he or she has taken their relationship with God very seriously, and they now want to help others to know God’s tremendous love in their life,” she said.

Mercy Sister Maureen Conroy, Upper Room co-director, explained how the certificate program “prepares people for professional ministry” in spiritual direction.

“Participants in the program receive certification, and they are very well educated in theory as well as in practice in a supervised setting,” she said.

The pre-requisites prospective candidates must meet prior to enrolling in the certificate program include that they must be a participating member of a faith community; be receiving spiritual direction on a monthly basis for at least one year (required), two years (recommended); be at least 35 years old, and have background in theology and spirituality as well as experience serving in ministry. The program is open to persons of all faith traditions as well as to clergy, religious and laity.

The two-year certificate program requires that candidates attend 12 evening classes from September to May in the Upper Room.

Knipper said her journey to becoming a spiritual director is a direct result of her being a recipient of spiritual direction for about 15 years. She is also a Mercy Associate, which is a lay apostolate affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy, Merion, Pa., and she volunteers with Cranaleith, a Philadelphia-based spiritual center that is operated by the Sisters of Mercy.

Knipper said she appreciated the thoroughness of Upper Room’s formation program and how it allows its students to “begin to practice spiritual direction from almost the beginning.”

For persons who might consider spiritual direction as a ministry, Knipper said she would advise them to make sure they already have a spiritual director, to turn to personal prayer as they discern their calling, to maintain a journal of their experience and to be “open and ready for the incredible journey of becoming a spiritual director.”

Sister Trudy and Sister Maureen noted that there are many reasons why people seek spiritual direction. Some might be experiencing a major transition in life, such as making a career change or dealing with the shock that their job no longer exists. Dealing with grief over the death of a loved one is another reason a person might be in need of spiritual direction, and there are people who merely want to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.

Both Sister Trudy and Sister Maureen emphasized that spiritual direction is not the same as therapy or psychological counseling. A person comes to a spiritual director for guidance in their spiritual journey. It is important for directors to be trained to identify the difference, and make appropriate suggestions for further evaluation. While spiritual directors can recommend therapy if it is needed, spiritual direction is about helping the person determine where God is in the midst of the event – such as in a tragedy or some type of loss.

“Spiritual direction is not about problem-solving, although people coming for spiritual direction often have problems and it’s the directors who try to help them notice that God is right there with them.”

For more information about the Upper Room’s spiritual direction certificate program, contact Sister Trudy at Upper Room Spiritual Center, 3455 W. Bangs Ave., Building 2, Neptune, N.J. 07753; call 732-922-0550, or e-mail: [email protected]