Group Spiritual Direction Level 1 Workshop
For Those Who Want to Learn or Deepen the Practice of Group Spiritual Direction
February 20-22, 2026
Would you like to expand your capacity to listen to God on behalf of others?
February 20-22, 2026
Registration deadline is February 11, 2026 at 5:00 pm EST.
Schedule
Friday, February 20, 2026, 12:00 – 6:00 pm EST
Saturday, February 21, 2026, 12:00 – 6:00 pm EST
Sunday, February 22, 2026, 12:30 – 6:00 pm EST
Free Info Session
Join us on Zoom to discern about the rightness of this workshop for you. No dates are scheduled at this time.
Whether you are new to Group Spiritual Direction, wish to explore it further, or are seeking support and guidance for forming a group, please consider joining us for this virtual workshop on Zoom. Participants will experience Group Spiritual Direction (GSD) each day with an experienced facilitator and deepen their contemplative grounding for this prayer practice through authentic sharing and faithful listening.
Participants will immerse themselves in our virtual spiritual community as they experience Group Spiritual Direction and explore their own call to this ministry. Through live experiential learning, presentations, small GSD groups, and prayerful silence, participants will steep themselves in the contemplative grounding which is the heart of this ministry. Presentations will include an introduction to the practice of Group Spiritual Direction, as well as introductions to the themes of prayerful listening, spiritual community, discernment, and intercessory prayer. Each person will have the opportunity to experience and practice this listening/ sharing process which aids depth, trust, and healing. Together, participants will discover how this process can transform the world.
This workshop will be offered live on Zoom with experienced staff present. The first part of our time each day will be in the full group with presentations from the staff and some experiential exercises. The second part will be in small listening groups facilitated by experienced staff members. The groups will follow the Group Spiritual Direction process that Shalem teaches, which is based on the book Group Spiritual Direction, by Rose Mary Dougherty. All of this will be woven in prayer!
Because both the teaching and small groups are foundational to the group spiritual direction practice, it is essential that participants commit to participating fully in the entire workshop.
In preparation for this workshop, please consider preparing a quiet, private, sacred space in your home that will support your prayerful participation in this workshop. It is important that participants are available for each of the workshop’s teaching and small group sessions.
“I attended the in-person GSD workshop in 2017, and it felt like coming home. This process has been such a gentle and grace-filled container for growth in my prayer life, and in my relationships. All of the foundational elements of Group Spiritual Direction can be applied to other contexts, so that we are not simply learning a format, we are receiving a new way of being.”
-Sarah Forti
CORE LEADERS
The core leaders of this workshop have each practiced and facilitated Group Spiritual Direction for many years and enjoy sharing it with others! They will be supported by additional experienced small group facilitators.
Margaret Benefiel
Margaret, Executive Director of Shalem, holds a PhD in Spirituality from Catholic University and an MA. in Theology from Earlham School of Religion. She is a graduate of Nurturing the Call: Spiritual Guidance Program…
and serves on the staff of that program as well as on the staff of our Going Deeper: Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership Program and Crossing the Threshold: Contemplative Foundations for Emerging Leaders. She created and directs the Soul of Leadership Program and is a co-director for the Heart Longings: An Invitation to the Contemplative Path program. She has authored or co-edited 7 books, including Soul Food, Crisis Leadership, The Soul of Higher Education, The Soul of Supervision, The Soul of a Leader, Soul at Work, and Hidden in Plain Sight, and has published over 50 articles and book chapters.
Amy Duncan
Amy is a spiritual companion and group facilitator, committed to creating spaces of community where all can be held in radical welcome as God’s Beloved. She is committed to ongoing spiritual enrichment with other spiritual seekers and wisdom teachers…
She obtained her certificate in Spiritual Direction through Stillpoint: The Center for Christian Spirituality and received additional training there in Group Spiritual Direction and Peer Supervision. She is a 2024 graduate of Shalem’s Transforming Community: Leading Contemplative Groups and Retreats program and is delighted to be active in Shalem’s Group Spiritual Development program. Amy is the author of The Light Between Us: Praying In Times Such As These.
Liz Forney
Rev. Liz Forney has served pastorates large and small since 1994 in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. Liz served as the Associate Director of the Spiritual Formation Program at Columbia Theological Seminary, and is a graduate Shalem’s Spiritual Guidance Program…
Liz has served as a Chaplain with Hospice of the Piedmont, and is the co- author with Norvene Vest of What is Your Practice, Life Long Growth in the Spirit. She currently serves as a spiritual director, and is the founder and director of Contemplative Creativity which provides retreats to explore and integrate the Sacred through creative expression.
Sarah Forti
Sarah Forti, co-director of Crossing the Threshold: Contemplative Foundations for Emerging Leaders, is a graduate of the Young Adult Life and Leadership program, and the Group Spiritual Direction workshop…
She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, has an MDiv from George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and studied at Wesley Theological Seminary. She serves in parish ministry with the Episcopal Church, and is also a staff person in Shalem’s Group Spiritual Direction workshops.
Marlin Good
Marlin is a spiritual director, retreat leader and a member of Shalem’s Group Spiritual Direction staff. He was formerly a faculty member and program director at the Kairos School of Spiritual Formation. He currently meets with individuals and groups from his church in PA and over Zoom.
Angela Hooks
Reverend Dr. Angela Hooks is the creator and spiritual director of Heartbeat Formation, LLC, and a group facilitator with Shalem and The Center for Contemplative Leadership at Princeton Theological Seminary. She earned her PhD in English Literature from St. John’s University…
an MFA in Creative Writing from Manhattanville College, an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and is a graduate of Oasis Ministries for Spiritual Development. Her autobiographical narrative “What’s That in Your Hand: A Diary?” was published in Spiritus: Journal of Christian Spirituality, Fall 2024, and her article about mystic and nun Thea Bowman is forthcoming in Christian Century March 2024. Angela has authored Make it Happen- A Journal to Identify and Actualize Your Goals (2021) and Diary as Literature: Through the Lens of Multiculturalism in America (2020). She also publishes a monthly newsletter, Heart Matters. Angela, former co-coordinator of (Re)Emerging Scholars and Practitioners of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, now serves on the board of directors at large for the Society (SSCS). Whether leading a small group, a retreat, learning, or a preaching event, Angela curates a space and a place to explore and practice spiritual freedom through intersections of Christian spirituality, creativity, movement, personal growth, and storytelling.
Leonard McMahon
Leonard McMahon is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care, Spirituality, and Political Theology at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. He holds a doctorate in political theology from the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, an MA in Religious Studies from UC Santa Barbara, and an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School…
His work explores the relationship between theology and democratic citizenship. Through his consultancy, Common Ground Dialogue (https://www.cgdialogue.org), he works to bring diverse citizens into deeper conversation for the sake of our democracy.
Nan Weir
Nan is an architect and small group / retreat leader who is dedicated to creating sacred space and deepening spiritual community. She is a graduate of our Transforming Community Program, Facilitating Group Spiritual Direction, and Soul of Leadership long-term programs…
Nan has been practicing and teaching Group Spiritual Direction (GSD) for more than twenty years and leads Shalem’s GSD program.
COST & REGISTRATION FOR GROUP SPIRITUAL DIRECTION LEVEL 1 WORKSHOP
Cost: $275
February 20-22, 2026
Registration deadline is February 11, 2026 at 5:00 pm EST.
Some tuition assistance is available based on need. Please contact ArDonna (ArDonna@shalem.org) for more details.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
ArDonna Hamilton is the Registrar for the Group Spiritual Direction Level II Workshop and can be contacted at ArDonna@shalem.org.