David and I, along with so many, have spent thirty-four years praying for revival in Nevada. But, I envisioned that looking one way and God is showing me that it is happening in a completely different way. Over the last ten years, God has been deepening our desire to have a more contemplative faith and he has grown us in spiritual disciplines like Spiritual Direction, Silence and Solitude, Lectio Divina, the Examen, praying a Labyrinth and many more — that have taken us to a deeper faith.

Many of you know that I originally trained to be a spiritual director when I was working with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Spiritual Directors come alongside people of faith to journey with them as they grow. It’s an ancient discipline that has made a comeback in recent years, moving from its Catholic roots into Protestant churches. I received my training at the Evangelical Covenant’s North Park Seminary in Chicago. Then, about three years ago I received more training through Christian Formation and Direction Ministries (CFDM) to be a supervisor of spiritual directors.

Shortly after that, CFDM founder Douglas Gregg asked me to be an intern at the first training of Spiritual Directors for Northern Nevada. I LOVED seeing our cohort members grow in their faith. Eventually, over the course of the two-year training program, two of the leaders had to withdraw and I was bumped up to co-lead with Douglas and his wife Catherine. We finished out the training with a wonderful Graduation of new spiritual directors in April 2018.

Douglas and Catherine started this Ministry a long time ago and now have CFDM affiliates in Washington, Arizona, Fresno, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. As Douglas looked at retirement he began to organize each affiliate into an independent regional ministry under their previous local leaders. Now he has asked Joan Peyser, an amazing spiritual director, and gifted administrator, and me to lead the ministry in Nevada.  Joan is the perfect person to partner with and I’m thrilled she has agreed to do this.

Joan is our Administrative Director

 

Jacci is the new Director

What is exciting is that at the same time this is happening, all of the contemplative practices that we have been growing in are gaining interest in Northern Nevada. There are centering prayer groups and silent retreats popping up everywhere. The interest in going deeper with God has never been more palpable, revival is happening. Our dream, someday, is to have a spiritual retreat center to house conferences, retreats, and seminars. In the meantime, we will borrow and rent facilities.

That is the news folks! I’ll still be working my day jobs and my side jobs but eventually, I’d love to do this and writing full time. There are three things you can help me with:

• If you know of anyone in Nevada or Northern California, whom you think is a wise person and a good listener, share this information with them.  Our next cohort of spiritual directors will begin training in October 2020. In the meantime, we will be starting a 9-month Spiritual Formation Training in September 2019. This will be open to everyone but will also serve as a prerequisite to the Spiritual Direction Program.
• Click around on our website and let me know if there is anything that needs to be changed or added, it is a work in progress. If you know of any retreats or other events that might fit this kind of site, let us know. We hope to publicize all the different activities in the area.

• Notice the “Donate” option. We highly subsidize the spiritual direction training as it is very expensive. Pray about becoming a monthly or one-time donor to further spiritual growth in Nevada. We also need people who will consistently hold us in prayer. We are grateful for both!

 

Jacci Turner CFDM Nevada Director

Tags: CFDM, christian, jacci turner, spiritual, spiritual direction, spiritual formation, spiritualdirection