JOURNEYING WITH YOU AS YOU SEEK TO DEEPEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
Cris Crisfield - Spiritual Director
Why Avon Hall Spiritual Direction?
My father grew up on the Vernon River in the White Bluff area of Savannah, Georgia. His ancestors came to the area in the 1730s and were followers of John Wesley and George Whitfield, Anglican ministers who became the inspiration for the Methodist movement. The house my father knew as a boy was called Avon Hall (short “a” in Avon). I named my practice to honor my father and because our coming to spiritual direction today is the result of the journey of our lifetime and to some extent the journey of generations before. Indeed the story of the God we seek today has been passed down since time immemorial. We tread the same path humans have walked since the beginning of time.
ABOUT ME
Photo by my friend Mike Ensley (www.ensleycounseling.com), who's a counselor in Loveland.
My childhood faith was shaped in an Episcopal cathedral. I was a choirboy at 7, an acolyte at 13, and I worked on the grounds and inside the cathedral through high school. I loved the Eucharistic liturgy, and the environment of the sacred structure led to a profound awe for the mystery of God.
In college I drifted from the church and dabbled in eastern religions through most of my 20s. God drew me back at 31, and soon after, I began my journey in ministry in a nondenominational church where I served for 31 years. I went to seminary and earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1994 from Emmanuel Christian Seminary. Soon after, I spent 4 years in the slums of Brazil working with the poor and the drug-addicted.
Returning from Brazil in 1999 I accepted the position of Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care, a ministry I served in until retirement in 2019.
In 2009 I began to consider what my deepest desire was for the rest of my life. I realized I wanted to help others experience God’s love in a vital way, uniting head and heart. From this I went back to school and earned a Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Leadership. I then went through 9 months of training at the Sustainable Faith School of Spiritual Direction and then more training through the CenterQuest School of Spiritual Direction, a program inspired by the life and work of Henri Nouwen.
I would describe myself today as God’s beloved (Henri Nouwen), trying to live my life as Jesus would if he were living my life today (Dallas Willard), and seeking to love others by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Thomas Merton).
Retiring from church ministry, I want to offer spiritual direction to people who, like me, are seeking more of God. I am very comfortable offering direction to people of all backgrounds and expressions of the Christian faith—Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and more.
I live in Longmont, Colorado where the Great Plains meet the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DIRECTION?
Spiritual Direction is…
“Help given by one believer to another that enables the latter to pay attention to God’s personal communication to him or her, to respond to this personally communicating God, to grow in intimacy with this God, and to live out the consequences of the relationship. The focus of this type of spiritual direction is on experience, not ideas, and specifically on the religious dimension of experience.”
- Barry and Connolly
…being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with God.
“…the art of intentionally journeying with another (directee) in a Spirit-led, free flowing way that fosters trust, safety, vulnerability and honesty with God and self so that the directee can become aware of the movements and promptings of God in their life, more fully embrace the love and grace God has for them and in turn manifest that love to others.”
- Larry Warner
…where a spiritual director directs your attention to God’s invitation in your life and supports you as you respond. He listens to you and to God, with you and for you, at the same time.
Spiritual Direction is not…
Pastoral Care, where someone seeks spiritual guidance in a time of crisis in their life and faith.
Mentoring, where someone seeks the wisdom of a person further along the journey of faith and seeks to learn from their life and wisdom.
Teaching, where information is passed from the teacher to the student.
Counseling, where someone seeks a professional to help them overcome a past or current problem keeping them from living a full life.
Who can benefit from spiritual direction?
Someone who has been in church most of their life but feels a longing for a deeper experience of God.
Someone who came to faith later, enjoyed the early years of learning much, but now senses a deeper hunger for a more personal experience of God.
Someone deeply in love with God who feels a holy longing for even more.
Someone whose picture of God as they grew up left them unsure if God was for them or against them, who both fears and desires a deeper connection.
Someone whose sexual orientation or gender identity has left them feeling excluded from Christian community and unwelcome in church, yet holds on to hope that God really does love them and needs a safe place to meet God.
What happens in a Spiritual Direction session?
Typically, a director and directee meet for about an hour once a month. The session usually starts with a brief time of gathering our focus in silence. There really is no set agenda in spiritual direction. It revolves around prayerful listening and discernment as they relate to God’s working in a directee’s life. As you tell your story, I may ask clarifying questions that will help you reflect on what you said and felt so you can better reflect on what God may be doing in you. I may invite you to take something that seems significant back into silent prayer to seek God’s input. Sometimes silence is just what you need to hear God better.
The topic(s) you may want to bring up are yours to choose, and there is not necessarily any continuation from one session to the next. We talk about whatever is on your heart. Over time we learn to listen for God’s invitation during each monthly session.
I might offer suggestions of practices or readings that may help in the time between sessions, but they are always optional.
How much does a Spiritual Direction session cost?
I usually suggest $50.00 per session, but this can be discussed if that is a burden for you. We begin with a meeting to get to know each other and discern if this feels like a good match to both of us. There is no charge for this meeting.
What if I don’t live near you?
I have clients throughout the country and we meet on Skype, Facetime, Facebook Messenger and Zoom. Spiritual Direction works very well in an online setting!