Three wise and compassionate spiritual directors addressed members of Spiritual Directors International and the public at this conference gathering.  Canon Peter Ball, Rev. Tilden Edwards and Rev. Margaret Guenther graciously shared insights and wisdom on the art and practice of presence as a contemplative spiritual practice.  They discussed practical ways to deepen the capacity for presence in daily living, spiritual practices, spiritual direction and tikkun olam, acts of repair for the world.

The panelists’ decades of service as spiritual companions, prayer leaders, teachers and authors grounded the text for their personal stories and teachings.  Their honest, artful and often humorous remarks captivated the audience; even as their embodiment of the spirit of presence inspired all.

Dr. Vivian Feintech posed the following questions to the panel:

• How do you describe the art and practice of presence? 
• Reflecting upon your life, how have you cultivated and deepened the capacity for presence in engaged daily living, spiritual practices and spiritual direction? 
• How is presence related to the healing dimension of spiritual direction and to acts of compassion for greater humanity, peace and justice in the world? 
  

Following the panel, the community was invited into silence to notice what was being awakened within and discern the individual and collective call to be present.

The following questions are offered for the participants’ further reflection:

• How did the panelists’ sacred stories and teachings inspire you?
• How did they illuminate the practice of presence in your daily life and invite you to deepen your spiritual practices and capacity to companion others in spiritual direction?
• How will you bring your presence into the world for acts of healing and peace?

Canon Ball, Rev. Edwards and Rev. Guenther concluded the program with offerings of wisdom and blessings.  Liz Budd Ellmann, M.Div., Executive Director of Spiritual Directors International, invited the audience to bless the presenters in return.  The spirit of the evening was reflected in this reciprocal act of community prayer and gratitude.  A DVD of the gathering is available through the Spiritual Directors International Web site store.

Biographies of the Presenters

Canon Peter Ball

Peter Ball has an active and fulfilling retirement ministry offering spiritual direction, leading retreats and training workshops.  He regularly leads worship in churches around Ramsbury in Wiltshire, where he lives.  Before retiring he worked in parishes in London.  A six year curacy in the East End at All Saints Poplar was followed by seven years as Vicar of the Church of the Ascension in Wembley and seventeen years as Rector of St. Nicholas Shepperton.  His final appointment was as Canon Residentiary and Chancellor of St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

Peter’s books reflect two areas of activity.  Journey into Faith, Adult Believing and Faith on the Way draw on his many years of involvement in the Catechumenate (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) as a way to accompany people into faith and the membership of the Church.  Journey into Faith, Anglican Spiritual Direction and Introducing Spiritual Direction draw on his experience over the years as a spiritual director. 

Peter was one of the founders of Spiritual Directors Europe, now in its tenth year of annual meetings.  For thirty years he was a part time industrial chaplain serving a succession of television companies, Associated-Rediffusion and London Weekend in Wembley and Thames Television in Teddington and central London.

Peter, whose wife Angela died in 2004, has three children and nine grandchildren.  Apart from the family he has a number of interests. Peter is a keen, but not very skilled musician, playing bass clarinet in a concert band and singing in a local choir.  Painting and drawing are another occasional activity.  Peter enjoys travel and leading pilgrimage groups to various places around Europe.  There is always the care of home and garden and the company of a friendly cat to fill any remaining spare time.

Rev. Tilden Edwards

Tilden Edwards is the Founder and Senior Fellow at Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Maryland.  He was the Executive Director of Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation from its independent foundation in 1979 until 2000.

Over the years Tilden has designed and led many ecumenical extension programs for spiritual leaders, as well as many ecumenical and denominational workshops, retreats and lectures related to the spiritual life for both ordained and lay people, across the United States and abroad.

Tilden is the author or editor of seven books: Spiritual Director, Spiritual Companion; Living in the Presence; Spiritual Friend; Sabbath Time; Living with Apocalypse (ed.); All God’s Children; and Living Simply Through the Day, as well as articles in many journals.  An eighth book has just been completed, tentatively titled Embracing the Call to Spiritual Depth: Gifts of Contemplative Grounding for our Lives, Faith Communities and World.

Tilden holds a B.A. degree in cultural anthropology, magna cum laude, from Stanford, a M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School, a Ph.D. from the Union Graduate Institute, a Certificate of Anglican Studies from the Episcopal Theological School and an honorary Doctor in Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary.  He was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1962 in the Washington National Cathedral.

Prior to Shalem, from 1967-1978 Tilden was the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Ecumenical Training Center in Washington, D.C., which focused on societal and congregational concerns of twelve sponsoring religious denominations.  At the same time he was Director of the Urban Training Program for five seminaries in the Washington area.  Prior to that, from 1962-1967, he was part of the team ministry of the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington.

Tilden was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Texas, New York, Oregon and California.  He is married to Mary Avery Lyon and has two grown children, Jeremy and Jennifer.  He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Rev. Margaret Guenther

Margaret Guenther is an Episcopal priest and currently the Associate Rector at St. Columba’s Church in Washington, D.C.  She is Professor Emerita of Ascetical Theology at the General Theological Seminary, where she served for a number of years as the Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality.

At heart a teacher, Margaret is an active retreat leader and lecturer, nationwide and overseas.  She is also a writer, whose books include: Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction; Toward Holy Ground: Spiritual Directions for the Second Half of Life; The Practice of Prayer; My Soul in Silence Waits: Meditations on Psalm 62; Just Passing Through: Notes from a Sojourner; and most recently, At Home in World: A Rule of Life for the Rest of Us.

Margaret holds an A.B. and M.A. from the University of Kansas, a Ph.D. from Radcliffe College (Harvard University) and a M.Div. from the General Theological Seminary.  In addition she completed post-graduate study at the Universities of Zurich and Hamburg.

Margaret is a wife of more than five decades, a mother and a grandmother.  A great joy in her ministry is proclamation through the spoken and written word.  Her greatest joy, however, is the ongoing work of spiritual companionship with her fellow seekers.

Dr. Vivian Feintech

Vivian Feintech is a spiritual director, educator and licensed marriage and family therapist.  She currently maintains a private practice in Los Angeles, California where she companions individuals on their spiritual journey and facilitates groups to share collective wisdom in community.

Vivian’s passion for children, spirituality and Judaism has been at the core of her professional life.  She has an extensive background teaching, training and consulting in the fields of education and mental health.  Throughout the years, Vivian has worked in various community settings to design and implement programs that support children, parents and families.  Vivian served as National Director of Early Childhood and Parenting Programs for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism), where she initiated parenting and family education programs in congregations throughout North America.  Vivian founded the National Family Center, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to creating community partnerships that strengthen education and social programs across the generations.

Vivian has a D.Min. in Jewish spiritual direction from the Graduate Theological Foundation.  She received her spiritual direction training from Lev Shomea: Institute for the Training of Spiritual Directors in the Jewish Tradition.  Vivian has a B.A. and M.A. in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College and holds California state credentials in Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Specialist Instruction, Elementary Education and Adult Education.