YOUR FAITH IS SHIFTING...
The faith that once brought a sense of security, purpose and community now feels ill-fitting, or maybe just plain wrong.
You have tried to make do, to make small changes, but there is no denying it now - your faith is shifting in some significant ways and you're figuring out what that means.
Maybe your theology has shifted. Maybe you have been hurt by the church community you were part of, or disillusioned by the priorities and passions of others in your faith community. Maybe it was just a slow unravelling of everything you have trusted to be true.
However you come to be here, you now find yourself struggling to see the way forward.
You are afraid of all the unknowns: what will you still believe when everything is done unravelling? How can you heal from all the ways you've been hurt? Where will you belong? How will you find new purpose and direction?
And where is God in all of this? (And who is God anyway?)
ENTER THIS SACRED SPACE
I know what it is like to feel like something significant is shifting but not know how or where to process all those feelings, doubts and desires.
Over the course of eight weeks, I will help you to hold sacred space for your faith shift experiences. We will meet together as a group every other week, empowered to share our stories and processing without fear of judgement.
This is a space for you to explore the emotions, thoughts and hurts that are part of your journey to this place. This is a space for you to acknowledge the loss and grief as well as the possibility and freedom that come with faith shifts.
Created by an experienced spiritual director, with content I've been refining over the past two years, you'll be guided to explore themes such as doubt and certainty, lament and grief, your images of God and the Divine, and how you experience belonging and purpose within this faith shift.
I am not here to fix you - you do not need fixing! Instead I will hold safe and brave space for you to look deeply into your own spirit, and I will encourage you to trust your own inner voice and your experience of the Divine.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID...
Fiona gave me a sense of being seen and understood.
I am now less tempted to feel frightened at my own sense of jettisoning things I’ve long believed, and more willing to allow myself and trust myself to explore constructs of God that come from within.
Rachel
In the midst of a season of dread I found that I know and love and have experienced a God who is not violent, vengeful, and dreadful.
That opened a hopeful and illuminated path of peace forward.
Becca
This space has given me the purpose of intention. It has allowed me to find the space to contemplate the questions and feelings I often want to overlook or dismiss. It has given me comfort knowing that there are others with a similar perspective and that I’m not crazy when I feel like I’m surrounded by those with different ideas of faith. Lastly, it has given me a community.
Amanda
WHERE WE ARE GOING...
This journey is about offering ourselves a "long loving look at the real" (Walter Burghardt).
Rather than defining the destination, we will consider the elements of the journey we are on with curiosity and tenderness. Each week you'll cover content on some the themes that are common to many faith shift journeys, but how they are expressed will be unique to you.
ONE: DOUBT
Explore the tension between doubt, faith and certainty and how each of these are present in your own faith journey. Consider the gifts of uncertainty and the Divine as Mystery.
TWO: LAMENT
Recognise the importance and spiritual significance of giving space to lament and the sometimes-difficult emotions of grief, anger, disappointment and betrayal.
THREE: IMAGE
Who or what is God? And how do you trust your experience of the Divine? You'll consider the images you inherited and the images you are finding newly captivating.
FOUR: PRACTISE
Consider how you build hope, resilience and curiosity into your spiritual practices. Where and how will you journey with God from here?
FIVE: BELONGING
When our faith shifts, our sense of belonging shifts too. You'll wrestle with what you have lost or let go, with the tension of being in a liminal space, and imagine what belonging might look like now.
SIX: PURPOSE
Often our sense of life purpose or even "calling" has been wrapped up in the faith narratives we were given. So what happens when those are gone or change? You'll spend time listening to your desires and imagining your path.
GROUP SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
The core offering of this programme is the chance to join a weekly group spiritual direction session, facilitated by an experienced spiritual director.
In this carefully held space, you have the chance to share your heart - your questions and realisations, your wonderings and your desires.
While I facilitate the space, we create the "bowl" that will hold our stories together. You are offered the chance to affirm and reflect back what you have heard in a way that embraces and builds up each participant. Past participants have found these groups deeply transformative and healing.
The next groups will begin in September 2023, one meeting fortnightly on Tuesday evening, and one meeting fortnightly on Wednesday lunchtime. Dates are:
ONE - Tues 19/ Wed 20 September
TWO - Tues 3/ Wed 4 October
THREE - Tues 17/ Wed 18 October
FOUR - Tues 31 October / Wed 1 November
FIVE - Tues 14/ Wed 15 November
Spaces are limited to just six participants in each group, so that everyone's voice is heard.
WHAT'S IN OUR BACKPACK?
This is all of the nourishing goodness that is included in the Faith Shift programme!
GROUP SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
The core offering, and a brave space to process what's arising. We have five life-giving sessions together.
FAITH SHIFT WORKBOOK
A comprehensive workbook with journalling prompts and creative exercises, exclusive to participants of this programme.
VIDEO
Weekly videos to introduce the themes and offer a way in to the practices.
AUDIO REFLECTION
Guided meditations and creative led exercises to engage with, that allow you to approach the theme from a new angle.
YOUR GUIDE FOR THE JOURNEY
FIONA KOEFOED-JESPERSEN
Spiritual Director and Pilgrim Guide
It is my delight and honour to get to journey with you as a spiritual companion.
I was raised in a Christian home, but it was only when I discovered contemplative and mystic Christianity, and then re-rooted into the ancestral practices of the British Isles that I felt like I had truly found my spiritual home.
That shift took a lot of unravelling and deconstructing of ideas, but I have found a spacious place to inhabit with an open heart and deep trust in my connection with God.
My passion is to walk alongside fellow pilgrims as they seek the Great Mystery, which we call God, the Divine, Christ, Source... and many other names.
I don't direct your path. Instead I help you listen deeply to your own heart and soul, as you encounter Spirit in the ordinary everyday of your lived experience.
DO YOU STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
IS THIS A CHRISTIAN PROGRAMME?
I am rooted in the contemplative and mystic Christian tradition. My experience and knowledge comes from this faith background, but my intention with this programme is not to define the faith you end up with, but create a container for exploring your own spiritual journey.
That means I hope you will be empowered through this course to trust your own experience of the Divine and the voice of your Truest Self as they guide your next steps.
I care less about how you choose to label yourself and your spirituality and more about the freedom, spaciousness and purpose it brings you in your everyday reality.
WHAT IS GROUP SPIRITUAL DIRECTION?
Spiritual direction is the ancient practice of sacred conversation. I offer that to my private clients on a monthly basis. Group spiritual direction then is simply bringing that same sacred conversation to a small group of people!
In practice, that looks like holding space for each person to tell their story and allow it to be received with compassion, curiosity and non-judgement. I facilitate that process to ensure we hold healthy boundaries and that each participate feels heard.
WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER A GROUP PROGRAMME?
On this group journey, you get the sacred gift of hearing other people's stories, of knowing you are not alone, and of learning the practice of deep listening together.
It will feel different to other church small groups you may have done before. There will be no fixing, no unwanted advice. Instead we hold the circle with intention and compassion, allowing space for you to connect with your own inner wisdom both as you speak yourself and as you listen to others sharing.
This five session offering gives you the opportunity to look specifically at themes that impact your faith shift and how they unfold in your own life.
DO I NEED TO COME TO EVERY SESSIONS?
This journey is designed as a whole, and so ideally, yes - if you are registering I would ask you to do so with the intention of coming to each of the five sessions (with understanding that sometimes ill health or other unavoidable contexts might make that hard). Discounts or refunds will not be offered for any missed sessions.
HOW MUCH IS THE PROGRAMME?
The cost is £260, which includes five group spiritual direction sessions facilitated by me, ten weeks of emails, including video content, recorded meditations and guided spiritual practices, and a comprehensive workbook that is exclusive to people doing my Faith Shift programme.
All the content is held on a password-protected webpage, and will continue to be available for you to return to after our programme is finished.
YES! I'M IN.
Wed, 20 SeptOn Zoom and Private Webpage20 Sept 2023, 12:00 – 14:00 BSTOn Zoom and Private Webpage
Tue, 19 SeptOn Zoom and Private Webpage19 Sept 2023, 19:00 – 21:00 BSTOn Zoom and Private Webpage