Spiritual
Accompaniment
with Children

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Spiritual Accompaniment with Children is for spiritual directors and those who feel called to a listening ministry with children. Students who are interested in this course will have noticed a lifelong interest in the spiritual lives of children and in the ministry of spiritual accompaniment. This class will consist of learning through reading and discussion and learning through practicum sessions with children. Those interested are required to complete an essay and an interview with the instructor before admittance. Please note there is a $25 application fee.  

Cost: $550. Course fee includes supervision sessions. Scholarships are available.  

Space is limited to 15 students.  

Course Description: Spiritual Accompaniment with Children is designed to form adults into listening companions for children. Through readings and experiences, adults will learn about the unique aspects of a child’s life with God and how to come alongside and support. Adults will gain information and insights around children’s spiritual formation and how meeting the child where they are with acceptance and encouragement opens the child to resiliency and a lifelong relationship with the Divine. This is a practicum course therefore participants will be meeting with children and bringing those sessions to supervision conversations.  
  • Dates

    January 9 - 
    March 12, 2024

  • Day of the Week

    Tuesdays
    7-9am PT

  • Format

    Virtual
    Course

  • Duration

    10 weeks

    Cost

    $550

    Application Fee; $25
    Space is limited to 15 students.

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Through this course, you will...

Learn the four elements of children's spiritual formation. 
Explore and understand the various dimensions of the person and how that impacts the spiritual lives of children.
Grow in skills and posture to be a listening presence for children.
Explore and reflect upon your own childhood experiences of God in the presence of a trained spiritual director.
Engage in intentional child-like spiritual practices that are natural to children.
Describe, practice and implement the distinctive elements in the practice of listening with children.
Develop and practice spiritual direction skills that meet children where they are.
Notice moments of transcendence and the Spirit's invitation in the life of a child.

Requirements for Spiritual Direction
with Children Certificate

Class attendance and participation is required at all sessions. One excused absence is allowed.
Eight hours of spiritual direction sessions with children.
Participate in 4 Group Supervision Sessions.

Lacy Finn Borgo

Lacy Finn Borgo, DMin,  teaches, provides spiritual direction and is the Student Care Coordinator for the Renovaré Institute for Spiritual Formation. Lacy also teaches courses on Children’s Spirituality and Spiritual Accompaniment through the CompanioningCenter.org. She has a spiritual direction ministry for adults, and provides spiritual direction for children at Haven House, a transitional facility for families without housing. 

Her recent books are Faith Like a Child: Embracing Our Lives as Children of God, Spiritual Conversations with Children: Listening to God Together and the children’s picture book All Will Be Well. Lacy lives on the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains and worships with a local Quaker Meeting. You can find her at www.GoodDirtMinistries.org.
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Assistant Guides

Terra McDaniel

Terra is a spiritual director, writer, teacher, and supervisor who loves making space for people of all ages to tune into the holy and their own souls. She is the author of Hopeful Lament: Tending Our Grief Through Spiritual Practices a fall 2023 IVP release. She received an MDiv with a concentration in spiritual formation from Portland Seminary. Terra and her husband live in Austin, Texas with their rescue dogs Edie and Albert. She’s thankful her daughter, son-in-law, and twin grandchildren are only a ten minute drive away. You can find her online at terramcdaniel.com.

Ellie Beatty

Ellie Beatty, M.S. Ed., has spent most of her adult life teaching preschool children in private- and public-school settings. She has a passion for helping children to recognize their God-given gifts and abilities, and to know God’s great love for them.

In addition to teaching, Ellie has led workshops for parents and enjoys consulting with families around parenting joys and challenges. She founded and directed a Christian preschool centered on hands-on learning and nurturing joyful discovery in young children.

When Ellie completed the Spiritual Direction with Children course in 2020, she felt like a fish in water – discovering a new calling that is tailored to her gifts and passions. She is certified as a Spiritual Director and serves both children and adults in Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.