FOR THE WHOLENESS OF CHRISTIAN LEADERS

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

SoulFormation was founded in 2006 by Morris Dirks to companion leaders as they navigate ministry. Experiencing firsthand the difficulties and disillusionment that are common in ministry, Morris became convinced that many Christian leaders were leading with no one to care for their souls. Convinced that “every leader needs a soul friend,” he began to companion leaders through one-on-one spiritual direction and group retreats.

Morris invited others to join him, first Rita Nussli, and then Paul Rhoads. Together they developed the Academy of Spiritual Direction and then the School of Spiritual Direction. The commitment to care for Christian leaders continues as our team diversifies and is led by our new executive director, Summer Mohrlang.

The SoulFormation team is animated by the following core convictions:

SoulFormation exists for the wholeness of Christian leaders.

  • We believe God’s love transforms and transformed leaders transform the world.

  • We are convinced that at the center of the universe is a relationship we call the Trinity which invites us into this relationship. Everything flows out of this divine dance. We are more fully alive when we join in God’s reconciliation and restoration of all things and recognize our connectedness with each other. 

  • This is a needed work because unhealthy systems distort and dehumanize leaders. If we don’t allow our pain to be transformed, we will always transmit it to those we serve. We walk alongside Christian leaders, believing that God’s love and grace heal and transform those burdened and bruised by systems of oppression and soul-numbing busyness.

  • The dominant culture church has been complicit in the marginalization and oppression of all others. This sin has traumatized BIPOC leaders and has deformed those of the dominant culture. This was never God’s design. We intentionally decenter Whiteness believing that leaders develop and thrive in communities where diversity, mutuality, and inclusivity are practiced, forming the Beloved Community.

  • Our focus is on people who lead by influence or position, believing that God uses transformed leaders to transform the world. While we draw from many leaders and styles we are centered on Jesus as the preeminent model of wholistic leadership.

“Recently someone asked me to speak on the topic ‘What Would You Do Different If You Were Starting Over Again?’ Of course, there are several things I would want to say, but I definitely have a bottom line that comes out of my life experience after all these years: ‘Everyone needs spiritual direction. Everyone needs a soul friend.’”

-Morris Dirks, in his book, Forming The Leader’s Soul-

READ MORRIS’ STORY

OUR WAY OF PROCEEDING

The SoulFormation team has adopted a set of practices and postures which are becoming our way of proceeding.  We acknowledge that we are a work in progress and the following are both lived and aspirational. It’s our desire to live this deeper still.

Beloved Community

The Relationship at the center of the universe, The Trinity, invites all of creation, including every human of every tribe, to join in their shalom. Fear separates and divides us. Love is more powerful than fear and has the power to heal and restore relationships. This love requires us to move toward each other with courage, empathic presence, and perseverance. We also recognize the historic centering of whiteness and patriarchy. We intentionally work to decenter those narratives, voices, and viewpoints.

Disruptive Grace

We are created in the image of God and called good, yet we all experience brokenness through our sins and the sins of others. We believe that grace disrupts our false self and begins the work of healing to allow us to live more and more as our true selves. This disruptive grace enables us to practice radical acceptance and reconciliation with others.

Three-Fold Listening

We trust Jesus when he says he will send the Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit speaks to us and we can learn to listen. We cultivate a posture of listening to the Spirit, to the other, and to ourselves. Listening is our way of being in relationship and discernment is our way of decision-making.

Centered Set

We are unapologetically Trinitarian and Christocentric in our theology and worship. We recognize that Christianity is a big tent and invite anyone to participate in a journey with Christ toward deeper intimacy with the Trinity.

Contemplative Spirituality

In a world that is noisy and violent, we choose to make room for practices that help us to slow down and rest. We cultivate rhythms of prayer that bring awareness, believing that “there is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowing of self, and no deep knowing of self without a deep knowing of God”.

Humility over Competency

None of us are experts of the other, and so we choose a generous curiosity over assuming we can know the other’s experience. While we seek to be orthodox in our theology, we desire understanding rather than certainty. We allow our brokenness and our healing to be made known in our teaching, facilitating, and relationships.

Holding Space

We intentionally champion and hold space for leaders whose voices, experiences, and identities have been marginalized by the dominant culture.