By letting ourselves be guided in Spiritual Direction, we are telling Jesus we really do want to want what he wants.
Spiritual Direction provides a safe place for attending to your ongoing process of transformation and surrender to God without any other agenda. It is a safe place where you can respond to the invitation and promise of Jesus:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
God desires a relationship with you, and he longs for you to express the truth of who you are as you share your gifts, experience and wholeness. A spiritual director helps you engage with God, listen and respond to God, helps you grow to become more like Christ, and helps you recognize how this relationship plays out in your life at home, in work, in decision-making, and your imprint upon this world.
Receiving Spiritual Direction is about having a skilled, trained spiritual director listen to your stories and experiences. The purpose of spiritual direction is to sink below the surface of your life, to unmask the façade of your ordinary temperament, expressions, and body language you present to others and reveal your inner spiritual freedom and interior truth. A spiritual director listens for glimpses of grace and hints of the holy, for the breakthrough presence of God in the midst of ordinary life—and encourages your responsiveness to Him. In a sense, a spiritual director helps you find your own route to God and the likeness of Christ in your soul.
Spiritual Direction helps you:
• dive deeper into prayer and draw closer to God in everyday life;
• discover God’s care in the midst of difficulties;
• become aware of the sacred within the ordinary events of life;
• honestly share with God your feelings, doubts and questions;
• become more like Christ and experience the fruits of the Spirit;
• move from a preoccupation of your sinfulness to a grace-filled life of love and service
Juniper Tree’s Spiritual Directors
As fellow pilgrims, we accompany you on your journey of faith, and are present to assist you in paying attention to the invitations of the Holy Spirit and to support you in making a faithful response. Each of us understand the real ‘director’ is God, the Holy Spirit, who initiates and inspires your deepening relationship with the Trinity with yourself, with other people and with the realities of life. Each of us, in our practice of providing direction, are committed to prayerfully support and encourage you to attend and respond to God.
Kelly Wright 
Hartley Wright
Kelly served as a Spiritual Director and Associate Pastor for Restore Ministries at Columbia’s (MO) Woodcrest Chapel from 2014-2020. She also served as a Spiritual Director for TC8 from 2013 to 2015 for The Transforming Center in Chicago. She was ordained as a Pastor by Woodcrest in 2016, and is currently participating in her third two-year, retreat-based Transforming Community® Spiritual formation experience. With 22 years experience as a Licensed Professional Counselor, Kelly’s experience in both therapy and spiritual direction allows her to incorporate emotional health practices as God leads and recognize if/when there is a need for therapy.
Hartley received his certification in Spiritual Direction in November 2020, and has been providing Spiritual Direction since 2018. He was ordained as a Pastor in 1993 and has twenty years of Pastoral experience, most recently serving as a Christian Formation Pastor at Columbia’s (MO) Woodcrest Chapel from 2008-2013, and Pastor at Columbia’s Cornerstone Baptist from 2000-2007. From 2008 to 2019, Hartley participated in six two-year, retreat-based Transforming Community® spiritual formation experiences. His experiences of trauma and loss support his desire to create a safe place and hold sacred space for others to attend to God’s care and work in their life.
If you would like to receive Spiritual Direction, or would like to learn more about it, please complete the form below.