MTS, Spiritual Formation
Spiritual Director
Transformation Coach
I truly care for people. I will walk with you as you discern what is next and how to accomplish it. Being a spiritual director is like being a midwife, someone who assists others in giving birth to a deeper relationship with God.
As I journey with you during this season of life, my prayer is that you will be able to hear God through all the noise, learn how He speaks to you, discern what He wants for your “right now” and trust Him for your “not yet”.
Contact: andrea@anchorandserenity.com
Ann is a graduate of the Emmaus Spiritual Direction program. She brings with her a wealth of experience from 22 years as an Executive Director with Youth for Christ, and the rich mentoring relationships she has fostered with many young women. She now practices Spiritual Direction from her home in Tottenham, ON and is the Administrative Assistant at Emmaus. Ann is also the author of the Bible Study “Holy Calling: Becoming a Godly Wife”.
Ann has been married to Keith McCallum for 40 years, has 3 adult children and 10 grandchildren. Ann loves leading guided Spiritual Retreats for individuals and groups, and Meditative Hikes.
Auke Algera is a graduate of Emmaus Formation Centre. He serves as a pastor in the Evangelical-Protestant tradition and brings with him nearly twenty years of pastoral experience. He believes that every person is in a process of spiritual formation. As a spiritual director he wants to help you make sense of your faith journey and grow in your relationship with Christ. He offers time and space to help you discern how God is present with you and how the Spirit is working in your life. Auke offers spiritual direction in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. Email: a.a.spiritualdirection@gmail.com
Aukje believes God is present and active in every moment of life, and enjoys accompanying others as they explore their understanding and experience of God, and deepen their relationship with Him. Her own journey started in the Netherlands, followed by immigration to Canada, teaching ESL in Japan while working with a few churches, finally finding the love of her life (Willy!), moving back to Canada to bring up two boys while discerning her next steps. This resulted in graduating from Emmaus Formation Centre and subsequently starting her spiritual direction practice. Contact: aukje.dykstra@gmail.com for in person or online sessions
In the midst of a driven, seductive, disorienting and distracting culture, Denisa is an author and spiritual director who helps Christians cultivate the skill of orienting themselves toward God and others. Her deep longing is to see others move toward wholeness and is keenly interested in how engaging the spiritual practices shape our spiritual formation.
Denisa also develops guided contemplation exercises and leads spiritual direction retreats in Spain, Canada and Romania.
Denisa Nica is a trained spiritual director with Emmaus and a graduate of Regent College. Her book Kairos, When the Holy Meets the Daily is a devotional pilgrimage through the Psalms.
Website: www.lighthauscoaching.com
Eldon is a professional vocal accompanist who is currently practicing his accompanying skills within the ministry of spiritual direction. Having prepared for this ministry through the discipleship program at Journey Canada and the spiritual direction program at the Emmaus Formation Centre, he now accompanies followers of Jesus as they seek to hear the voice of God and discern how He is at work in their lives. His primary interests are focused on those who are impacted by LGBTQ issues. If you would like to initiate a conversation with Eldon, he can be reached at eldonmcbride@gmail.com.
Elizabeth Millar (BA, MTS, DPT student) is confident that God is present in ordinary life and that God desires interaction with us. With a sense of joyful curiosity and prayerful attentiveness, she is interested in being a spiritual companion for those who want to know and experience God more. She has a particular heart for students as they navigate academic life and theological studies. Elizabeth has experienced living in various settings (rural prairie, inner city, suburbia) and is now enjoying small town life on Prince Edward Island. She is married to a minister and backyard farmer, and is mother to 5 beautiful people. Contact: elizabethmillar330@gmail.com.
Ellen believes that all stories are sacred. The core of her ministry is attentive listening with an open heart and where all are welcome. She knows the reality of physical health challenges. Her conservative upbringing has led her to deep soul searching for the reality of being beloved of God. If you are longing for a deeper relationship with Jesus, you will be blessed in the space Ellen will hold for you. Ellen is a former educator in the public sector and a graduate of Emmaus Spiritual Formation Center.
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Floyd (BTh, MDiv, DMin) has found joy in serving as a spiritual director for men since 2006. He has ministered as a pastor and chaplain in Canada and as a cross-cultural worker/teacher in Indonesia, the Philippines and Toronto.
Floyd sees spiritual direction as an experience in Christian companionship guided by the Holy Spirit. It provides a safe, caring place for men who desire a spiritual friend to be with them on their soul journey with Jesus.
Floyd enjoys walking with his wife Joyce, reading, singing with his guitar in senior homes and to church senior groups, and sharing God’s love. He has 3 married sons and 13 grandchildren.
Contact: floyd@grunau.ca 403.826.4015 Website: SoulJourney
BRE, MTS
Jan is an ordained Pastor and a Spiritual Director. She has degrees from Tyndale (OBC) and Heritage Seminary as well as a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Emmaus. In addition to this, her work background includes a career in manufacturing.
Jan views Spiritual Direction as part of her calling as a pastor. She will offer spiritual guidance, companionship, encouragement and help particularly in difficult transitions and valleys. Jan has a special interest in walking beside women who are developing leaders.
Currently Jan resides in Hamilton, Ontario with her husband. She has three grown children and six grandchildren.
Are you recognizing parts of your life where you feel stuck in old patterns, overwhelmed, depleted, or are you just straight up yearning for deeper growth and breakthrough?
I offer a safe listening space to help you cultivate a deepening awareness of where God is present and active in your life and story, and how you respond. Drawing on years of experience and training in overseas Mission, Chaplaincy, Spiritual Direction, and Coaching, I help people just like you, deepen their journey to be still, be awakened, and be love(d).
*Experienced in accompanying Pastors, Leaders, those in roles serving others (here/abroad).
Josiah has worked with at-risk and hurting youth for nearly a decade. He has worked with incarcerated individuals and those struggling with substance abuse, trauma, and mental health. He is trained in suicide intervention and emotional & grief support. He believes in holistic support to meet the needs of the soul and aims to help others know the mercy of Jesus so they may be healed and formed by His Spirit. For Josiah, spiritual direction is healing the wounds of the soul. https://ancientpathsspiritualdirection.my.canva.site/
Julia is passionate about getting to know people on a deeper level. She has a degree in psychology, and decades of experience serving in various ministries. These have played a significant role in cultivating her desire to come alongside people, wherever they are in their faith journey, and offer them a hospitable space to be both seen and heard and to hear from God. She would consider it an honor to be a part of your journey.
Julia currently lives in Milton, Ontario with her husband, their 3 kids, and their energetic pup. She can be reached julia@godlight.ca at and found at https://www.godlight.ca
As a spiritual director, Karen provides a hospitable and welcoming place to discover, discern, renew, and question one’s relationship with God. Having navigated many storms throughout her life, she understands the value of having a spiritual friend to walk alongside, to provide confidentiality, hope, a deepening walk of faith, and how to live out one’s calling in everyday life.
Karen has been on staff at Youth For Christ, Canada, for approximately twenty years. She understands the challenges and blessings that come from a life of vocational ministry and is uniquely positioned to walk alongside those in parachurch ministries.
Karen is a graduate of the 3-year Spiritual Direction Certificate program at Emmaus. She believes that it is essential for Jesus-followers to tend to their spiritual, emotional and physical lives. As we do this, it has ripple effects in our families, neighbourhoods and world. Karen’s passion for social justice and for coming alongside others on their spiritual journey has led to a spirit-filled, non-judgemental approach to spiritual direction. If you are in a season of doubt, struggle, transition, ministry exhaustion or feeling like there must be more to life with God, Karen will provide a safe space for you.
My passion and deep joy is to be joined to Spirit in caring for the souls of others.I love to listen to your heart-yearnings, to journey with you in the interior life, and welcome our Lord’s presence in soul maturing. I am a 2x cancer survivor and encountered losses, mini-deaths but found eternal hope, truth and meaning.My hope is that as you experience more of the God who holds us, you will also receive a deeper healing, a greater love and more of his transforming friendship.I graduated from Regent Collegein 2003 with a MDiv and my spiritual director training is from Emmaus.
I had the nudge to begin training in Christian Spiritual Formation and Direction many years ago. I discussed with two friends this yearning for the journey. Through God’s direction I found Emmaus Formation Centre, and I have been studying with Emmaus for the last two years. I am entering my third year in September 2021.
I love God and I love to see people grow deeper in their relationship with God, and would be humbled to journey with those who seek him deeply.
Kathryn lives in Ottawa with her husband Lawrence, 4 children, and 2 grandchildren.
Kathy lives in Burlington, Ontario with her husband and 4 children. She loves to come alongside people in spiritual direction and provide a welcoming space for them to explore and express their relationship with God. The intention of her spiritual direction practice is for people to grow in self awareness and God awareness so they can experience more freedom, faith, hope, and love. Kathy values family, friendship, authenticity, creativity, and learning. She likes to experiment with different creative expressions and loves all forms of skiing.
Website: www.kathygust.com
Ken and his wife Vera live in Calgary, AB, Canada. He brings his love for Jesus and skills in listening deeply to the role of spiritual director. His heart is to come alongside others as a companion in discerning the work of God. In his work as a spiritual director, he trusts in the Holy Spirit, who is the true spiritual director in our lives.
Ken has 28 years of pastoral ministry experience, as well as experience as a Regional Director for Alpha Ministries Canada.
Contact:
Email: theotherkendryden@gmail.com
Website: https://thirdpersonspiritualdirection.com
Kristen is a compassionate spiritual director who delights in hearing from the Holy Spirit while helping others seek greater depth and authenticity within their own spiritual journeys with Jesus. With her empathetic approach and her interest in the relationship between emotional health and spiritual health, Kristen loves to see others discover the goodness and the presence of God in daily life. Living in Guelph, she delights in meeting others locally, or for those more distant, virtually. She can be found at : https://www.threestrandsministries.org/ or can be reached at: kristen.rekker@gmail.com .
I companion men and women seeking to know God better, to hear and experience his presence, and to grow in faith. My practice includes prayerful attention to God, spiritual disciplines, Ignatian spiritual practices, scripture, and deep listening. I bring a range of experiences to spiritual direction. I was a pastor’s wife as well as a corporate executive; I am also a mother and understand the stresses of being a military mom. It would be my joy to journey with you in your unique circumstances and faith experience. Email: taylor-laura@comcast.net
Leanne is a graduate of the 3-year Spiritual Direction Certificate program at Emmaus. She is passionate about coming alongside others, inviting them to slow down and create space to connect with their soul and Creator so they can intentionally respond to the gifts, stirrings and calling He has placed within them. Her authenticity and gentle approach creates the kind of atmosphere that makes delving into this subject safe and comfortable.
Leanne is the creator of Bringing Faith Home speaking series and the author of A Parent’s Best Gift. She lives just outside Toronto with her husband James and their four kids.
Contact: leannecabral.com
Linda is a graduate of Emmaus Formation Centre’s Spiritual Direction Certificate program and lives in Durham Region. She has over thirty years of leadership experience in corporate and healing ministry settings and loves the Word and prayer in its many forms.
Her great passion is to come alongside others as they discern where God is present and at work in their everyday lives. She provides a safe place to explore your story and encounter God’s healing and redemption.
Whether you are pursuing greater intimacy with God, navigating a difficult season, or seeking discernment, she would love to accompany you.
Lisa is both a pastor and spiritual director who loves helping people grow in their capacity to discern and experience God’s love, direction and empowerment and in their freedom to respond with greater faithfulness. She especially enjoys working with pastors and ministry leaders across denominations and ministry contexts. As a self-proclaimed “Bapti-Costal”, she brings to spiritual direction a strong grounding in God’s word and insight into the Holy Spirit’s movements. Lisa has a Master of Divinity (Pastoral Studies) from Tyndale Seminary and a certificate in Spiritual Direction from Emmaus Formation Centre.
My greatest desire is to help those who come to me for spiritual direction learn to listen to the Spirit of God and to help them discern His presence and leading in their lives so that they can walk in the fullness of who He created them to be. Through listening to the Spirit and through spiritual disciplines we pay attention to how and where God is working in their lives to help them deepen their intimacy with the Lord. My training in spiritual direction, in healing prayer and in loss and grief through my work in palliative care assist me in journeying with others.
Contact: l.junkeran@gmail.com
Marc Gauvreau is one of our course instructors and has been with Emmaus since 2014. As a spiritual director who trained under Dr. Sandy Broadus, Marc brings a Spirit knitted blend of disarming companionship, attentiveness, and prayerful discernment to his practice.
Ordained with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada for over the 30 years, he has pastored in several congregations specializing in discipleship-based spiritual formation and small groups. He is married to Karen, his truest friend and together they have 4 boys, the youngest being 9, who in Marc’s own words, “keeps me well-grounded and always ready for an adventure.”
Contact: mjgauv@bell.net
Margot began following Christ during an undergraduate year abroad, and grew in a campus ministry context back in Canada. Years later, she and her husband followed the Lord’s call to serve in Asia first as “tent-makers”, later as field staff shepherds and coaches. Returning in burnout, Margot experienced God’s tender ministry through a spiritual director. At God’s invitation, she completed a masters and trained as a spiritual director at Tyndale. She has been practicing since 2012. Margot is a certified practitioner of the Enneagram (Motions of the Soul). She enjoys supporting individuals and groups in the transformative Ignatian Exercises Retreat in Daily Life. She welcomes people in spiritual direction both in Ottawa and broadly via Zoom. If you would like to explore meeting, please contact her at mpk002@gmail.com
Mee (B.S.W., Dip.CS, M.Div., CSD, RSW) has experience working with all age groups in various settings, such as government, institution, community and church settings. Currently, she offers spiritual direction and counselling through her private practice and also serves as the education director and young adult pastor of a local church.
Her passion, shaped by our Trinitarian God, is to walk alongside people and to see them deepening their relationship with God in their ordinary, everyday lives. By attending to God’s loving presence, her desire is to offer a space where people can enter more deeply into the person of Christ and into their own uniqueness.
Michelle is a graduate of the Center for Spiritual Formation Spiritual Direction Program, Drew University’s Spiritual Formation Certificate Program, and Fordham University’s Supervision of Spiritual Directors Advanced Certificate Program, in addition to a Mdiv and Dmin. She has served for over a decade as a pastor in the United Methodist Church and spiritual director. She now creates sacred spaces of holy listening through Abide in the Spirit, www.abideinthespirit.com, in addition to her vocation as a pastor.
Mike has been a Spiritual Director, after graduating from Emmaus in 2018. He graduated with a Master of Divinity in 2007, specializing in Youth & Family Ministry from Tyndale. He worked for more than a decade as the Executive Director for the anti-sex trafficking charity Fight4Freedom.
Mike is passionate about bringing together spirituality and social justice and journeying with others to discover their uniqueness, giftedness, and strengths. He loves to journey with others in real-life situations and listen together to what God is saying.
His wife and he have two little boys and a golden doodle together.
Contact: onthejourney.life@gmail.com
Nadine Gascho; MA in Spiritual Formation, certified spiritual director through Soul Stream, Canada.
As a spiritual companion, I count it a privilege to support you in your relationship with God. I offer you a safe space to share your story and explore the journey of your heart. With the focus on listening for how God is present, I look to the leading of the Holy Spirit (as the true Spiritual Director). Whether meeting in-person or through video conferencing, the session with you is an unhurried, contemplative space. As a missionary, myself, I am particularly drawn to and have much to offer cross-cultural workers and women in ministry (but am open to all).
You can contact me at listenlife7@gmail.com
I am trained as a Spiritual Director through Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and have a part-time spiritual direction practice (www.formationinsights.org). I have studied analytic psychology and dreamwork and have a doctorate in Christian education from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I am retired as a professor of Christian Formation and Leadership at Tyndale Seminary, Toronto. I teach in the Emmaus Formation Centre’s Spiritual Direction program (www.emmausformation.ca). I am ordained in Evangelical Covenant Church.
Peter Giokas (MTS, MDiv.) trained and worked as a Child and Youth worker. He then worked at an inner city mission serving in a variety of leadership roles. Ordained with the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, Peter later pastored a church in Hamilton. More recently he was on staff with the Greater Ontario House of Prayer (GOHOP) with which he is still actively involved as a Companion. Now working primarily as a spiritual director, he finds delight in seeing people recognize and respond to the Spirit as He draws them into deeper faith, greater freedom and experience of God’s love. Peter has three grown sons and one grandson, and loves being married to Sandy. He is a student of old and new monasticism, the Christian mystics and is a member of the Order of the Mustard Seed.
Bachelor of Religious Education (Emmanuel Bible College);
Bachelor of Theology (Emmanuel Bible College);
Bachelor of Arts – Sociology (Waterloo University);
Master of Arts – Counselling (Providence Seminary);
Certified Spiritual Director with CCPC global.
As a former Baptist pastor, and as a trained Christian counsellor with the spiritual gift of teaching, Phil has a strong foundational knowledge of Scripture. In 2013 when God directed him to the practices of spiritual formation, it opened a new gateway into his heart that allowed his training to harmonize with the spiritual awareness of God’s presence. As a result, the Spirit of God has been allowed new freedoms to lead and transform him into a man who is daily discovering a richer joy and purpose in the Christian journey. For more information about Phil and his contact information please go to www.solidrootsministries.com
While serving as a pastor, Rick trained as a spiritual director at Tyndale Seminary and has companioned a wide variety of people in their spiritual journey over the past 12 years. Now in retirement, he especially feels called to be with pastors, supporting their soul care, healing, and spiritual formation. Rick partners with the Holy Spirit to help people recognize, experience, and engage with God in the rhythm of their everyday life. Husband, father, and grandfather, he encounters God and finds awe and delight in his family, and in people, the arts, natural environments, and gardening.
Rick will be happy to meet online or in person rtwukasch@gmail.com
Mutual support, fellowship, referral, peer supervision, educational events, learning groups, periodic newsletter with articles, collaboration with like-minded groups, web-page, resources
a. Graduates of Emmaus Certificate in Spiritual Direction
b. Emmaus Spiritual Directors
c. Affiliates (qualified applicants)
d. Emmaus Certificate Program students (registered in at least one course in the Certificate Programs)
• Cost: $30 for Emmaus Graduates and Spiritual Directors;
• $20 for Emmaus students; $40 for all others
• Emmaus Graduates receive the first year free
· Periodic fellowship/learning/devotional meetings
· Discount for Emmaus educational events
· Opportunity to participate in peer supervision
· Advocacy for Spiritual Direction
· Information on insurance
· Opportunity to contribute to the Emmaus Blog
· Periodic newsletter
· Resources (incl. notice of other associations, workshops and conferences)
· Consists of 3 or 4 persons including Chair, Secretary-Treasurer, Editor, and Emmaus staff representative
· Elected by members or appointed by Executive Council if 2 or less running. (Appointed by Executive Council in 1st year).
· Meets at least 2X/yearly.
· Continuing education initiatives will be coordinated with the Education Director.
· Executive Director has the responsibility to ensure the ESSD operates within its mandate.
(see Application Form below; Renewal form TBD)
· Completion of a spiritual direction training program of at least 40 contact hours and that includes both teaching and supervised spiritual direction OR at least 5 years of recognized spiritual direction ministry and a supportive pastoral/professional reference
· Agreement in principle with the Emmaus statement of values, statement of faith, ethical standards (applicants and members may note reservations with explanation)
· Active and in good standing in their denomination/congregation
· Submission of yearly brief report for membership renewal (e.g., number of directees, church affiliation, continuing education incl. books read)
· Participation in at least one event or group every 2 years.
Members will be given support within the capacity of the society and referrals for further support where warranted. Anyone who contravenes the membership expectations will be reminded of their responsibilities and given a grace period. If there is a complaint of an ethical nature, the member will meet with the Society’s Executive Committee and their case may be referred to the Emmaus Executive Director. See “Grievance Procedures” and “Ethical Standards.”
Executive committee are volunteer positions though expenses will be paid. The ESSD will be self-supporting through membership fees and event profits. (Educational events, including costs and profits, will be coordinated with the Education Director.)
Please scan and send completed application to: ann@emmausformation.ca
Or
By mail to Emmaus Formation Centre, 1422 Miraya Crt. Mississauga, ON, L5C 2T5
You will receive confirmation of receipt within 5 days.