Meet some of our spiritual directors!

Dianne believes God is present in all things, making all things new through attending to Christ’s loving and compassionate Presence. She feels privileged to accompany any seeking freedom to experience all they are created for in relation to self, God, others, and nature. She offers gentleness and compassion in a safe, sacred space to listen deeply together for the Spirit’s stirrings and invitations amid life’s celebrations, losses, transitions, and challenges. Her diverse background allows her to connect with a variety of people.

Spiritual formation/theology; transition/discernment, leadership; inner healing, shadow integration; Ignatian/biblical spirituality, contemplative prayer; spiritual direction supervision, group spiritual direction; retreat facilitator.

Dianne co-directed the past three cohorts of the QH Spiritual Director Formation Program. Her background includes Biological Sciences/Animal Health, mission work, cross-cultural campus ministry (outreach, leadership development), inner healing prayer ministry, contemplative prayer, CPE, CCF coaching certification, Ignatian spirituality, Boundless Compassion, Transforming Center’s Transforming Community, Shalem Institute’s group spiritual direction, Regent College’s MDiv and SFS’s Kairos DMin. She is trauma informed. Dianne has served as an elder circle leader and workshop facilitator for Growing in Wisdom. She facilitates the Ignatian Nineteenth Annotation in a format, adapted for her DMin Ministry Project, to ecumenically experience the Spiritual Exercises as current and integrated with spiritual psychology.

Dianne grew up on the prairies in a Dutch Immigrant Community. She lives out her spirituality in the context of being a wife, caregiver, stepmom, and Oma. She finds joy in nature, her canine companion, capturing beauty with her camera, community, solitude, and friendship.

Training: Queen’s House Spiritual Direction Formation Program, 2008

dimantyka@sasktel.net

Eileen has a gentle, peaceful, and compassionate presence in the accompaniment of others on their spiritual journey. She is primarily a listener who believes in the power of telling one's story in order to grow in awareness of the Creator's presence with us and the active involvement of the Holy One in our lives – an awareness that is both healing and affirming. In her love of discovering the uniqueness of each person, she brings this awareness to those she is accompanying.

Eileen personally experienced the value of receiving spiritual direction, and this prompted her to pursue it further. Prior to this she completed two units of Clinical Pastoral Education as well as the "Ignatian 19th Annotation" which were sources of considerable personal spiritual growth. She also holds a Master of Divinity degree from Emmanuel and St. Chad College in Saskatoon.

Eileen has retired from work as a hospital chaplain and, more recently, as pastor, and enjoys singing in choirs, playing the piano, photography, handwork, quilting small projects, and playing with her two grandchildren.

TrainingL Queen’s House Spiritual Direction Formation Program, 2017

emklaassen52@gmail.com

Fran believes that spiritual direction is about companioning another on their journey to deeper spiritual awareness as they seek the wisdom of the Divine within. In her practice, she creates a safe space that offers deep listening, paying attention to what it is that soul wants you to know. It is sacred ground as we journey to the heart of the heart of who you are, as soul guides the way. There are several ways we pay attention to soul, primarily Fran offers dream work, creative expression, and body awareness.

Soul companioning is a means to uncover one’s true Self as the soul offers healing and integration along the way. Fran’s main interests are deep listening, companioning, trauma sensitive, cross-cultural and interfaith awareness, and dream work.

Fran received a Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Seminary (2008), and now serves as Incumbent Priest at Emmanuel Anglican Church & The Refinery in Saskatoon. She lived cross-culturally for four years as a missionary in Peru which sparked a passion for travel and culture.

Life is full and rich with her full-time ministry and her small business called “Pilgrims on Purpose” which offers immersive cross-cultural travel experiences and spiritual wellness. But she also enjoys being a daughter, sister, friend, lover of nature, writer, and singer, in addition to exploring her dreams. A lifelong learner, she is currently enrolled in the Haden Institute’s Dream Work Training Program.

Training: Haden Institute. 2023

fran@pilgrimsonpurpose.com
https://pilgrimsonpurpose.com

Gisele believes that spiritual direction is a journey which helps us to explore our deepest desires for connection and union with the Divine, “and to recognize and to follow the inspirations of grace in our lives in order to arrive at the end to which God is leading us”. Spiritual direction increases our awareness of God in the midst of life experiences, offering the gift of holy listening, reflecting Jesus’ love and compassion and providing guidance by reflecting back to another God’s presence in their lives and the world around them. As Liz Ellman states, “Spiritual direction helps us learn how to live in peace, with compassion, as humble servants of that which lies beyond all names.”

Gisele was a member of Queen’s House Spiritual Director’s team and co-director of the three cohorts of the Spiritual Direction Formation Program, Gisele holds degrees in Theology and Education, is a facilitator of spiritual and scriptural retreats, centering prayer, a spiritual director and a professional artist, potter and iconographer. As an artist, Gisele sees creating as a heart-centered place which connects us to our spirituality and God’s movement within our lives. Gisele offers a place of safety and support, a compassionate listening presence, to hear the Spirit’s guidance, for those seeking connection and a deeper intimacy with the Divine.

Training: Queens House Spiritual Direction Formation Training 2014


gbauche@sasktel.net
spiritualityandart.ca

Everyone has a unique spiritual journey. Each journey, whatever it entails, deserves attention through listening and response without judgment.

Jan offers a place of safety and support for those seeking meaning in their lives and the world. She accompanies people in the ups and downs of life, including healing journeys; work and ministry dynamics, recovery, 12 Steps and contemplative activism.

Jan is a gardener, music and book lover, a crafter, yogi, retired United Church minister and dedicated Auntie.

Jan has had training in the following: Listening for the Sound of the Genuine: The Enduring Wisdom of Howard Thurman (Lerita Coleman Brown); Finding the Sacred in the Landscape of Loss for Spiritual Directors & Companions - (Mirabai Starr); Navigating the Global Dark Night of the Soul of Spiritual Directors and Companions. - Mirabai Starr; Feminist Perspectives on Spiritual Companionship and Direction; Applied Positive Psychology Certificate – A Scientific Guide to Flourishing - CAPP; and Courses in Centering Prayer and MBSR (Mindfulness)

Training: Queen’s House Spiritual Direction Formation Program 2006

 jlclarke@sasktel.net 

Karen views spiritual companionship as a sacred process of deep, compassionate listening that can help individuals discover personally meaningful ways to meet their spiritual needs & mobilize their spiritual strengths. She fosters seekers’ exploration of the spiritual traditions, practices, convictions, questions, & resources that best support them in working toward reconciliation of issues they may wish to address at a given time (including discernment of any actions they feel called to take within their personal &/or professional lives). 

Karen primarily accompanies those receiving &/or offering health care, focusing on ways participants can nurture their spirituality in support of healing & wholeness. Grateful for such spiritual mentorship as she has navigated her own significant health challenges & losses, she is devoted to accompanying others through theirs. Given her professional background in health care, she is also passionate about supporting health care providers to tend the spiritual dimension of their well-being & work. Her own spirit is nurtured by family, friends, a variety of contemplative practices, & much time in the natural world. 

With over 40 years’ experience as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) in acute, community, & educational settings, she has prioritized holistic practice. Drawing upon her M.A. in Integrative Studies (Spirituality & Healing), she developed, then facilitated for a decade, an undergraduate interprofessional elective in Spirituality & Health. She feels very fortunate to have accompanied many future health care professionals on this stretch of their spiritual journey. 



Training: Prairie Jubilee Program for Spiritual Formation and Direction (2010)



kscottbarss@gmail.com

Karen views spiritual direction as an opportunity to offer a safe, hospitable space to companion those wanting to explore the journey of life by paying attention to the gift of presence - God's, our own selves, and all creation. She believes one of our greatest challenges is learning to “let” God love us and learning to let that love transform us.

With a wealth of cross-cultural living, Karen delights in journeying with those going through life transitions, seeking to be more attentive to God’s presence, going through crisis events, or simply those who long for a deeper intimacy with God. She loves to offer companionship and a witness to another’s life with God.

Karen also seeks to engage creativity in the spiritual journey. As an artist, she finds freedom to discover and express emotions, struggles, laments and celebration through various art forms.

Karen lives with her two sisters and a dog in Saskatoon, enjoying the gift of having her parents near by. She loves being an Aunt to a multitude of “nieces and nephews” - both related by blood and gifted by God as she lived overseas.

Karen is also trained in debriefing though The Well International in Chiang Mai, Thailand. And she en boys has leading contemplative retreats for individual and groups.

Training: Spiritual Growth Ministries, New Zealand, 2011.

klb.spiritualdirector@gmail.com
www.karenlblock.com

Each of us is a unique creation of the Divine. You and I each bring a unique gift to those around us and to the world. We find our deepest sense of peace and satisfaction when we come to truly know ourselves at our core and learn to live in alignment with who we were created to be. In Spiritual Direction, you walk with another to discover, uncover and explore that spiritual connection and learn how to tap into that conscious contact with the Creator.

Lynn provides a safe emotional space and supportive presence to accompany others as they explore their own inner wisdom around questions such as ‘Who Am I?’ and ‘What am I meant to be doing?’. Supporting the process of looking inward and connecting with the sacred helps provide the clarity and energy to move forward. 

She offers individual and group sessions as well as retreats and workshops both in person and online supporting those through 12 step recovery, codependency and women navigating life transitions.

Lynn was born and raised in New Brunswick where she worked as a Social Worker for 18 years counselling women and families. In addition, she has training and work experience in the areas of Project Management, Organizational Change Management, Coaching and Leadership. Lynn’s love and passion is walking with others as they enter the most powerful adventure possible; knowing who they were created to be.

Training: Queen’s House Spiritual Direction Formation Program 2020.

gow.lynn@gmail.com
https://www.designforlifecoaching.ca

Sarah has found the listening and encouraging ministry of spiritual direction to be so helpful: in her own life, and in the lives of those who are feeling called to explore who they are and discern the presence of the Holy One in their lives. She is particularly interested in accompanying those who are facing transition in their faith journey or experiencing grief and loss in their lives. Meditation, dream work, using the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicators, and a passionate interest in exploring first half/second half of life issues, desert experiences, and “dark nights” shape the ministry she offers. She is very comfortable journeying alongside those active in the ecumenical Christian community, in interfaith/interspiritual circles, and with those who have stepped away from organized religious traditions or practices.

Sarah is married to Scott Pittendrigh, who is now a retired Anglican priest, and so working within organized religion - for its blessings and painful challenges - shaped the first 20 years of their life together. She has been offering retreats and workshops for 30 years, and has been seeing people for spiritual director since 2002. She has also had the privilege of being the co-creator of Growing in Wisdom: Seeking Deeper Generativity, a two-year program which explores the spirituality of aging. Building in time to see her own spiritual director on a regular basis over the past 30+ years has been an ongoing gift to herself. Listening carefully to another, with curiosity and a deep compassion, is the gift she can pass on to others as we navigate lives which are often so confusing, painful, or challenging. Her working definition of the Divine these days? She is resonating with an article written by James Finley, as he was commenting on the mysticism of John of the Cross: “The God who protects us from nothing, and sustains us in everything.” If this resonates with you (or if your spirit protests against such a statement) as you look into your own life - and at our world - let’s talk!

Training: The Haden Institute: Spiritual Direction in the Jungian Mystical Christian Tradition. 2012.

info@sarahdonnelly.ca
www.sarahdonnelly.ca

Shamarika invites you to a safe haven, a space set apart from life’s demands and increasing turmoil – a sanctuary where you are seen, heard, cherished, understood and restored.   

“Thomas Merton, a gifted Trappist Monk, repeatedly insisted that all beings carry within them this undeniable hidden wholeness, a deep and luminous ‘font of inexhaustible sweetness and purity’…. as Merton sees it, this divine nature, is a quality so deeply imbedded in us, so fundamentally strong, that it cannot be tarnished by our suffering, diminished by our fears, or fractured by our tragedies. In short, it is a part of our soul that, unlike our bodies or our hearts, does not break.”  -Wayne Muller

As your companion, Shamarika listens intently to your concerns and the stirrings of your soul; your innermost feelings, needs, and longings. Together we explore ever-deepening connections with your wholeness and intuitive Divine love and discernment that is your true nature. Spiritual direction fosters resilience, well-being, and compassionate wise responses to life.

Additional influences in Shamarika’s formation as a Spiritual Director include 30 years experience as a young adult Life and Career Management Coach, 12-Step Spirituality, adult children recovery, Insight Meditation practices and healing through somatic experience.

Shamarika loves to dance, is an enthusiastic grandma, an avid nature lover, and enjoys cross-country skiing, hiking and kayaking.

Training: Queen’s House Spiritual Direction Formation Program 2020

Shamarika.rop@gmail.com

Spiritual direction creates a safe, hospitable space where two persons listen carefully as one talks about God’s activity in their life. The conversation involves three people, the one wanting to learn how to hear God’s voice (directee), a second person who also listens for God’s voice (director) and God’s Spirit who is actively directing the conversation. Together they listen to a life’s story and learn to discern God’s presence. Spiritual direction presupposes that the person coming for direction is interested in discerning God’s purposes for their life. They may be people of prayer, or someone who is interested in a prayer life.

Claire listens to the life stories of the directee in a non-judgmental and welcoming manner. Together they will listen, pray, and ask questions to encourage deeper understanding of God’s activity. Because she is convinced that we “live and move and have our being” in God’s Presence, personal story telling, reflecting on events in our lives that prompt emotional or physical responses are all connections to what God is doing.

Focus areas: Grief work, cross-cultural, companioning pastors, transition work.

Claire has an M.Div earned 1994 (Luther Theological Seminary, Saskatoon, SK), Retreat at Loyola House, Guelph, ON., ongoing training at Queen’s House of Retreats with focus on Ignatian Spirituality and Enneagram work, international peace and justice work.

Claire is married to her co-pastor husband. She is the mother of two adult children and grandmother of four. She has lived in Asia (Viet Nam, Thailand, Philippines) for seven years before returning to Canada where she has pastored for almost 20 years. She loves trees, gardening, leading exercises with seniors, and engaging in deep conversations with friends and family.

Training: Queen’s House Spiritual Directors Formation Program, Saskatoon, 2002

claraewertfisher@gmail.com

Centered in God’s active and creative Love, spiritual direction is a gift of sacred and hospitable presence, characterized by compassionate deep listening, deep trust and deep love. Spiritual direction seeks to foster an increasing awareness of God in the midst of all of life, trusting the inner wisdom present, and gently and tenaciously encouraging greater openness to God’s loving intimacy and transforming grace. Our time together is a safe space for attentive awareness, exploration, reflection, silence.

Deb’s practise has included a number of people in leadership, in the church or elsewhere, for whom I have a particular heart. Her own experience is grounded in contemplative prayer and practises. Understanding of personality modeling systems, such as the Enneagram and MBTI, can be helpful. She deeply desires to assist others in their processes of discernment, healing, and growing inner freedom. She also offers supervision for spiritual directors.

Deb has the following additional training: Certified Advanced Instructor with the Enneagram Spectrum Method — Jerome Wagner; Spiritual Direction Supervision Training — Lucy Abbott Tucker; and Focusing Training — Mary Anne Schleinich.

Deb lives on an acreage outside of Saskatoon, SK. Nature, the gifts of creation, the opportunity to spend time exploring outdoors, are deeply grounding to me. I’m an avid reader. She loves making deep connections with others, and enjoys a good belly laugh.

Training: SoulStream Art of Spiritual Direction, King’s Fold Retreat Centre in AB, 2009

deboraarndt@gmail.com

Diane offers Spiritual Companionship to seekers of any faith or no faith, any race or gender, including LGBTQ+, who are seeking a closer walk with the God of their understanding. People who are grieving loss of loved ones, health, youth, or hope are welcome.

Trained in End-of-Life companionship, Diane is learning how to offer a safe place to plan for a peaceful dying process and support for loved ones. Spiritual Yoga Therapy with breath, meditation and movement is an optional addition for care of body, mind, and spirit.

Diane considers it a privilege to accompany people on their spiritual journeys, not to direct but walking alongside, listening, and encouraging people to become more aware of our Ultimate Spiritual Director, who is with us always.

Training: Queen’s HouseSpiritual Direction Formation Program, 2020

waldbilligdiane@gmail.com