I stared at the last sentence of the short bio I had been asked to write:

“Karen is the Founder and Executive Vice President of Chabereth Ministries, Inc., where she is appointed to be in ministry as a spiritual director.”

“Wow!” I thought, “The dream is becoming a reality!” How had it all happened? What brought this to be?

    As I prepared to leave for two months of formational and spiritual growth leave following the deaths of my youngest son and husband, a friend handed me a journal with instructions to write my goals and dreams. I wrote:

    “Do I even dare to dream?  O Lord God, I haven’t even been able to grieve — how can I dream?”

But in less than a month there is an entry that reads:

“Perhaps the first dream is to begin the healing. But tonight I have remembered another dream that still has appeal — to explore spiritual direction”

    I had always described my call to ministry as a call to help people develop a closer relationship to Jesus. I had read anything I could get my hands on about spirituality and the ministry of spiritual direction and prayer. I had listened intently and with envy as an Episcopal colleague described her training at Shalem. But my family and ministry responsibilities precluded pursuing more education or training. But the interest persisted.

    The grief counselor from Delaware Hospice visited me after I returned from my spiritual growth leave. I told him about my “dream.”

    “There is a wonderful program at Neumann College in Aston, Pennsylvania. You might look into that.” he said. Within two months, I had indeed looked into it — and applied and been accepted in the Master’s of Science in Spiritual Direction at Neumann. The whole process had been surrounded by a tentative sense of curiosity, and awe.

    As appointment time rolled around, consultation with my Bishop and District Superintendent led to plans to take a sabbatical leave. The Bishop even expanded the dream a little and suggested the possibility of a full time appointment to spiritual direction if that was what I felt God calling me to. “Who knows what will become of all this?” I wrote in my journal. "It had been less than six months since the death of my husband."

    My experience at Neumann was wonderful! Being in class was both academically stimulating and like being on retreat! I experienced God’s healing presence in profound ways and began to struggle with the discernment of what God was calling me to do NOW. I recognized that I wanted to be a spiritual director but that there are many ways of living that out. My awareness of the spiritual director role of a pastor was heightened. However, my own experience as a pastor had taught me that the many responsibilities of being a pastor limited the possibilities of working with individuals in deeper ways on a continuing basis. I was also aware that wanting to be a spiritual director was not exactly the same as being called to be a spiritual director.

    Meanwhile, another appointment process was about to begin. What did I want to request of the Conference Cabinet? There were more classes to be taken at Neumann, but the financial realities of not having an appointment to a church were larger than life. A colleague suggested that it would be helpful to have an appointment that could serve as a bridge to what God was calling me to do — look into possible part-time positions in ministry i.e.: a chaplaincy or a teaching position. This would give me more time for the discernment process. She also suggested some ideas to investigate in terms of financial help. Was there any possibility that my Conference could figure a way for my health insurance to remain in place without additional cost to me?

    Upon inquiry, I discovered that if I was appointed to attend school, my Conference would continue to pay for my health insurance. Several individuals began to seek spiritual counsel from me. In the meantime — all doors to teaching positions and chaplaincy type positions seemed to be closed. One morning in my quiet time, the inspiration came to me to write up a proposal for the position of Spiritual Director for my Conference. So I did. Basically, the proposal suggested that since pastors are spiritual directors for their congregations, it was necessary to provide the opportunity to for them to facilitate their own spiritual well-being by offering them spiritual direction. On the advice of my District Superintendent, I sent copies to the Conference Resource Director and my Bishop. Not long after that, I had a conversation with someone who doing just that kind of ministry in the Lutheran Church. She suggested that perhaps I could seek some grants for financial support. She asked if I knew anyone who wrote grants. Indeed I did, and when I asked him if he would be interested in helping me, he said he would be glad to! However, the Conference told me it was a nice idea but there were no funds available for such a position.

    I sought the counsel of another friend and colleague, Jonathan Baker. He asked some very compelling questions — pressing me to make sure that I was not running away from something by not returning to a parish. Thinking “outside the box”, He suggested that if I was appointed to attend school, he would be willing to create space and staffing relationships at Aldersgate UMC where he was the senior pastor. After much prayer and several more conversations, I requested an appointment to attend school while working on a volunteer basis at Aldersgate UMC and meeting individuals in spiritual direction as a part of Neumann’s curriculum Practicum experience.

   The “dream” that had once been a seed of thought was germinating and a plan began to emerge: a “bridge” appointment to attend school while working on a volunteer basis at Aldersgate UMC and beginning to build a private practice of Spiritual Direction, and eventually an appointment to a ministry of spiritual direction that I would establish. I wrote in my journal: “This whole idea is exciting and scary!”

    Another conversation with my Bishop brought the recommendation that I incorporate a ministry of Spiritual Direction. A Board of Directors to hold me accountable was a requirement for such an appointment and, the Bishop thought, would make getting a grant easier. My grant-writing friend, Bob Hall, Director of the Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families, willingly and skillfully guided me through the incorporation process. In a time of prayer and devotion the name for a ministry came to me: Chabereth Ministries. Chabereth is a Hebrew word meaning companion.

    Another friend, Brother David Schlatter, who was then Director of the Franciscan Center in Wilmington, had all kinds of ideas and support for Chabereth Ministries. He even offered some financial help with getting brochures printed. He advised a six week course in the spring and the fall that could introduce the ministry of spiritual direction.  Within a few days, an outline for a six week course called Intersect began to emerge. I began working on designing a brochure and asking friends if they would serve on my Board of Directors.

    June 16, 2003 I met with my first directee for the first time. In January of 2004, Chabereth Ministries was incorporated. On May 15, 2004 I graduated from Neumann College with a Master’s of Science in Spiritual Direction degree. July 1, 2004 I began my appointment to Chabereth Ministries, Inc. Finances are still a concern for Chabereth Ministries, but the ministry is growing.  I now meet with fifteen directees one-on-one and have taught my Intersect course twice a year.