CCS Spiritual Directors Serving GTS

General Seminary Community Members: To schedule an appointment for spiritual direction with Louise Litke or Nigel Massey using the online scheduling system, click here. Barbara Crafton prefers to run her own calendar. Please email the Rev. K. Jeanne Person, Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality, to learn how to contact her.

Spiritual direction is about holy companionship as you grow in relationship with God. A spiritual director is someone with whom you can speak confidentially and honestly about your experiences of God, who will accompany you as you explore your spirituality, and to whom you can be accountable in your spiritual disciplines. A spiritual director will listen as you share your interior life, notice how God is present for you, teach and encourage you to try new ways of praying, and help you discern God’s good purposes for you.

GTS is blessed by the ministries of spiritual directors who regularly visit the Close. Any member of the GTS community—student, professor, staff member, or family member—is welcome to meet occasionally or regularly (usually once a month) with a spiritual director.

Spiritual Directors Who Minister to the GTS Community

Barbara Cawthorne Crafton is an Episcopal priest, spiritual director, author of many books, and adjunct professor for The Center for Christian Spirituality. She directs The Geranium Farm, an institute for spiritual growth that publishes her celebrated Almost Daily eMo, read worldwide. She is married to Richard Quaintance, better known to many simply as “Q”, a professor of English literature, and she is a grandmother. In 2012-13, Barbara will be on the Close most Tuesday afternoons and early evenings. She prefers to do her own scheduling. Please email the Rev. K. Jeanne Person, Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality, to learn how to contact her.

Louise Litke is a spiritual director and retreat leader in the greater New York metropolitan area and also a lay leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She earned her M.A. from General Seminary and has offered spiritual direction on the Close for many years. She lives on Long Island with her husband and two dogs. She is a master knitter and avid traveler. She has been known to read theological tomes on the long train ride into the city and mysteries on the way home at night. Someone once asked her if she could tell the difference. In 2012-13, Louise will be on the Close one week each month, Monday through Thursday. You may schedule appointments with her using the online scheduling system.

Nigel Massey was born in England and raised in Cyprus, where his father worked for the British Government. His ecclesiastical career is rich and varied, from serving in an inner-city parish in Birmingham, England, to working with the advisor on Hinduism to the former Archbishop of Canterbury, from studying Christian-Muslim relations to becoming the Chaplain to the Huguenot Society of America. Responding to a call for a French-speaking priest, Nigel became rector of the French Church of Saint Esprit in 1994. In 2012-13, Nigel will be on the Close on selected Thursday afternoons. You may schedule appointments with him using the online scheduling system. He will also be glad to meet with directees in his parish office at L'Église Française du Saint Ésprit, E. 60th St. at Park Avenue. To request an appointment at the parish location, please email the Rev. K. Jeanne Person, Director of the Center for Christian Spirituality, to request his contact information.

Westina Matthews is a spiritual director, retreat leader, author, and adjunct professor for The Center for Christian Spirituality. She is a graduate of the Spiritual Guidance Program at Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and also holds a doctorate in education. She is the author of the Have a Little Faith series of books and articles in such publications as Sacred Journey. She is a member of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City, where she serves on the vestry. In Easter 2013, Westina will be on the Close one weekend each month to meet with continuing directees.

The Rev. James Warnke is a spiritual director, retreat guide, and priest associate at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Englewood, NJ. He also continues his thirty-year clinical practice as a psychotherapist. Visually impaired, Jim has presented workshops, lectures, and keynote addresses on issues of mental health, blindness, and visual impairment, and continues to teach and writes on the topic. He is also a sixth-degree black belt and so can encourage spiritual discipline and mastery! Jim will not be offering spiritual direction in Easter 2013.

Keeping Your Appointment

Please record the date, day and time of your appointment in every calendar, and pray for the Spirit to guide you there! Keeping an appointment is a sign of respect for your director and a courtesy to others in the seminary community.

Financial Gifts to Support the Spiritual Direction Ministries

Spiritual Direction is a gift to everyone in the General Seminary comunity to encourage spiritual wellness. The seminary does offer the spiritual directors modest compensation and expense reimbursements for their ministries. If you wish to support their presence and make a free-will financial gift to the seminary in gratitude for the spiritual direction you receive, you may write a check payable to “General Theological Seminary” with the notation “Spiritual Directors” in the memo line. You may either give the check to the Institutional Advancement Office on the reception level of Seabury Hall or to to the Rev. K. Jeanne Person, in Seabury 302. Thank you!