photo by Nick Wilkes Photography
“Listen and attend with the ear of your heart.”
– Saint Benedict of Nursia
We all need companions on the spiritual journey. A spiritual guide is someone who helps you attend to God’s presence in your life. You might come to spiritual guidance to reflect deeply on your experiences or to integrate spirituality into your daily life. Spiritual guidance is helpful at times of transition, loss or disillusionment.
Spiritual guides are trained and experienced in helping others with their spiritual lives. Distinct from counseling, the goal of spiritual guidance is not to solve life’s problems, but rather to increase awareness of how God is already active in your life. At Holy Wisdom we suggest a $75 fee for an hour session with a spiritual guide. A sliding scale is available for anyone who may need assistance.
The particular shape, frequency and length of a spiritual guidance relationship is a personal choice. Before engaging a spiritual guide, consider these questions:
- Is it essential that your guide have a background in a particular faith tradition?
- Would you feel more comfortable talking with a woman or a man?
- How often do you wish to meet with your spiritual guide?
Meet our spiritual guides
All of our spiritual guides are trained and experienced in spiritual guidance.
Mary Alberts
Mary has welcomed seekers since completing the Spiritual Guidance Training Program at the Siena Center in 2006. Mary, who practiced for many years as a massage therapist, believes including body awareness in a soul work session can promote healing insight. This is especially true for those who have lost connection to or suffered via the body. Mary is adept at working with those in creative process. She is also fluent in the particular language and meanings of dreams. A longtime student of the Enneagram, Mary is a proponent of its spiritual uses. Wife, mother, and grandmother, she is also an oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Mary spends January through early April at her home in sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Becky Baumbach
Becky is an interfaith, interspiritual guide who is certified through the Spiritual Guidance Training Institute and feels called to companion people on life’s often difficult journey. She brings to the guidance relationship a Pure Presence model of listening with the whole self. Through her own spiritual formation, she has come to appreciate the Oneness of a God of Love and many spiritual paths into relationship with the Spirit. Her training in many faith traditions, her Christian roots, appreciation for many of the Buddhist teachings on joy and suffering, and her current involvement in a UCC faith community have given her a broad background to meet seekers wherever they are spiritually. It is from her sensitive heart and an open mind that she holds space for individuals who desire a companion on their life’s spiritual path. Becky has experience with divorce, infertility, LBGTQ+, retirement, grief, life transitions, religious trauma, and aging issues. Because she believes that in each guidance session there are 3 hearts present – the seeker, her own, and the Spirit, she has named her practice, Third Heart Spiritual Guidance. Prior to her retirement, her fulltime career was in social work and community college administration.
Marianne Cotter
I grew up in Madison and have served as a pastor in two different denominations: Unitarian Universalist and United Methodist. Spiritual formation has always been a passion of mine. My training includes a two-year long Academy for Spiritual Formation sponsored by The Upper Room (a part of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship). In July 2023, I completed the three-year Spiritual Direction Preparation Program sponsored by the Franciscan Spirituality Center in La Crosse, WI. I bring many years of experience in spiritual disciplines and contemplative practices to my work as a spiritual director. These include meditation, centering prayer, journaling, scripture study, receiving spiritual direction, attending and leading retreats and walking in nature. I am a climate activist in my local community, and also enjoy exploring the sacred feminine. It is my joy to offer myself as a spiritual guide at Holy Wisdom Monastery.
Tim Dean
Tim has served as a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) for nearly 30 years, yet deeply appreciates and honors the diversity of faiths including those who identify as “seekers” without a specific tradition. Tim is a 2023 graduate of the Spiritual Guidance Program of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. He has deep and long-standing connections at Holy Wisdom Monastery, including Sunday Assembly and the Center for Clergy Renewal. He welcomes and wholeheartedly affirms the gifts, relationships and callings of LGBTQIA+ people. In spiritual guidance, Tim enjoys accompanying others in discovering, naming and being open to the mysterious loving presence arising within and around them. His own spiritual journey has been formed through pastoral ministry, reading, nature, racial justice ministry, music and silence. Tim is open to providing spiritual guidance in person, by phone or through zoom.
Carole Kretschman
“The Truth is One, the Paths are Many” was the name of a speech I heard in the early 90s. The title resonated within me to be deeply true. My faith tradition of origin is Roman Catholic. I am an oblate at Holy Wisdom Monastery and a member of Sunday Assembly. Centering prayer meditation, Benedictine values and the spiritual practice of the twelve steps are the basis of my adult formation. I look forward to exploring the work of the spirit between us.
Christina Roberts
Hi, I’m Christina Roberts. I offer spiritual guidance for those curious about spiritual rhythms/practices, as well as those seeking space to unpack outdated beliefs and questions. I co-host a podcast, The Contemplative Life, as a way to introduce contemplative living in our modern world. My faith background is Greek Orthodox and I hold degrees in Organizational Leadership & Development and Theology. I served as an ordained pastor for two decades. I am available to meet in person or Zoom. I also offer walking sessions with those who prefer moving instead of sitting.
Chris Roberts
Heather Schmidt
Heather’s Spiritual Guidance practice rests in deep, slow, delightful, holy listening to the presence of Divine Love in our midst, in the moment, and in all things. Heather has been formed as a contemplative Spiritual Guide at the Shalem Institute of Spiritual Formation, as a Benedictine Oblate at the Holy Wisdom Monastery, and as a student of Wisdom. She is an author, poet, and singer-songwriter and brings this artist’s heart into her guidance practice. She is a parent, partner, dog mom, lover of silence, listener to the natural world, and an intuitive teacher and facilitator. She and her husband operate a small organization in Milwaukee called A Moment of Retreat (AMOR), which provides access to spiritual guidance and care across socioeconomic and racial divisions. Heather brings prayerfulness, presence, and a steady trust in the work of the Holy to all that she does and is available for guidance sessions in person, virtual, or by phone.
Spiritual guidance provides companionship for
the spiritual journey
What to expect
In spiritual guidance sessions, it is essential to trust your instincts and to remain open. Your guide may introduce new methods of prayer or forms of expression, such as journaling or drawing. They will ask you to speak honestly and they will be responsive to your unique spiritual path.
Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, guidance can help you notice and respond to God’s presence, deepening your connection to the sacred.
Making an appointment
There is a suggested fee of $75 for a one-hour spiritual guidance session. A sliding scale is available for those who may need assistance.
Spiritual guides at Holy Wisdom Monastery are available by appointment made in advance. For more information contact our volunteer spiritual guidance coordinator, Heather Schmidt, at heather@amomentofretreat.com
Individuals on personal retreats may want to meet with a spiritual guide while at Holy Wisdom Monastery. This can be noted on the Availability Inquiry for guest rooms and hermitages.