Becky Eldredge, author and founder and CEO of Ignatian Ministries, shares about her ministry of accompaniment:
We are a retreat house that comes to you! We accompany those seeking deeper waters of faith by offering retreats, prayer resources, professional development, spiritual direction, and community. Our vision is to renew the Church by forming leaders in the Ignatian way of prayer, discernment, and accompaniment.
Denise Gorss for Loyola Press: Why would someone want to go on a retreat via the Internet?
Becky Eldredge: Throughout the years, we have asked our retreatants why they like online retreats. They have given us many reasons, such as:
- Desiring accompaniment by a trusted guide. People are looking for a way to integrate Ignatian prayer tools and discernment wisdom in their lives. Our online Ignatian retreats provide people a path of prayer to use in their daily lives with the support of Ignatian spiritual directors and guides.
- Looking for a place to go deeper. Not every area has a retreat house or a spirituality center nearby. Our retreats provide a way for those who do not have this resource in their area to be accompanied.
- Caregiving of the young, sick, and elderly. Caregiving does not take away the desire to grow deeper in relationship with God, but it is hard to attend a retreat in person in some seasons of life.
- Work schedules and travel. It is not always feasible for someone to take time off to attend a retreat. Our retreats meet people in the reality of their lives, and we can journey with them no matter what their schedules.
- Finances. As costs rise, it is getting more expensive to attend retreats in person. Online retreats are more affordable.
DG: What does an online retreat entail?
BE: We have different types of online Ignatian retreats.
- Community retreats are four to eight weeks in length. They provide paths of daily prayer that lean on St. Ignatius’s wisdom of naming a daily grace, praying with Scripture using lectio divina or Ignatian contemplation, and reviewing prayer. They include a mix of guided audio prayers, some video reflections, and a printable prayer guide. Our community retreats have a community component built in with a community wall where people share what’s stirring in prayer and prayer calls where we gather to pray together and share the graces of the retreat. We have offered over two dozen community retreats since 2019, and we have an international community that has grown and knows each other.
- We host live retreats via Zoom. These are led by a trained Ignatian retreat facilitator and are typically three hours in length. They combine a mix of talk, guided prayer, silence, and small-group sharing. Examples in the past include a grief retreat on All Souls’ Day, Living with Christ, and a retreat on St. Ignatius’s life.
We also host courses on topics such as the fundamentals of Ignatian prayer and discernment. And we have a growing network of spiritual directors who can accompany someone virtually.
DG: What has been your experience journeying with people for online retreats?
BE: God continues to surprise us with accompanying people virtually. We know without a doubt that God can use an Internet connection to help people deeply know, love, and follow Christ. It brings tears to my eyes to think about who God has brought us to walk with in the last four years. We have sat with people who have a spouse with Alzheimer’s in a bed behind them and with young parents who have children crawling in their laps or held in their arms. We have met with people who are calling us from their homes, work, coffee shops, cars, and so much more. It is a beautiful way of going to the peripheries and giving people tools of Ignatian spirituality that many Jesuit retreat houses have shared with people for decades.
Online accompaniment in spiritual direction and retreats bears fruit in the same way an in-person retreat does. I know, because I do many in-person retreats each year also. We can reach people who may not show up in a retreat house or at a day of reflection at a parish. But we can bring the wisdom we know to others and help them know, love, follow, and serve Christ in their lives, which was the mission of Ignatius.
We can provide one-on-one accompaniment and also accompaniment of a group. We are able to foster a community of those who live and seek deep waters of faith. It is incredible to think of the connections people have made throughout the world!
DG: What opportunities can people look forward to from Ignatian Ministries in the fall and winter?
BE: Going Past the Shallows: The First Set of Rules of Discernment is a five-month online course I will be teaching starting August 28, 2024. We will take a deep dive into Ignatius’s first 14 rules of discernment.
Love and Freedom: The First Principle and Foundation is a community retreat starting September 15.
The Advent community retreat will be based on the promises of God.
Our three collectives for spiritual directors, pastoral care ministers, and retreat facilitators will meet this fall and winter.
Our community offers weekly prayer groups on Friday afternoons and Wednesday evenings.
Finally, our spiritual book club is currently reading Braving the Thin Places by Julianne Stanz, with discussions the last Tuesday of each month.