Leanne Esch
I love creating spaces for people to meet with God.
The first spiritual experience I remember happened during a family camping trip to California when I was a kid. I was standing in a grove of majestic, peaceful Redwoods. As I closed my eyes and listened to the whooshing sound of the wind in the pines, I remember the unmistakable feeling that the presence of Love was there with me. In moments when God has been hard to see, often I reconnect with who God is through nature. I believe God is personal, loving, and available to all.
As a spiritual director, my desire is to create a peaceful, non-judgmental, compassionate space for you to explore who you are, who God is, and how you are uniquely made to be in the world. I welcome hard, unanswerable questions. I celebrate human resiliency and look for opportunities to illuminate unseen strength. I love to pray. I value diversity and seek awareness of my unseen biases. I am not afraid to hold pain and acknowledge I can’t fix it. I believe in the healing power of simple presence with another.
I completed a two-year spiritual direction training program through Shalem Institute in December of 2019. I am currently enrolled in Shalem Institute’s 18 month program, “Transforming Communities: Leading Contemplative Groups and Retreats.” Prior to pursuing spiritual direction as a vocation, I worked as a social worker and caregiver for seniors.
I love camping, writing, exploring, eating, and having fun. I enjoy cross-cultural experiences and love to travel to new places. I am entering into a new adventure of sharing songs I have written. You can find them on my website: www.leanneirene.com.
Leanne is available for spiritual direction in person or via Zoom.
John March
Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” Spiritual direction is a prayerful conversation where I join you in paying attention to the secret, hidden work of God in your life. Our tendency is to look for God exclusively in the spectacular and transcendent moments of life, but in reality, God is always with us. God’s grace is always coming to us. And God’s Spirit speaks to us in a variety of ways through the experiences of our ordinary lives. Learning to listen to God in spiritual direction typically involves paying attention to the hopes and fears, desires and dreams, and the frustrations and failings of our everyday journeys. When we do this, we enter deeper into the experience of God at work in and through us. I feel privileged to be able to sit with people in this sacred space with God.
Here’s a little bit about my journey with God. I grew up in Minnesota. I studied engineering in Boston. I spent a year as a missionary in Malawi. I met my wife and got married while in seminary at Gordon-Conwell where I earned an MDiv. Then, we returned to the Minneapolis area to start a church in 2009. It was this endeavor that awakened in me an awareness of my deep need to discover God in the ordinary everyday moments of life. Spiritual direction was the place where I learned how to do this. I have been offering spiritual direction to others since 2015. I completed a training program called Selah offered by Leadership Transformations.
John is available for spiritual direction in person, by phone or video conferencing.
Mary March
I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1)
I was born in Jersey City, NJ to Korean immigrant pastors that planted one of the first Korean churches in NJ. As a pastor’s kid, I experienced the highs and lows of pastoral ministry with my family and felt a call to ministry at an early age around soul care and mental health for pastors and ministry leaders. In joyous and difficult times in my life, I have sensed the kindness and presence of God, the Holy Spirit, and the way the Holy Spirit is with us always companioning us in our life’s journey and decisions. We serve a God who sees us and is journeying with us. As a spiritual director, I want to accompany you and provide a wide open space for you to become more aware and attentive to God’s invitation and presence in your life’s journey.
I am a spiritual director, pastor, church planter, therapist, life coach, and mentor to pastors and ministry leaders. I have taught and led soul care retreats and leadership cohorts for my denomination, churches, university campus ministries, youth leaders, and in other communities. I have a BA in Psychology and History from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Counseling in Marriage and Family Therapy from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I am in my second spiritual direction residency in the LTI’s Selah Spiritual Direction Program. My husband and I have served as college pastors in the Boston area and planted a church in the Minneapolis area in 2009. I serve as the Associate Director and Teaching Faculty for Next Frontiers at Westmont College.
Mary is available for spiritual direction in person, by phone, or via Zoom.
What gives me life: centering prayer, creating hospitable spaces for souls, cultivating joy, zip lining, sitting under a canopy of trees looking at the mountains and sky, cooking/eating Korean food, creative DIY projects, and playing the piano.
What does not give her life: pulling weeds, persistent woodpeckers, and repetitive acts of futility.