Methodist & Wesleyan Spiritual Direction

John Wesley understood something most church leaders have forgotten: real spiritual growth doesn't happen in Sunday services. It happens in small, honest, accountable relationships. His class meetings asked members one question every week: 'How is it with your soul?' That question — asked by someone who genuinely wants to know the answer — is the beating heart of spiritual direction.

If you grew up Methodist, you inherited a tradition that takes holiness seriously — not as perfection, but as the daily, grace-fueled process of becoming more like Christ. Spiritual direction is where that process gets personal. A director won't just ask if you've been reading your Bible. They'll ask what's happening in the silence. What you're avoiding. Where you sense God pulling you toward something new. It's Wesley's method applied to your actual life.

Steve Harper, Elaine Heath, and Trevor Hudson are among the Methodist voices calling the church back to this practice. They're making the case that spiritual direction isn't some import from another tradition — it's a recovery of what Wesley was already doing. The Wesleyan tradition has always been about going deeper. Spiritual direction is how you get there.