SERVING spiritual CAREGIVERS & POLITICIZED HEALERS.

For over 15 years, Still Harbor created training spaces and community-building opportunities for spiritual caregivers working toward collective liberation.

Our primary focus was on training spiritual directors and supporting them in their spiritual care practices. Through that work, we embraced the power of spiritual witness. Because in a world that can feel increasingly isolating, making space for intentional, embodied, spiritual connection is truly transformative.

We have been proud to be part of social movements that honor the lineages and legacies of spiritually-rooted liberation workers, peace makers, and justice seekers. Movements that seeks to transform the social landscape of the world we have inherited into something worth passing on to future generations. Movements that go by many names, which we call “Collective Liberation.”

>> WE DEFINE COLLECTIVE LIBERATION INTENTIONALLY

The only way all of us will get free is through each other. The legacies and practices of the Spiritualities of Liberation, Abolition Movement, Healing Justice Movement, and Transformative Justice Movement informed the work of Still Harbor.

>> WE DEFINE SPIRITUALITY BROADLY

We define spirituality broadly as one's connection to the self, relationship with the other, and the sacred (truth /mystery /unknown /God /G-d /Allah /that which connects us all). We engage people across faith and non-faith traditions promoting the notion that spiritual formation is essential for leading change.

>> WE CREATE CAPACITY FOR LIBERATIVE WORK

Organizers, activists, and spiritual care providers are not always asked to show up as our full selves. Often, whether it be from ourselves or those around us, we are expected to be “on” at all times, always have the “right” things to say, and to be ready to say “yes” to every action, every ritual, or every need from those we are supporting. We are expected to “witness” every act of injustice, even when we don’t have the capacity to be present.

Spiritual accompaniment invites us to be the one who is witnessed. We learn how to be seen and heard. We learn how to feel connected with someone who appreciates and sees us without judgement. By allowing ourselves to be witnessed in a spiritual accompaniment relationship, we are building our own capacity to witness ourselves, our growth, and our needs without judgement. We are also building our capacity to witness the reality of our work, to make meaning while we build movements, and have the capacity to be responsive to our commitments and communities.

>> WE BELIEVE SPIRITUAL CARE SETS US FREE

The path of transforming our world to be a more just, liberative, and thriving place is a spiritual path. Whether coming from a faith or non-faith perspective, spirituality is essential in creating our capacity to embody liberative work. By working with the deep-rooted beliefs, values, and practices that guide us in our movement for liberation, we can open up more fully, be more present, and use our agency to live into our call in this transforming world.

This is why spiritual care matters. Spiritual care is about cultivating our inner capacities, offering nourishment and presence to our communities, and honoring that which connects us all on the long path towards liberation.

Spiritual Direction Practicum

Spiritual direction is essential to the quest for justice and peace in our world. For years, Still Harbor trained emerging and experienced spiritual leaders committed to collective liberation through a formative nine-month program. Though discontinued in 2024, this unique program has trained dozens of spiritual directors to offer transformative care to others—the impact of which continues to ripple on.

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What is Spiritual Direction?

Spiritual direction is the process of contemplative listening carried out in the context of a one-to-one trusting and confidential relationship. A trained spiritual director journeys with another person, listening to that person’s life story with attention to the movement of the spirit or sacred, offering supportive responses as appropriate and encouraging reflection about new paths of growth. In contrast to the shorter-term care provided by chaplains, spiritual directors typically support people on a long-term basis through the ebbs and flows of their lives.

What was the spiritual direction Practicum?

Still Harbor’s nine-month Spiritual Direction Practicum taught people how to be spiritual directors. The virtual program focused on teaching participants with many religious and spiritual backgrounds and identities the practical skills they need to offer spiritual direction to others, typically in one-on-one settings.

The program curriculum included readings, group discussion, written assignments, self-reflection and contemplative practice. Still Harbor’s program was set apart by its lack of affiliation with any one religious tradition, its practice-based training, and its orientation toward and experience in accompanying those working for collective liberation.

Centering Queer & Trans Leadership

The Still Harbor Spiritual Direction Practicum was queer and trans led. Still Harbor centered queer and trans leadership in order to tend to the spiritual needs of queer and trans people and to resist anti-queer, anti-trans rhetoric, policies, and spiritual abuse.

Affinity Group-Based Learning

Affinity groups were a key part of the practicum. Students were invited into either a white accountability group or a BIPOC affinity group as part of their learning journey.

Additional Program Components

The nine-month practicum consisted of:

Live Virtual Classes: Twice monthly experiential sessions on Zoom including small and large group work, contemplation and reflection, individual presentations, and one-on-one practice sessions.
Reflection: Course readings, a reflection paper on political and spiritual lineages, and two papers about practice sessions to help participants integrate their experiential learning with other teachings.
Spiritual Direction Practice and Supervision: Participants offered spiritual direction to three clients with supervision from Still Harbor instructors in March through May of the program year.
Spiritual Practice: Continued development of a life of spiritual practice, ritual creation, and contemplation as well as discernment of the call to the work of spiritual direction.

2023-2024 practicum instructors

Marchaé Grair (they/she) is Still Harbor’s Director of Programs. Marchaé designs curriculum for and co-teaches Still Harbor’s Spiritual Direction Practicum. They are a spiritual director, workshop designer, storyteller, public speaker, and facilitator engaging hearts and minds at the intersections of spirituality and collective liberation. Marchaé was raised Pentecostal (Church of God and Christ) and later attended a United Church of Christ congregation. They are unaffiliated with any tradition but still love creating spiritual community and singing gospel music on Sunday mornings. They are proud to be Black, queer, nonbinary, anxious, and polyamorous. She would describe her inner soundtrack as a combination of gospel music, her grandmother’s prayers, Maya Angelou’s writing, and her karaoke greatest hits.

Rev. Molly Bolton (she/her, they/them) is a spiritual director, grief group facilitator, and poet who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Eastern Cherokee Land. She is ordained by the United Church of Christ and served as a staff chaplain at Cleveland Clinic for six years. Molly holds a Master of Divinity from Wake Forest School of Divinity and a Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary. Molly is a weekly liturgist for Liturgy that Matters, a project of enfleshed, and is invested in expansive language as a tool for consolation and liberation. Molly loves swimming holes, porch sits, feminist romance novels, and water Zumba at the Rec Center. Learn more about their work at revmollybolton.com.

Testimonials

“Thanks for an amazing experience, it's hard to put into words how grateful I am to you for this source of joy in a challenging year.”
- JM Longworth, Practicum Class of 2022
“First of all, it was such a relief to find a spiritual direction program that was led and curated by Q/POC. I'd been wanting to be certified for at least five years, but just couldn't bring myself to join a program that was so influenced by whiteness--or, for that matter, contemplative Christianity… So to be in a program that is open to a multitude of traditions and practices (ex: dancing! To *good* music!), and more importantly, doesn't push an expectation that we have to meet a certain standard (rather, it's okay to be exactly where/how we are from day to day), normalized allowing ourselves to just BE human. I never felt pressure to perform here and felt as if the whole group was willing to bring themselves to the table, even in our differences. And I learned a lot! I also made good friends through the program, so thank you for that!”
- Jasmin Figueroa, Practicum Class of 2022
“This was an extremely difficult year with layers upon layers of trauma. I appreciated that being part of this program was not an added stress, but rather it felt like a gift and a safe place to land in the midst of the month. The ways that the value of collective liberation were taught, discussed and modeled was also so appreciated and refreshing. Thank you.”
- Danielle Humphreys, Practicum Class of 2021