Tracey Hunt

I was brought up in a small Anglican church but my faith wasn’t enough to hold me when I went to university, so I started exploring other spiritualities.

That reading and exploration led me into “New Age” philosophies and the fringes of a cult. A realisation that it was the Eternal God of Christianity I longed for enabled me to make my way out of those beliefs and into evangelical faith.

I spent a number of years serving in a non-denominational church in Palmerston North and studying at BCNZ/Laidlaw College. After a lovely few years in Thailand with OMF doing missions work and teaching, I commenced work with Laidlaw College in Auckland where I also did a Masters in Theology. My thesis explored contemplative Christian spirituality.

I now enjoy doing spiritual direction alongside my day job and attend a Baptist church with my husband.

I see spiritual direction and leading retreats as an opportunity to take time out and focus on our relationship with God. We can do this through spiritual conversations, silence and creative processes.

Spiritual direction is a chance to “speak of what we know” (John 3.11) by sharing our personal stories, experiences and wonderings.

The gift in this is when we transform our head knowledge into heart knowing, our faith becomes more real and we start to realise how close God is to us in our everyday life. I am also interested in applying the contemplative spirituality of the 3rd century desert fathers and mothers to spiritual direction.