Spiritual Direction is an ongoing process that explores what your experience of God is like, how you are hearing God’s voice in your life (or not), and what apprenticeship to Jesus looks like where you are right now. Spiritual Direction is about growing in awareness of and intimacy with God to live well and rightly in God’s Kingdom right where you are.

Bill lives with his wife, Missy, in Evansville, Indiana, where he serves as the adult spiritual growth director at Crossroads Christian Church. They have three young-adult children, Elisa, David, and Ross. Bill has been involved in church planting in Ukraine, New York City, and Charlotte, NC. He recently completed his training in Spiritual Direction through Lipscomb University and takes great joy in participating with what the Holy Spirit is doing in someone’s life. He loves the ministry of presence and walking with those who are seeking to see and understand more deeply their spiritual journey and their identity as a child of God.

Murphy lives in Joplin, Missouri with his wife Tasha and two children, Evelynn and Atticus where he serves as the Director of Coaching and Spiritual Direction with TRAIN International as well as a trainer for Coaching Mission International and Adjunct Professor of Spiritual Direction at Ozark Christian College. He is a professionally-trained coach, a spiritual director, and has served in churches of many different shapes and sizes. Murphy loves to walk with people in the middle of major life transitions, in the midst of faith and discipleship struggle, and those who want to explore what an interactive life with God can look like.

Missy currently lives in Auburn, Alabama with her husband, Matt and two sons, Jonah and Elijah. Over the years she has taught elementary school, worked as a relationship coach, worked as a professional counselor, as a minister’s wife, and is currently a spiritual director. Missy and her husband, along with a few other families, helped plant a church in their own backyard during the pandemic in 2020 by reaching out to their neighborhood. Missy received a MA in Christian Spiritual Formation and Leadership from Friends University in 2020 and is certified as a spiritual director through Sustainable Faith. She loves journeying with others in their walk with God and seeing the movement of God in others’ lives.

Wendy has three adult children and currently lives in Joplin, Missouri with her husband Jason and her goldendoodle, Pippin. She is employed as the Education Program Coordinator with Renovaré and assists in facilitating the Renovaré Institute, a two year training in Spiritual Formation. She received a BA in Psychology from the University of North Texas and a MA in Spiritual Formation as well as a Certification in Spiritual Direction from Portland Seminary. Wendy’s approach to spiritual formation is to offer a welcoming space for discernment and curiosity, walking alongside people as they navigate the joys and struggles of life with God.

Leah enjoys walking alongside groups and individuals, inviting others into deepening intimacy and experience with God. She seeks to welcome Christ’s belovedness that dwells within each of us and to listen with boldness and grace. Boldness to silence the voices of the enemy and grace to listen for and invite the voice of the Beloved. Her love for exploring wild places leads her to venture into wild and beautiful places both in creation and in the wilderness places within our own souls. Leah joins our spiritual direction faculty with 20+ years of ministry experience, working with youth, college students, ministry leaders, missionaries, and more. She currently lives in a cabin in the Ozark hills of Southern Missouri with her husband, Nick, and their two cats, Garlic and Onion.

Danielle Wheeler lives in Carl Junction, Missouri with her husband Aaron and their four children Ellie, Aiden, Titus, and Eva. She is the founder of Velvet Ashes, a non-profit organization for women serving cross-culturally and currently serves as their director for spiritual development. She is an OCC alumni, a trained spiritual director, was a missionary for a number of years in Asia, and also knows what it is to serve the American church as a minister’s wife. It is her joy to walk with people who long for more in their spiritual life, who desire to experience what it means to be with God and hear from God.

Sara currently lives in Webb City, Missouri with her husband Shane and their family. They have two children at home—Maddox and Robert, and two in college—Zion and Paige. For more than 25 years Sara has served the church in a variety of ways as a pastor, lay leader, and volunteer. Currently, Sara works as a hospital chaplain and spiritual director. She spends a lot of her time with people experiencing crises and major life transitions. Her deepest passion is to accompany and hold space for pastors and leaders as they navigate their calling and discern what it means to grow and thrive as they build the Kingdom of God and journey alongside people.