Way Station Spiritual Development was founded by Andrew Richey, a mystic, poet, and spiritual director from Southern California who has spent the majority of his adult life in religiously diverse contexts in Asia.

Andrew’s training in spiritual direction was completed at Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA) as part of his doctoral studies in spiritual formation.

What is spiritual direction, you ask? It is the primary reflective practice that serves as the heartbeat of all of Way Station Spiritual Development’s offerings. And ironically, spiritual direction isn’t very directive at all.

“Directors” don’t offer their “directees” advice or prescribe particular behaviors nearly as often as they offer the gifts of wholehearted presence, undivided attention, and compassionate listening. They offer a safe space in which the soul can, as Howard Thurman once said, “run the risk of radical exposure and know that the eye that beholds my vulnerability will not step on me.” For in the sacred space of spiritual direction, questions are welcomed every bit as much as answers, doubts as much as certainties, failures as much as triumphs.

Perhaps the only thing that gets “directed” in spiritual direction is our attention. Direction, then, is a rhythm and practice in which we pay attention to the presence and invitation of the great Mystery we dare call God that is constantly being mediated to us through the stuff of our everyday lives.