Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius / GROUP Format / Sept 2025 - May 2026

Led by Susan Phillips, PhD & Sharon Henthorn-Iwane

The Spiritual Exercises were developed by Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century. They offer a structure to daily living which elicits and encourages experiences of an ongoing relationship with God. The Exercises include learning to pray with our imagination and how to enter into the stories of Jesus so they intersect with our own lives.

The commitment includes weekly sessions of group spiritual direction (Thursdays, 9:30-11:30am) and monthly individual spiritual direction (30 min sessions), as well as attendance at two optional retreats. Retreatants will also commit to daily prayer.

If you are interested in this program, please email Susan Phillips at susansandersphillips@gmail.com to arrange a preliminary interview.

Program Tuition: $1500 for the program year, September 2025 to May 2026

If the tuition presents a financial hardship or you need to discuss payment arrangements, please reach out to the Registrar at info@newcollegeberkeley.org.

About the Leaders

A spiritual director and professor of sociology and Christian spirituality, Susan Phillips earned a Ph.D. in sociology at U.C. Berkeley and served as the Executive Director of New College Berkeley from 1994 to 2022. Susan has taught for many years for the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley), Fuller Theological Seminary, Regent College (Canada), and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Her books, like her teaching, explore the intersection of Christian spirituality and social science, and include the award-winning Crisis of Care: Affirming and Restoring Caring Practices in the Helping Professions, Candlelight: Illuminating the Art of Spiritual Direction, and The Cultivated Life: From Ceaseless Striving to Receiving Joy. Susan loves listening to people as they pray and seek the Holy in spiritual direction, retreats, and everyday life.

Sharon Henthorn-Iwane is a spiritual director and iconographer. She has over thirty years of experience leading others in prayer. Sharon spent ten years working in campus ministry as a prayer specialist. Sharon began her iconography journey studying with master iconographer Charles Rohrbacher in 2004 and has apprenticed with him since. You can see some examples of her work here. In 2018, Sharon completed a three-year course to become an Ignatian spiritual director through the Pierre Favre program and has been active since in private practice and with staff positions at New College and Church Without Walls Berkeley.