A weekend apart that transforms pastors to change the world
providing a place to retreat and seek encouragement and healing
Spiritual Directors
A spiritual director provides a safe, confidential, non-judgmental space of listening and wondering so that a person can freely explore and notice the way their relationship with God is unfolding and better appreciate that unfolding and respond to God. A director has no agenda in mind for you other than to meet you where you are and be your companion in your journey with God.
Dr. Robert Lively
Retired Professor of History
Southern Nazarene University
OKC, OK
Dr. Lively retired from Southern Nazarene University in 2015 after 35 years of teaching History and Politics. His PhD is in American History and he remains an Emeritus Professor at SNU, teaching part-time. Dr. Lively is a graduate of the spiritual direction program at the HeartPaths Spirituality Center in Oklahoma City and has been a spiritual director for seven years. He is also a faculty member at HeartPaths and has led groups in contemplative prayer practices.
Dr. Sue Ann Lively
Retired Professor of Adult Learning
Southern Nazarene University
OKC, OK
Dr. Lively was a professor at Southern Nazarene University for 36 years. Her doctorate is in adult education, with emphasis on adult learning and communication. She trained for three years at the HeartPaths Spirituality Center in Oklahoma City to be a spiritual director; she is starting her 9th year as a spiritual director. As a faculty of HeartPaths, she has led groups in contemplative prayer practices and the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius.
Rev. Lisa Sanders
Children's Pastor
OKC First Church of the Nazarene
Lisa enjoys the art of Christian listening, where God creates a special place of sitting open in his presence. She loves to cultivate an openness and responsiveness to the Spirit's presence in our lives. She was certified as a spiritual director through HeartPaths of OKC, and has served as Children's Pastor at OKC 1st Church of the Nazarene for 20 years.
Rev. Dr. Bob Gardenhire
Retired Methodist Minister
OKC, OK
Dr. Gardenhire is a trained therapist/pastoral counselor. He is the founding Director of HeartPaths OKC/DFW through which he has been training and supervising spiritual directors since 1982.
Rev. Kathy Weaver
Christian (Disciples of Christ) Minister
OKC, OK
Kathy is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.) She is a trained Spiritual Director through HeartPaths in Oklahoma City. Kathy is a third-carreer minister, having worked in accounting, oil and gas, and mortgage banking before heeding God's call to ministry.
Rev. Jason Smith
Associate Pastor
OKC First Church of the Nazarene
OKC, OK
Jason is the Associate Pastor at Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene, where he has served for 20 years. He is a certified spiritual directer through the Heartpaths organization. His experience with Heartpaths led him to a greater understand of himself and his life in Christ. Learning to listen to God was a transformative experience for him and being trained to listen to others in the art of spiritual direction has been a gift. Jason enjoyed his experience at Southern Nazarene University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Theology and Ministry as well as his Master's degree in Theology. Jason is married to Katie and they have two girls, McCall and Berkley. He is an avid sports fan and loves to golf.
Sharon Dikes
Spiritual Director
OKC, OK
Sharon is a wife, mother, grandmother retired home educator and a trained spiritual director with Heart Paths of Oklahoma City. She has co-led classes in contemplative prayer practices as part of the Heart Paths faculty and continues her own practice of spiritual direction.
Eric Jergensen
Software Engineer
OKC, OK
Eric completed the three-year Heartpaths OKC curriculum in the spring of 2014. He had been drawn to contemplative practices in order to expand prayer beyond merely giving God advice he didn't need about things He already knew. Eric found a rich, vibrant, and challenging experience that transformed his experience of God and the people He loves from a flat, monochromatic picture into a colorful, dynamic, multidimensional living tapestry. Eric now treasures the experience of walking alongside God's beloved children as they experience the "for better and for worse" of relating to God, His Kingdom, and His people.
Steven Vargas
Retired Air Traffic Controller
OKC, OK
Steve began his five-year spiritual formation for Spiritual Direction in the fall of 2012. He received his certification for Spiritual Direction in 2016. Steve is a member of the Catholic parish of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Steve retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1994 with twenty-one and a half years as an Air Traffic Controller. He then went on to work for the Federal Aviation Administration and retired in 2018. Steve has been married over forty years to his high school sweetheart, Nancy, and has two daughters and two granddaughters. He is a graduate of Oklahoma City University with a degree in accounting.
Christa Midkiff
Spiritual Director
OKC, OK
Christa is a wife, mother, and grandmother (a young one, big smile!)
In the past, she studied architecture and designed homes for a living so she is still interested in habitats. She grew up in the city of Houston but she's lived in many environments, including spending a year in a barren landscape, 4.5 miles from any other home. She loves to entertain.
Formally, she complete her three year spiritual direction training program in 2009 from the Heartpaths Spirituality Center in Oklahoma City. She has been practicing spiritual direction ever since. In 2011, she joined the staff at Heartpaths to help facilitate the first and second years' classes. In 2014, she left this position to serve on staff as Pastor of Spiritual Formation at a local church. My ongoing training includes participating in Spiritual Director's International and two one year programs entitled, Ignatius Transposed, a program that combines the teaches if St. Ignatius and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In 2018, she began attending the Academy for Spiritual Formation, a two year program sponsored by the Upper Room.
During Spiritual direction, she believes that you and God are doing the work. She is there to hold space, helping listen for the movement of God in your life, and lift you in prayer
Rev. Diana Pruitt
Pastor, First United Methodist
Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
Diana is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. Within the ministry of the local church, Diana most enjoys leading Bible studies and worship. She has a passion for spiritual direction and pastoral care, as well as work with the mentoring program for at-risk children of the community and with the local food pantry. She has been involved for many years with ministry at Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center, Emmaus, and Kairos/Torch Ministries. Diana holds a B.S. from Oklahoma State University, an M.Div from Phillips Theological Seminary, and has attended the Leadership and Spiritual Formation program through Portland Seminary/George Fox University. Before transitioning to full time ministry, Diana worked as a legal assistant/business manager for law firms in Oklahoma City and Dallas.
Diana enjoys reading, singing, playing the piano and guitar, long walks with her "furry girls Joy and Holly," and listening to all genres of music and hiking.
Rev. Torrey Curtis
Retired United Methodist Pastor
Weatherford, OK
Torrey, a retired Methodist pastor living in Weatherford, Oklahoma, served urban and rural churches in Oklahoma and Mississippi during 36 years of ordained ministry. His undergraduate degree in geology at Millsaps was followed by an MDiv and an MSM from Southern Methodist University. After retirement, he returned to SMU for a two year program to receive certification as a spiritual director from Perkins School of Theology.
Torrey was married for 35 years before his wife's death. He is father to a son and daughter and grandfather to twins. He enjoys photography and travel, having visited six continents and all 50 states, and tries to keep fit by swimming a mile a day or walking four.