The Ignatian Journey Cohort will be offered this Fall 2025 at B-Still Ranch near Gainesville, Texas. This group will be specifically for Spiritual Directors and spiritual formation leaders who are committed to taking a 32-week journey in community through The Ignatian Journey: A Contemporary Approach to the Spiritual Exercises. Each week of material will lead through the themes of the Exercises as they are presented in The Ignatian Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life by Kevin O’Brien, SJ. Taking into account different learning styles and spiritual pathways, The Ignatian Journey offers additional weekly content including prayers and poems, reading, teaching, videos, and art that has been specifically curated to enhance the experience of the Exercises. The weekly content will be available online as well as in a 6-volume hard copy that will be included in the cost of the cohort.
In the Introduction to The Ignatian Adventure, Kevin O'Brien says,
“The purpose of the Exercises is very practical: to grow in union with God, who frees us to make good decisions about our lives and to ‘help souls.’ Ignatius invites us into an intimate encounter with God, revealed in Jesus Christ, so that we can learn to think and act more like Christ. The Exercises help us grow in interior freedom from sin and disordered loves so that we can respond more generously to God’s call in our life (SE 2, 21). The Exercises demand much of us, engaging our intellect and emotions, our memory and will. Making the Exercises can be both exhilarating and exhausting; it’s no wonder that Ignatius compared making the Spiritual Exercises to doing physical exercise, such as ‘taking a walk, traveling on foot, and running.’ (SE 1)”
sample of Weekly Content
The 9-month cohort experience will consist of 4 retreats which will meet on the following dates:
September 11-13, 2025 December 11-13, 2025 March 12-14, 2026 June 11-13, 2026
Location B-Still Ranch
Just east of Gainesville, Texas. 55 min. north of DFW Airport.
https://https://www.bstillministries.org/
Each retreat begins on Thursday at 5:00pm and ends on Saturday at 12:00pm. Room reservations at B-Still Ranch have already been confirmed for Thursday and Friday nights for each retreat.
The retreats will be led by Cheri Hudspith and Lori Shoults.
Required Books (included in cost)
The Ignatian Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life by Kevin O'Brien, SJ
Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard by Trevor Hudson
The cost for the Cohort is in three parts:
Program Cost: $1800 which includes the required books, online access to the Ignatian Journey course, and a 6-volume hard copy of the weekly content (a $400 value). A $400 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your space. The remaining balance of $1400 is due September 1 or choose 4 equal payments of $350, due September 1, December 1, March 1, and June 1.
Housing Cost: Individual donations can be made at each retreat by going to the B-Still Ministries website. When asked, $75-$100/night has been the suggested amount.
Meal Cost: Each small group will provide and prepare meals for one retreat which includes one lunch and one dinner on Friday.
According to Gerald M. Fagin in Putting on the Heart of Christ, Ignatius wrote about what he hoped people would derive from these experiences.
“He hopes people will grow in knowledge, but not just head knowledge. He was more interested in felt knowledge or interior knowledge - the intimate understanding of a truth. It is the difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus, between knowing in our heads that God loves us and experiencing that love in our hearts. This kind of knowledge touches the heart and motivates us to act in an entirely new way. Ignatius is looking for an intimate interior felt knowledge. ‘For what fills and satisfies the soul consists, not in knowing much, but in our understanding the realities profoundly and in savoring them interiorly.’ (Sp. Ex. 2)”
We are in prayer for you already as you consider joining us for this exciting, unpredictable, challenging, and perhaps life-changing adventure.
We can accommodate 7-10 people. We have space for 10 if we have any couples who choose to do this together or friends who would enjoy rooming together. Many of the rooms are generous in size and have multiple beds.