Creating safe spaces with Rev. Diane Pennington
Rev. Diane Pennington with daughter in front of Sweet Pea, Diane’s new “Tiny” home.
Rev. Diane Pennington serves as an interfaith and inter-spiritual minister and trained spiritual director. She also works as development professional and fundraiser for Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services of Texas. As a long-time friend of Retreat House Spirituality Center, we welcome her as our board chair for 2024.
All of these experiences combined with her rich spiritual history bring deep perspective to this role. We are grateful and give thanks for the ways in which she has cared for and will continue to tend to our community.
Some of Pennington’s sacred story in her words, as told to Retreat House:
Early years
“I was raised unchurched but remembered as a child experiencing the knowing of the Holy in nature. I was kind of a wild child who spent tine roaming in and out of the woods, watching the clouds and observing animals. I knew that there was intelligence and love and organization behind the universe. By the time I sought and searched for faith, I was finishing up junior high and going into high school. It was there that I connected to the full-on Jesus revolution. I became part of the “Jesus Freaks,” and I loved it. It was all very hippy dippy and Kumbaya, and acoustic guitars. All of it.
At that point, I knew Jesus as the historical figure but wasn’t really familiar with his message or ministry. Through some friends, I got very involved in the Southern Baptist tradition. As a singer at the time, I was involved with music at church. Another integral part to this season in my life was my focus on social justice and racial integration. But church and that focus were kind of separate at that point.
Stepping away
The next part of my journey was heading to Oklahoma Baptist University. They have an excellent music school - this is why I went. My faith path was very narrow at the time. Up until going to college, I had taken a lot of instruction on what was God’s will and what was or was not inherent truth. During this time, I began to ask questions like why am I here? What is my purpose? Who am I?
I remember being worried that the answers to these questions were some elusive thing I might miss. I was trying to be the person I thought God wanted me to be.
When I went to college, I stepped away from the church. I couldn’t swallow everything I was being told, and I began to noticed cognitive dissonance in the Church. My faith was still there. I still loved Jesus and God, I just didn’t know how to be the person I thought God wanted me to be in this setting. I went away from seeking faith for a long time after that.
Transitions and questions
Shortly before I became a mom, I felt called to transition back into a formal church. I was living in New York City at the time and landed in the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA).
Shortly thereafter, I moved to Texas and continued to attend the PCUSA. During this experience, I became really steeped in the way of worship, doctrine and theology. I felt very much at home here. In the early 2000s, things started colliding for me. Social justice issues, especially around LGBTIQA rights, and whether or not these folks could serve in ministry, were being questioned in my tradition. It was then that I remember saying hold on - let’s go back to Jesus. What would his approach be?
I began stripping away a lot of what I considered to be doctrine within denominations and started going inward. During this time a close friend encouraged me to consider training as a spiritual director. I had a degree in clinical counseling but always felt there was something missing in that box - the spirituality piece was missing. Instead of going to graduate school, I decided to adopt my daughter and brought her home from China. I found myself in a middle space of trying to figure out how mental and spiritual health might come together. I entered into a spiritual director training program - it was life transforming.
Spiritually safe
In my spiritual direction training, I learned how to be with and question and wonder rather than fighting to come to conclusions. This is one of the greatest gifts of spiritual direction. As a spiritual director, I found that my biggest desire was to accompany people in pain where others might not want to go. I learned to do this without picking up the pain or being responsible for it or trying to fix them.
Fast forward, in 2021, I felt called to take an even greater step and became an interfaith and inter-spiritual minister. When Retreat House was just a vision and hadn’t opened her doors yet, we talked about a place for people to come to experience spiritual direction. I was in awe when I first heard the initial dream of Retreat House. And as the organization grew, so did our interfaith ministry. It was and is a place for cross-spiritual conversations. It is also a place where those with no faith tradition can be welcomed.
I am excited for Retreat House at this point in time - we have grown to become a spiritually safe place for people who are questioning, who are seeking and who want to explore spirituality. Retreat House has enough people with skills and hospitality and welcome for that to happen.
Personally, I find myself most deeply drawn to the ministries of social justice, standing for those who are marginalized, and fighting against bigotry in its various forms. I am also beginning to work with people who are struggling with deconstruction and religious trauma. I where several hats, from inter-spiritual minister to practicing Jesus follower. My intention is to create a safe place for folks to ask questions without fear of me trying to influence them or move them towards my point of view. And Retreat House is a place that is so harmonious with these things.”
Listen to Pennington’s full interview on our podcast. To access the interview, you’ll need to go to our online community hosted via Circle. Interested in joining Circle? Email Lil.
This interview was conducted and transcribed by Emily Turner Watson. She is a trained spiritual director and writer.