Brandis, Rev. Lora

After leaving full-time ministry five years ago, I have created a freelance/entrepreneurial ministry that includes preaching, hospital chaplaincy, religious ceremony officiant, and spiritual direction. I completed the certification in spiritual direction from Meadville Lombard’s LIGHT program in 2024. My focus as a spiritual director includes life transitions, grief, death/dying, and aging. I am particularly interested in working with religious professionals who would like to remember the presence of the holy in their work. I’ve included a bit of my story below so you can get to know me better. I look forward to getting to know you better, too.

My family lost three members in six months. My father-in-law died July 1, 2019 at the age of 97. My step-daughter died July 29, 2019 at the age of 36 from a brain tumor. My daughter died January 10, 2020 at the age of 28 from alcoholism. I left full-time ministry in June of 2021 in order to spend more time with my family. My daughter was pregnant with twins. I was a caregiver for my best friend who had been diagnosed with an aggressive, terminal cancer in February 2021. My ex-husband dropped dead June 28th; I postponed cleaning out my office at the church for a few days and held my daughter as she sobbed. My best friend died August 14th, sooner than expected. I have lost so much. We have all lost so much.

We live with false binaries. Your problems are worse than mine; my problems are worse than yours. My problems aren’t as bad as the problems of the world, therefore my problems don’t matter. Here’s the thing: your “problems” make you. You make the world.

Our faith teaches that we are not alone. Our faith teaches about interdependence, that “what affects one affects us all.” The core of every spiritual practice is to access love. Even if we have one fleeting glimpse of love, we will come back for more. We can’t rest in love forever. We have to do something with it. We have to tell our story. Our love story. I want to listen to yours.

The spiritual director offers the following kinds of spiritual direction services, and is available to meet in the following manners.

Service Offerings: Individual Spiritual Direction, Group Spiritual Direction

Session Format: In Person, Online (Zoom, Skype, etc.), Telephone

Payment Notes: $100-$150 per hour session

UU Wellspring Approved? 

The spiritual director identifies in the following ways.

Gender: Woman

Identities:

Other Important Identities:

The spiritual director has direct experience, training, or expertise in the following areas.

Specializations: Abuse (physical/sexual), Alcoholism, Creative Arts, Death/Dying/Hospice Care, Divorce, Grief and Loss, Mature Adults/Elderly, Meditation/Mindfulness, Nature Based, Women’s Issues

Spiritual Spheres: Buddhism, Christianity, Interfaith, Interspiritual, Spiritual but Not Religious

This is where the spiritual director received their training, how often they receive supervision, and the professional associations where they are members.

Supervision: Supervised group (Monthly or more)