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A friend took this photo in the Atrium of Regent College – one of my favourite places.

I’m Kirk Ruch – I am a trained and experienced spiritual practitioner, a “minister,” in the Christian tradition.

I’ve been well-married for 46 years, with 4 wonderful adult children and 12 even better grandchildren.

I hold a Master of Arts in Theological Studies degree from Regent College, here in Vancouver, BC, which I finished in 2021. I love that place!

To be honest with you, talking about myself on this page feels really strange, and I don’t like it. I’d rather sit down in a conversation and tell you what you want to know, instead of guessing and telling you way more than you want to know! But we have to start somewhere, right? Kindly bear with me.

My lifelong spiritual roots draw from a wide range of influences, from my childhood traditional Western Roman Catholicism, political skepticism, adult modern Protestantism, post-charismatic influences, and contemplative practices. I am grateful for the opportunities to discern and learn from many different people and flows of thought and practice. 

I have 50 years of experience in spiritually-oriented life, and over 45 years of professional experience in human-service (ministries) of various kinds – pastoral care, formal ministry in church community, formal theological instruction, spiritual formation, and intercultural communication.

I am guided by spiritually-minded people from various Christian traditions. I’ve served as a guide for non-Christians, pre-Christian seekers and new Christians as they seek spiritual connection and growth – as a spiritual companion for Christians and non-Christians in grieving and challenging life situations – and as a spiritual companion for “post-Christians” who are trying to hold on to what’s good while they recover from confusion and pain from bad experiences of religion.

I receive spiritual direction, training as a spiritual director and supervision for offering spiritual direction under the auspices of the Soulstream Initiatives. I also hold a certificate of completion for Living From the Heart, through Soulstream Initiatives.

I hold a Certificate in Regenerative Culture from the Eden Center for Regenerative Culture of Abilene Christian University. 

I subscribe to the Code of Ethics of Spiritual Directors International, which you can read here. I am also a Friend of the Northumbria Community.

These affiliations, qualifications and experiences don’t make me an authority over other people. They do help inform me as an interim pastoral minister, teacher, and as a companion in your journey of discovery, growth, and flourishing.

Nowadays, in my dreams I’m a sparkling acoustic guitarist along the lines of Pierre Bensusan, Phil Keaggy, Michael Hedges, Alex Degrassi, Andy McKee, and Stephen Wake.  Reality is rather different!  In my dreams I’m fully multi-lingual, fluently speaking English, Spanish, Mandarin, Gaelic, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Hebrew, and a few others.  No, reality doesn’t quite match up!  We live in a beautiful part of the world, and in my dreams I do a lot of hiking and backpacking in the lush rain forested wilderness.  Again, reality is rather different … but it’s mostly fun trying.  And in every case, in my imagination Unseen-but-ever-present Love chuckles kindly at the disparity and says, sotto voce, “Keep practicing.”