Grafted Life Ministries
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Our Story

The story of Grafted Life Ministries (GLM) is one of prayerful beginnings, vision, and growth in spiritual community. What follows is a look at how a small group’s desire for deeper relationships with God and others sparked a movement that continues to impact churches and believers today.

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The Beginning

GLM began in the fall of 2009 when a group of spiritual formation colleagues met together for a weekend to discern and dream about what God might be calling us to do in the Church regarding spiritual growth. Each of us had experienced life-changing transformation but our journeys toward deeper relationship with God had happened outside of our local church. Many of the relational practices and principles that helped us were not even talked about in our home churches. 

The seeds of that prayerful conversation grew a vision to impact the quality of relationships within the body of Christ in local communities. We wanted believers to find deeper relational connections with God and others in their home environments. Essentially to help people grow in their love for God and their neighbor in their everyday lives.

Grafted Life’s relational work began in two categories

Grafted Life Studies developed a collection of small group studies that take Christian participants on a relational journey with God and others. 

CSDA established a Christ-centered spiritual direction association. The ministry of spiritual direction had greatly impacted our lives. It helped nurture our relationship with God, so promoting and supporting the work of spiritual direction fit into the framework of GLM’s relational mission.

In February of 2011, CSDA (then ESDA), Christ-centered Spiritual Direction Association, was born with 20 charter members. In the fall of that same year, pilot groups began testing the first semester of our new curricula Life with God: A Journey of Relationship.

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God Gives the Growth

Over the next decade, five more Life with God studies were developed and tested, a LWG leader training program was established, four stand-alone studies were written, and CSDA grew to 800 spiritual director members.
 
The testimonies of Life with God participants were humbling and joyful. God was doing something significant through the studies to deepen relationships not just with him, but within families, with friends and in communities of believers. Many CSDA members also regularly expressed their gratitude for the colleague community, continuing education, and credibility that the association provided.
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Today

GLM has a fresh vision for the future of Grafted Life Studies and CSDA. With churches losing ground in attendance, the need for healthy, deep relational connections with God and others has never been more critical. Our studies provide a biblical framework to journey toward relational health and spiritual thriving. Our Grafted Life Studies team is excited to bring that message to more and more local communities.

CSDA is currently the largest Christ-centered network of spiritual directors in the world, serving over 1300 spiritual directors emerging from over 120 formal training programs. The association remains committed to Christian ethics and best practices and to helping members grow their skills, knowledge, and colleague connections over the lifetime of their ministry. Our CSDA team continues to look for ways to strengthen the practice of spiritual directors, to champion excellence in the field, and to promote spiritual direction as a vital ministry in the church.

Copyright 2025 Grafted Life Ministries

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