ABOUT OUR LEADERS

Charlotte Ferris

Charlotte is a founding partner of Beyond These Shores, a retreat ministry serving the Church since 1996 (formerly known as Eagle's Wings Ministry). As a full-time spiritual director and retreat leader, she created the Come Away™ retreat, a monthly spiritual practice incorporating silence, solitude and contemplative prayer. She also offers longer retreats: the 19th annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and workshops in Christian Spirituality. She creates spaces to help others deepen their intimacy with Jesus.

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After leaving a career in human resource consulting, Charlotte received her spiritual direction and supervision training from Mercy Center in Burlingame, California. There, she completed three programs: the Spiritual Direction Institute, Group Spiritual Direction and an Internship in Retreat Direction as well as the Intensive in Spiritual Direction Supervision. She continued training at The Haden Institute in Spiritual Direction, specializing in Christian mysticism, Jungian Psychology, Celtic Christianity and Dreamwork. She is currently enrolled in a certificate program in a narrative based approach to working with trauma at the Allender Center in Seattle, WA.

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Don Ferris

After 28 years of youth/young adult pastoring he came to California to co-pastor a congregation and along with Charlotte to create a retreat ministry for evangelical pastors and volunteer-leaders.  In the fall of 1996 he and Charlotte began Eagle’s Wings Ministries. Eagle's Wings has since changed its' name to Beyond These Shores. In 2000 Don became first interim then Lead Pastor at local university church, in Santa Cruz, California.  He resigned that position in July of 2011.

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Most of Don’s training in classical spiritual practices has come through extensive reading, seminars, workshops, classes and daily personal practice.   Don received his spiritual director’s training from Mercy Center in Burlingame, California.   He completed the three year Spiritual Direction Institute program, and the Internship in Retreat Direction.  He continues to participate in available ongoing educational opportunities  to deepen his spiritual practices and develop his spiritual direction skills.