Refresh | Make a Submission
Te whakatakoto o ōna kupu

AN INVITATION

We are now inviting submissions for the July 2026 issue of Refresh on the theme of Spiritual Direction.
Articles, poetry, imagery, articles, prayer practices and reflections on this theme will all be considered. Please read the theme exploration below and email your submission to Refresh Co-Editor, Kathryn Overall-Cass by Friday March 13th 2026

Refresh, March 2026

Spiritual Direction

For our next issue, we invite you to share your stories and perspectives on spiritual direction — a core contemplative practice offering wise companionship for the faith journey.

Together, we hope to grow awareness of this ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand, inviting people to experience its grace for themselves.

For directees:
• How has spiritual direction supported your deepening life in God?
• How has being listened to helped you discern God’s presence in everyday life or times of change?
• What stories could you share that shine a light on the gifts received from engaging in spiritual direction? i.e. of sudden insights or gradual unfolding.
• At its best, spiritual direction offers a compassionate, non-coercive space that empowers you to listen deeply to God for yourself. How has that been true for you and to what effect?

For spiritual directors:
• What is the sense of call that sits at the heart of this work for you?
• What metaphors—midwife, companion, or others—best capture your experience of this ministry?
• How has your practice shaped you? How has it evolved?Deadline for Submissions

Please send submissions by Friday March13th, 2026 to Refresh Co-Editor, Kathryn Overall-Cass at kathryn@sgm.org.nz.

Looking ahead:
Because this theme sits so close to the heart of SGM’s kaupapa, we intend this to be a bumper issue, with more pages than usual. We also plan to print extra copies so it can become a long-term resource for churches, groups, and individuals across Aotearoa who are seeking to understand and engage with spiritual direction.

 

Kathryn Overall-Cass, Refresh Co-Editor
SGM Kaitiaki of Communications

Guidelines for Contributors

Refresh co-editors will edit contributions in accordance with Refresh’s contemplative kaupapa, our house style and to work within space restraints. A selection of articles featured in the print journal will be digitally replicated on the SGM blog.

  • Keep submissions to fewer than 1300 words

  • Send as a Word document

  • Leave one space between sentences

  • Use single quotation marks

  • Be conversational in style

  • Use conjunctions where possible

  • Use endnotes instead of footnotes

  • Use inclusive language wherever possible

  • Send images as attachments - at least 2MB

  • Send a brief bio (40 words) in a separate Word document to your submission

  • Send a head and shoulders photo (2MB) as a separate email attachment
    (not embedded in a Word document).    

Please note that we make only make final selections for publication after the submissions deadline.  We prayerfully review everything received and choose the pieces that seem to us to best fit SGM's contemplative kaupapa, the issue theme and with other submissions.

Email Submission
 

Insights from Refresh Reader Survey

The seven most popular regular content features people voted to see in Refresh are:

  1. A contemplative prayer practice to explore.

  2. Essay: a contemplative perspective on a contemporary issue

  3. Contemplative Book Corner: highlighting noteworthy books on spiritual direction and contemplative spirituality.

  4. Contemplative poetry

  5. Kete of Knowledge: weaving voices and perspectives from Aotearoa’s multi-cultural threads.

  6. An emerging voice or trend within spiritual direction

  7. Theological reflection on contemplative spirituality.

While Refresh remains primarily a journal of contemplative spirituality, given that over 50% of our readers are spiritual directors (or in formation) we do intend to make space for content related to spiritual direction.

 
Email Submission