Bridges Foundation

Award-winning Ignatian author Eric Clayton will be in conversation with Executive Director Steve Givens. Clayton’s most recent book is “Finding Peace Here and Now: How Ignatian Spirituality Leads Us to Healing and Wholeness,” and this July 17-18 he will lead Bridges 2026 Ignatian Community Retreat at Pallottine Retreat and Conference Center. The theme of the retreat is, “From Warrior to Peacemaker: How Ignatius of Loyola Can Guide Us Today.”

Long-time Bridges Prayer Companion and Site Coordinator Carol Brescia will be in conversation with Executive Director Steve Givens about praying the Third Week of the Spiritual Exercises and walking with Jesus in his passion and suffering – an Ignatian approach to Holy Week.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Bridges prayer companion and Magis small group facilitator Mary White and former retreatant Dee Wiecher will be in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens, discussing the long history of women in the development of Ignatian spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises over the past 500 years.

Fr. Mark McKenzie, SJ, long-time Jesuit priest, spiritual director and friend and advisor to the Bridges community, will be in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens, discussing his long history of Jesuit ministry and an Ignatian approach to the upcoming season of lent.

Christy Hicks Aydt, Regional Director of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps in the St. Louis Region, and Christi Franko-Torack, an IVC service corps member and current Bridges retreatant, will be in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens, discussing the power and impact of those involved in the Ignatian Volunteer Corps.   The Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) invites women and men ages 50 and over to work two days a week in direct service to the poor. Volunteers gather monthly for prayer and reflection, meet regularly with a spiritual reflector, and enjoy retreats and social gatherings throughout the year.

As we enter into the Advent season, Bridges prayer companions Kate Stroble and Martha Broyles will discuss the power of contemplating the Incarnation and Nativity with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens.

For this season of Thanksgiving, Executive Director Steve Givens will lead a conversation with Bridges prayer companions Marian Love and Karen Siebenberger about the power of the Examen in leading us to gratitude.

Recent young adult Bridges retreatants Christina, Kristin, and Jenny share their experiences of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens.

Father Jeff Putthoff, SJ, will be in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens about a retreat he is offering next advent called "Breaking Dawn: Ignatian Spirituality Meets Internal Family Systems in an Advent Experience" at Mercy Center in St. Louis. The retreat invites participants into a transformative journey of prayer and self-discovery. Drawing on Ignatian contemplation, imaginative prayer, and the engagement of the senses, this retreat offers a unique opportunity to enter into intimate conversation with God.

Lisa Kelly, author of “The Spiritual Path: Embarking on the Journey of a Lifetime,” will be in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens. They will be discussing her new book and the integration of Ignatian Spirituality into goal setting for individuals and organizations.

Carol Atwell Ackels, Director of the Ignatian Spirituality Institute in Dallas, will be in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens about this summer’s Ignatian Spirituality Conference, which will be hosted July 24 - 27 in Dallas. They will be discussing the theme and purpose of the conference, titled, Hope: Living between Faith and Love. 

Christine Marie Eberle, the Philadelphia-based author of three books on Ignatian spirituality, will join Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens in conversation about her most recent book, “Finding God Along the Way: Wisdom from the Camino for Life at Home,” published in January by Paraclete Press. The book tells the story of the author’s 2022 pilgrimage along the “Ignatian Way” in Spain in the company of a group whose average age was 67.

Eric Clayton, deputy director of communications at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States and the award-winning author of “Cannonball Moments: Telling Your Story, Deepening Your Faith” and “My Life with the Jedi: The Spirituality of Star Wars” will be in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens.   

Mike Jordan Laskey, director of communications at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States and one of the creators and facilitators of the Jesuit Media Lab, is in conversation with Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens about the interesting intersection of creativity and Ignatian spirituality. In addition to Jesuit Media Lab, he leads a team responsible for the Jesuits.org website, social media and vocation promotion, and also serves as one of the hosts of the AMDG Jesuit podcast.

Conversation with Fr. Dan Daly, SJ, a Jesuit priest, preacher, retreat director, storyteller, and author of the new book, A Magician, a Priest and an Astrologer Walk to Bethlehem: An Ignatian Gospel Story Sampler.”

Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens in conversation with Bridges pioneer and renowned Ignatian spirituality author and theologian Fr. Joe Tetlow, SJ on Bridges’ early days in St. Louis, the writing of “Choosing Christ in the World,” his landmark guide to the Spiritual Exercises, and what keeps him inspired, writing and “handing on the fire” in his tenth decade.

Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens in conversation with Marian Love, a spiritual director, long-time Bridges prayer companion and the coordinator of prayer companion training for Bridges, about the spirituality of being a prayer companion.

Bridges Executive Director Steve Givens in conversation with popular Ignatian spirituality author Jim Manney about his new book, “What Matters Most and Why: Living the Spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola,” and about why Ignatius and his approach to living, praying and discerning still resonates after 500 years.