The Gift of a Discerning Heart
Liz Ward, leader
June 13, 2026, 9:30 a.m-3:30 p.m.
Nourse Hall
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
“The real man or woman of prayer, then, should be a live wire, a link between God’s grace and the world that needs it.”
–Evelyn Underhill
Evelyn Underhill treasures a discerning heart as one path to becoming this “live wire” the world so desperately needs today. Throughout her writings she offers clues to the inner transformation that grows this precious gift. She shares the ways that prayer can open us ever more fully to God’s transfiguring grace and facilitate the formation of a discerning heart. Evelyn honors the many ways God’s loving, liberating Spirit lives and moves within and beyond each of us to create our unique capacities for hearing and honoring the quiet whispers and subtle invitations of The Holy One. She offers us examples of discerning hearts to guide us and guidelines for us to discern the voices that pulse with life within us. She both shows and tells us that it is ever greater love and the holy gifts of the Spirit that are the fruit of a discerning heart. She invites us to cultivate our discerning hearts so we too can become a “live wire, a link between God’s grace and the world that needs it.”
For over 30 years, Liz Ward has had the honor of serving as a spiritual guide for clergy and laity as well as seminarians, staff, and faculty of Virginia Theological Seminary for over 30 years. She is a graduate of the Shalem Spiritual Guidance Program and served as Director of this Program for 12 years and continues to serve on the staff of this program. She helped establish a spiritual guidance program in South Korea and has mentored spiritual guidance programs in the US and Canada. A seasoned retreat leader, Liz and has co-led pilgrimages to the U.K. and Paris using poetry and the arts to increase awareness of the presence of God in daily life. Liz served on the Commission on Ministry and has led Discernment Retreats for the Diocese of Virginia for many years. She is a widow and delights in visiting her son and his family who live in London, U.K.
