About Spiritual Direction at Spill the Tea
Looking for Covenantal Leadership Support? Please see the Retainer page to learn more.
What is Spiritual Direction?
Spill the Tea is a professional spiritual direction practice by Beach Theology LLC. It offers structured, confidential support for people who are reflecting on their lives and generally asking questions that aren’t going to have easy answers.
Often, clients are going through a major transition or disruption. Maybe they’re trying to figure out what’s next for them, or how to stay grounded when nothing feels stable. Maybe they are wanting to do some intentional discernment, or to cope with general or specific loss or burnout.
Some clients arrive with language for their spirituality. Others do not. Some clients are clergy. Others are atheists. Whatever a client may bring, the focus in spiritual direction at Spill the Tea stays on what matters in the present moment for the client. This is about you.
Spiritual direction is neither therapy nor religious guidance. It is a steady, client-centered process for making meaning and finding grounding (or staying grounded) no matter how unstable the variables of your personal situation might seem. The client sets the direction and Rachael helps you stay with it.
What Anchors Us?
This practice is anchored by a client-centered set of values. All sessions follow the Code of Conduct and Ethics written specifically for spiritual direction at Spill the Tea. That document outlines our commitments to things like confidentiality, professional boundaries, collaboration with mental health providers, accessibility, and equity.
Spill the Tea is not a generic practice built on imported values. The care offered here is practical and accountable. Clients are recognized as the experts of their own experience, and working together in spiritual direction may get messy in the details but it is held together by core values and integrity.
Who Leads This?
Rev. Dr. Rachael Keefe is the spiritual director and professional problem solver offering individual spiritual direction and covenantal leadership support at Spill the Tea. “Please call me Rachael.” She brings decades of experience in clinical work and ministry, crisis response, and community-based mental health advocacy and leadership.
Her academic background includes advanced theological degrees from Andover Newton at Yale Divinity School (formerly Andover Newton Theological School) and Princeton Theological Seminary, and a graduate certificate in spiritual direction from St. Catherine University.
Her work centers on close attention to details that often go unnoticed, especially when meaning feels hard to access. She offers support without prescription and structure without pressure.
She is regularly contacted by ministry colleagues when they are experiencing either a personal or a professional crisis.
When the fat hits the pan, the people who have Rachael’s number tend to call her first, and their loved ones second. That trust has been earned because Rachael is very gifted in figuring out how best to respond to unexpected things. She shows up when asked, and when invited to stay, she will stay.
On a personal note, Rachael loves to paint with oils on canvas outside somewhere beautiful. She currently lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, US with her wife, Erika, and with Morgan the Dog. Rachael has dysautonomia and POTS, and Celiac, and an implanted pacemaker along with some other accessories allow her to continue in ministry as a disabled person grateful for access to healthcare.
Why Spill the Tea?
People come here asking valid questions: What sustains? What am I even DOING, and what comes next? Is there a sacred path forward?
Spill the Tea exists for such a time as this. The name signals what the work is about: truth without performance. You don’t need to over-explain yourself here, although you can do that if you want to or need to. That’s okay, too. You don’t need to dress anything up or know any answers. You just need a place to begin, and a trustworthy companion who will never judge you.
If this sounds like the kind of time and attention you might need, this may be the right place to begin.
What Happens First?
Schedule a free appointment. There’s no expectation to continue. It is not a trick.
The first session is a chance to check it out and to experience what the work of spiritual direction here is like. This is to help you decide whether this feels like a good fit for you. You don’t need to prepare anything or even have a clear goal, although clear goals are welcomed. Any hopes you may bring are welcome. You are welcome.
Sessions are online. Use the scheduling link to choose a time that works for you. I look forward to meeting you.