JOSEPHINE GRIFFITHS BA, BD (HONS), M.PHIL
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.With over forty years as a theologian, writer, therapist and spiritual mentor Josephine is in a unique position to give comment on today's Church and the spiritual needs of women in and outside the Church. Josephine is called and committed to sharing her voluminous and encyclopedic knowledge of God, Religion, Deep Wisdom and personal revelation with you.
Josephine grew up in London during the air raids of WW2. At 11 she won a scholarship to a prestigious Girls’ School which she had to leave at 13 when her family decided to emigrate to Australia. She did not go back to school but was passionate about self-education. For Josephine, much of her youth centred around the church and her devotion to God. In her teens she became attached to the Anglican Religious Community which at that time ran a girls’ school. In her mid-twenties, as her husband, Bernard was training for the sacred ministry she taught Divinity at the school until Bernard was posted to the bush, to Kalgoorlie. |
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After the stint in Kalgoorlie the family moved to Esperance when Bernard became Rector of that parish. Josephine took on the role of an Anglican vicar’s wife with immense dedication and her own flair and countenance, which was sometimes at odds with the expectations of the day for a proper clergy wife! In 1980 Bernard, gave up parish work and became a hospital chaplain a move which let Josephine off the hook to explore her own way.
With their four daughters mostly grown and with more time to herself Josephine sat a mature age exam for university entrance and took out a BA in English and History. That led on to the study of theology, which was the real love from the beginning, she received a BD with Honours. By this time the questions about women’s’ role in the church were high on the agenda so she followed up her studies with a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies. Josephine also has had a lifelong love affair with Shakespeare and poetry in general.
From her biblical studies Josephine became fascinated by the neglected traditions of God as famine in Christian literature and practice so she began her first book The Reclaiming of Wisdom. This book sets out, for the non-theologically trained reader the growth of this tradition and its significance and application in the writings of the New Testament. Publishing this work was not a popular move and it was condemned from some pulpits by preachers who had not read it but ‘knew’ it was rubbish! In today's world it is less confronting, but this book was ground breaking in its vision and it has influenced many women and men worldwide to have the desire and the courage to go deeper into the truth of their Christian faith.
In the early 1980 Bernard and Josephine instituted an oratory in their home, holding house Communion for women who felt increasingly disenfranchised from the Church, but who still wanted a connection to the Liturgy and Communion. Further out from the mainstream, Josephine was teaching Christian meditation as she had reacted strongly when it was being said that there were no such forms in Christianity. She wanted to redress the gross error, but again this was not a popular move, even to the point of one significant church person claiming that meditation was the work of the devil!
The meditation groups led naturally to silent retreats and spiritual direction which were aligned and congruent for women, while still being faithful to the Christian tradition She has been presenting retreats now for over 40 years; they are legendary.
Josephine continues her own journey of spiritual and psychological discovery through her own lifetime of conscious and unconscious submission to the religious, spiritual and physical worlds; she has worked on healing her personal intergenerational trauma and has suffered the loss of her beloved life partner. She continues to grow and learn.
With their four daughters mostly grown and with more time to herself Josephine sat a mature age exam for university entrance and took out a BA in English and History. That led on to the study of theology, which was the real love from the beginning, she received a BD with Honours. By this time the questions about women’s’ role in the church were high on the agenda so she followed up her studies with a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies. Josephine also has had a lifelong love affair with Shakespeare and poetry in general.
From her biblical studies Josephine became fascinated by the neglected traditions of God as famine in Christian literature and practice so she began her first book The Reclaiming of Wisdom. This book sets out, for the non-theologically trained reader the growth of this tradition and its significance and application in the writings of the New Testament. Publishing this work was not a popular move and it was condemned from some pulpits by preachers who had not read it but ‘knew’ it was rubbish! In today's world it is less confronting, but this book was ground breaking in its vision and it has influenced many women and men worldwide to have the desire and the courage to go deeper into the truth of their Christian faith.
In the early 1980 Bernard and Josephine instituted an oratory in their home, holding house Communion for women who felt increasingly disenfranchised from the Church, but who still wanted a connection to the Liturgy and Communion. Further out from the mainstream, Josephine was teaching Christian meditation as she had reacted strongly when it was being said that there were no such forms in Christianity. She wanted to redress the gross error, but again this was not a popular move, even to the point of one significant church person claiming that meditation was the work of the devil!
The meditation groups led naturally to silent retreats and spiritual direction which were aligned and congruent for women, while still being faithful to the Christian tradition She has been presenting retreats now for over 40 years; they are legendary.
Josephine continues her own journey of spiritual and psychological discovery through her own lifetime of conscious and unconscious submission to the religious, spiritual and physical worlds; she has worked on healing her personal intergenerational trauma and has suffered the loss of her beloved life partner. She continues to grow and learn.
My job is to encourage you to believe in yourself; to get to know, reconnect, love and appreciate your own brilliance.
Josephine Griffiths
How She works
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"Having a wide variety of training and expertise allows me to be flexible, as I am not tied to working with any one model. Some of the more recent approaches offer powerful opportunities for rapid change and older models, like dream work for example, can give us a very different light on the subject. It is good to be able to encompass variety and use a range of tools and skills.
This way of working allows me to express my own particular gifts, to use any of the modalities in which I am trained and call upon my many years of experience and personal work. While I do have a deep commitment to the spiritual dimension I know that for many people it is not a topic they wish to broach. My contribution is to help you progress, in whatever way is right for you, not to impose any codes or creeds of my own. I offer a client centered approach. Ultimately, listening is the best tool, it is the greatest gift we can give. To be really present to another person, listening to what they have to say; to what they don’t say, and receiving all with respect is one of the greatest gifts we can offer." - Josephine |
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