Rev. Scott McRae, M.Div., ACPE
Spiritual Direction Trainer,
Co-Founder of Sojourners Institute,
and Co-Creator of the Evolving Enneagram Spiritual Direction Program
“I believe we are most fully alive when we live from a deep connection with the Sacred — a connection that quietly reshapes how we see ourselves, one another, and the world. My work is to help people find that connection within themselves, to trust it, and to let it become the ground they live from. And for those who feel called to companion others on that path, I support them become the kind of presence that helps another soul come alive."— Scott McRae
“When the chatter of the mind quiets down, we find the still point around which all of life revolves.”
— Tao Te Ching
For more than four decades, Scott McRae has devoted his life to helping others grow in wisdom, freedom, and spiritual depth. A lifelong spiritual seeker, his vocational journey has woven together pastoral ministry, hospital chaplaincy, spiritual direction, contemplative formation, and Enneagram teaching.
Today, Scott’s deepest calling is the formation of spiritual directors. Drawing upon decades of experience accompanying individuals, training chaplains, mentoring leaders, and teaching contemplative practice, he now dedicates himself to preparing the next generation of spiritual companions to serve others with wisdom, compassion, and sacred presence.
A Life of Spiritual Formation
A native Minnesotan, Scott earned degrees in Religion and Psychology from Augustana College before receiving his Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School. It was at Yale that he met his wife, Melanie, with whom he would later co-found Sojourners Institute.
Ordained as a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) in 1988, Scott served in parish and campus ministry before spending many years in healthcare chaplaincy and leadership. As a certified ACPE Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor, he trained and mentored hundreds of chaplains while serving in hospital settings, helping form caregivers capable of meeting others with skill, compassion, and presence. He retired from hospital ministry in 2024. He is certified through the Full Circle Enneagram Program and the Center for Spiritual Guidance. He also has a coaching certification through Coach University, and is a Leadership Circle Profile Facilitator.
Throughout every chapter of his vocation, a common thread has remained: a passion for accompanying others on the sacred journey into presence, growth, and transformation.
Forming Spiritual Directors
Since 2004, Scott has devoted himself to the training and mentoring of spiritual directors. In 2014, he and Melanie co-founded Sojourners Institute, where he also founded the Sojourners Spiritual Direction Apprentice Program.
Through retreats, workshops, supervision groups, apprenticeship programs, and leadership development initiatives, Scott has helped form spiritual directors, clergy, chaplains, healthcare professionals, and contemplative leaders from diverse backgrounds and traditions.
An international presenter who has taught for Spiritual Directors International (SDI) and other organizations devoted to contemplative formation, Scott is especially passionate about helping others develop the presence, discernment, and spiritual maturity needed to accompany people deeply on the sacred journey.
Today, Scott’s deepest calling is helping form the next generation of spiritual directors. Drawing upon decades of experience as a pastor, chaplain, supervisor, teacher, and spiritual companion, he dedicates himself to preparing spiritual directors who can accompany others with wisdom, compassion, and sacred presence.
Evolving Enneagram Spiritual Direction Program
In this new chapter of his work, Scott serves as an Evolving Enneagram Collaborator and co-creator, with Rev. Nhien Vuong, of the Evolving Enneagram Spiritual Direction Program.
Rooted in contemplative formation, interspiritual wisdom, and the Enneagram, the program brings together Scott’s decades of experience training spiritual directors with Nhien’s work in contemplative Enneagram formation. Together, they offer a cohort-based pathway for those called to accompany others through the ministry and practice of spiritual companionship.
Designed for both personal and professional formation, the program cultivates contemplative presence, deep listening, and spiritual discernment—the inner qualities needed to companion others with wisdom, compassion, and integrity. It grows out of Scott’s thirty years of forming spiritual guides, pairing the inner work of the soul with the art and craft of spiritual direction. By weaving contemplative spirituality with adult learning theory and stage-based models of human development, it honors the truth that spiritual growth unfolds over time and through lived experience—never through formulas or shortcuts.
The Sacred Living Circle
Alongside his work forming spiritual directors, Scott also leads the Sacred Living Circle—a free, online contemplative community for anyone who senses that a deeper, more grounded way of living is possible and close at hand. The online home for this spiritual community is The Evolving Soul Collaborative. Through a weekly online gathering, along with ongoing reflections and grounding practices, the Circle offers a welcoming space to worry less, trust more, and discover a life-altering spirituality that is often simpler and more accessible than we imagine. Where his training work prepares others to companion souls, the Sacred Living Circle is where Scott companions seekers directly—an open-hearted community living into a new mind and heart for our time.
What It's Like to Work with Scott
Whether through spiritual direction training, supervision, retreats, workshops, or contemplative formation programs, Scott is known for his wisdom, grounded presence, generous spirit, and unwavering trust in the transformative movement of the Sacred. He creates spaces where people feel deeply supported, challenged, and invited into greater freedom, authenticity, and service.
When he is not engaged in spiritual formation work, Scott enjoys long walks in nature with Melanie and Fergus, their beloved Wonder Dog, playing jazz piano, reading widely, knitting occasionally, and revisiting a long-buried practice of bread baking.
