Teresa Blythe
is a spiritual director and writer devoted to assisting individuals and groups in discovering where God is active in their
daily lives and in the culture in which we live.
As a spiritual
director, Teresa assists clients in the process of becoming the person or organization God created them to be. She is
Coordinator of the Hesychia School for Spiritual Directors at the Redemptorist Renewal Center at Picture Rocks in Tucson and has served as a spiritual
director and facilitator for The Fund for Theological Education's Volunteers Exploring Vocation program, Youth Specialties
Sabbath, the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project, and SFTS's Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction program.
Teresa sees
individuals and groups in the work of spiritual direction. She also is media review editor for Presbyterians Today magazine and writes reviews of religion books for Publisher's Weekly and other publications. In addition, Teresa
is a frequent conference keynote speaker and workshop or retreat leader on topics of spirituality and popular culture.
Teresa became
interested in the theological analysis of visual media while a student at San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS),
where she graduated with a Master of Divinity and Diploma in the Art of Spiritual direction in 2000. For three years, she co-taught
the ethics course that, in 1997, sparked her interest in the intersection of theology and media: “Television Through
the Lens of Faith.”
Prior to
and during seminary, Teresa worked as a broadcast journalist for radio stations in Baltimore, Tucson and San Francisco. She
is the co-author of Meeting God in Virtual Reality: Using Spiritual Practices with Media published by Abingdon Press in April of 2004, and the Geneva Press book Watching What We Watch: Prime-Time Television Through the Lens of Faith. She has contributed writing on media to Beliefnet, Spirituality & Health, Sojourners
and Presbyterians Today magazines. She also wrote the chapter “The God of Prime-Time Television”
for a Peter Lang book of essays entitled Religion as Entertainment (2002) and "The Collar and the Bottle: Film Portrayals
of Drinking Clergy" for Religion & Alcohol: Sobering Thoughts (Peter Lang 2004).
Teresa makes
her home in Tucson, Arizona and can be reached at tblythe@jps.net or by calling 520-290-6734. To learn more about the Hesychia School for Spiritual Directors or other retreat and program
offerings at the Redemptorist Renewal Center, click on www.desertrenewal.org or e-mail office@desertrenewal.org.
