Kevin Navarro
Kevin serves as a spiritual director and spiritual formation coach for pastors, missionaries, and Christian leaders around the world. He is particularly interested in helping leaders navigate ministry trauma—also known as vicarious trauma or secondary trauma. He longs to support those on the frontline who feel “beat up” and are doing their best to navigate the chaos around them. Sometimes, there is even a profound “feeling” of the absence of God. In light of this, Kevin defines spiritual direction as a ministry of belonging in love that awakens awareness of God’s Presence and enables discernment of the daily choices that lead to union with God.
Kevin also serves on the leadership team for Imago Christi supporting the team leader and providing discernment for the community. He came to Imago Christi and Novo Mission with three decades of ministry experience: as an International Director with Continental Ministries, as a pastor at Bear Valley Christian Church, and as a pastor at Bethany Evangelical Free Church. He is ordained in the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) but is passionate about detaching from tribalism and sectarianism that hinder us from learning from history and other traditions. Kevin and Susan were trained as spiritual directors through the Formation in Soul Care Program at Restoring Connections (formerly The Vincentian Center for Spirituality at Work) www.restoringconnections.org.
Kevin also ministered in the academic community having taught pastoral theology and worship studies at Denver Seminary, A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary, Pacific Rim Christian College, and the University of Manchester, UK. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado (BM, BME), Denver Seminary (MDiv), and Fuller Theological Seminary (DMin, DMiss) where he studied Christian Spirituality under Dallas Willard and James Bryan Smith. He also earned a PhD in theology from The University of Manchester, UK, where he wrote his thesis on the doxological theology of T.F. and J.B. Torrance. Kevin is the author of The Complete Worship Leader (Baker Books, 2001), The Complete Worship Service (Baker Books, 2005), and Trinitarian Doxology (Pickwick/Wipf & Stock, 2020) (see Books by OIC Authors). Kevin is a member of the T.F. Torrance Theological Fellowship, The Evangelical Theological Society, Spiritual Directors International, and The Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.
Kevin is a husband to Susan; father to Timothy, Matthew, Joshua, Aaron, and Naomi; father-in-law to Niki and Hawa; and papa to little Amara. He enjoys, listening to jazz—especially Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. His favorite ethnic cuisines are New Mexican, Thai, and Indian. As far back as he can remember, he’s always enjoyed a good cup of coffee. Finally, he loves traveling, learning about other cultures, and browsing independent bookstores.
If you are interested in spiritual direction or spiritual formation coaching, please contact Kevin via email. If you are interested in becoming a financial ministry partner, Kevin and Susan would love to have you join their team, as they are support-based missionaries. Leaning into their missionary vocation also allows Kevin and Susan to serve the economically poor and international leaders who are under-resourced.