The crowd makes consumers of us, inertly taking in whatever is pushed at us. As spectators and consumers the central and foundational elements of being human – our ability to create, our drive to excel, our capacity to commune with God – atrophy.        - Eugene Peterson

...the collapse of a sacred canopy under which to live in spiritual security has awakened a compulsion for faith of a new kind, a faith that requires inner knowledge and that must be renewed and renegotiated with life experience. - Robert Wuthnow, After Heaven -Spirituality in America Since 1950

The Sanctuary was founded in 1987 and validated by the Presbytery of Northern Kansas in 1988. In the past twenty years we have witnessed a growing hunger throughout the church and society for deepening spirituality and faith. The church as we have known it has been in steep decline in some places, while thriving in new forms in other places. The increasingly complex social and cultural environment in which many people live is one of the causes of these changes, according to Robert Wuthnow, Director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University.

“A radical transformation is in progress related to the means through which people's faith is made real,” writes George Barna in Revolution. Many denominations are developing ways to help their congregations respond to this hunger for deeper faith. Centers for training spiritual guides have sprung up world wide, retreat centers have opened, and publishers churn out hundreds of books and curricula annually. The internet now provides a major resource for faith formation to millions of persons through daily devotions, courses, online retreats, online spiritual guidance, chat rooms, blogs, videos, and podcasts.

Research by Robert Wuthnow, the Barna Research Institute, as well as the work of the Lilly Foundation, and other groups demonstrate the desire of persons to develop their faith in deeper ways and a growing dissatisfaction with some churches as places which foster depth and deeper intimacy with God. George Barna reports that 20 million Christians are looking outside the local church for continued faith development. Barna’s research suggests that by 2025 only one third of the population will rely upon the local congregation as the primary or exclusive means for experiencing and expressing their faith; one-third will do so through alternative forms of faith based community; and one-third will realize their faith through the media, the arts, and other cultural institutions. (George Barna, Revolution, Tyndale House, p 49)

In 2005 a major shift was made in the focus of the Sanctuary. The hermitage, located in the country on a lake, available to guests for nearly 16 years was closed and a determination made to focus the ministry on spiritual guidance, teaching, writing and prayer. In 2006 The Sanctuary became a non profit, The Sanctuary Foundation for Prayer. In 2007 The Sanctuary Fund was established with the Topeka Community Foundation for those wishing to make charitable tax deductable contributions to the work of The Sanctuary Foundation.

The Sanctuary continues to be a mission outpost of living water for thirsty souls as it responds to the need for faith based conversations, intentional spiritual growth, and spiritual friendships through its emphasis on prayer, writing, spiritual guidance, teaching, and retreats.