Care and Discernment Groups

This is a reminder that in October I plan to introduce a new means of bringing us together as servants of Christ and members of Church of the Good Shepherd. I plan to start offering listening groups, which I call Care and Discernment Groups, since the purpose is to offer spiritual care to others as we individually and collectively discern God’s work in our lives. These groups of six or seven participants will meet once a week, for the number of weeks that match the number of participants. The group’s goal is simply to listen to each other’s stories to hear where God might be at work in each participant’s life. The sessions will be tightly structured and filled with prayer and periods of silence, as we prayerfully listen to one another. Each week one member of the group will tell a story about something going on in their lives as they struggle to hear God at work in their life. As I said in my sermon on August 10th, most of us are not trained to be good listeners. My dream is that these groups will teach us to be better listeners. Hopefully, improving our interpersonal listening skills will also make us better at hearing God when God is speaking to us. Plus there is great power in being truly listened to, without any attempt, by those listening, to fix or counsel or guide the storyteller.

Past participants in Care and Discernment Groups have told me that these groups were a means of getting to know other parishioners in a deeper way, and they especially appreciated that these were spiritual experiences and not therapy groups since the focus is on shared prayer, meditation and loving listening. They also were grateful that the groups only met for a set number of weeks, and each session lasted only the set time of 75 minutes. So even in our incredibly busy lives, these group sessions were manageable because participants knew the length of their commitment each week.

I would very much like to begin this listening process here at Good Shepherd, and I would like to form an initial group in early October. So if you want to know more about this idea, please talk to me after Sunday services, or call me at the office (831-2004). When you talk with me, please also tell me whether you would prefer to meet in the morning or evening. In late August I will post sign-up sheets to actually gather names of those who want to participate. I will also be available at the Ministry Fair on Sunday, September 14, to talk more about this concept. In the meantime, I look forward to having opportunities to share more about this listening process.

The Rev. Miriam Saxon, Associate Rector