Other Opportunities

Quilt created by Virginia L. Collins-English

Related Opportunities

In addition to offering Spiritual Direction, directed and guided retreats, and the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, I also facilitate groups of various types, for various lengths of time, in parishes and other faith-based or ecumenical settings. These include:

Bereavement Support Groups

Experience has taught us that the companionship of others can be a gift of comfort and healing. For people who are grieving the loss of a loved one, or are concerned about a loved one who is grieving, and wondering how to be supportive, a bereavement support group is an opportunity to meet with other grieving people, to share prayer, information, experience, and reflection.

I am glad to be the facilitator for such a group, gathering as a small circle in a parish or other setting to meet weekly for a number of weeks. This is my customary practice: I establish an environment of trust and comfort, where each person may participate in shared conversation, or listen in silence. Each session contains both helpful information about living with loss and grief; spiritual sustenance from scripture, poetry, and music; and the consolation of sharing experiences and stories with one another. There is ample time for quiet reflection, and every session begins and ends with prayer.

[Individual bereavement ministry is also part of my practice, offered through Spiritual Direction.]

Days or Evenings of Reflection

Imagine a “mini-retreat” for your local prayer group, your parish, or your book group. Perhaps a full day, or an evening or two, spent in a quiet, peaceful setting. Just as with longer retreats, such experiences may be “guided” with a chosen topic for prayerful consideration, or “silent,” with opportunities for individual conversation.

Small Church Community

A Small Church Community is an inheritance from the very early days of Christianity, when the first followers of Jesus gathered to pray, to remember Jesus and his life and teachings, to share the challenges and joys of their own lives, to deepen their faith, and to love and serve one another.

Is a Small Church Community a course? No. Do you need to know a lot about scripture or church? No. All you need to bring is your open mind, your thirsting heart, your desire for nurturing your faith.

A Small Church Community comes together for a series of weekly meetings, with each meeting shaped around the lectionary readings for the following Sabbath. In a comfortable and informal way, members weave their own faith journeys into the stories of God’s people, as they experience them in scripture, in prayer, and in the open-ended questioning and wonderings they share with one another.

When I facilitate such a group, whether in a parish or elsewhere, I guide the discussion, support the sacred stories of the participants, encourage shared growth, and nurture a trusting, prayerful atmosphere. As we read and share the lectionary readings, I ask participants to reflect: What caught your attention? What moved your heart? What here inspires you, or upsets you? If you have heard these words before, what sounded different tonight? How does all this relate to your own life? What does this mean for today’s world? How might you change or grow because of these words? And, always, we open and close with prayer.

A Small Church Community is an opportunity to become more inspired by the stories and lessons of our faith, to become engaged in the life of Jesus and the church we form in his name.

If you would like to discuss any of these opportunities with me, I welcome a shared conversation.