CCS students spent the week of May 7-14, 2025 online listening to one another, and reflecting together on the role of listening in spiritual care.

Student Jenni Krall found it a “wonderful and spirit filled experience.” She appreciated how it invited us to quiet our minds and hearts, centre our spirits, and reflect theologically on simply being – with others, with ourselves, and with the sacred. “This experience was a beautiful reminder of the spiritual practices of awe, attentiveness, and deep listening as vital expressions of ministry and presence.”

The week started with community-building and the question that God (as a still small voice) asked the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19 – “What are you doing here?” The students’ answers varied, but the common theme was a desire to be deeply present in their ministry and to help those in their care feel heard. We reflected on how the experience of not being listened to can leave us feeling isolated, alienated, and disempowered. Throughout the circle we talked about the need to bridle our urge to “fix” people’s problems; sometimes what people need most is a compassionate ear.

We explored how different conversational styles affect the listening relationship. What might feel like enthusiastic engagement and curiosity for one person might be interpreted as interrupting and invasive by another, and what might feel like respectful and patient holding space to one person might be interpreted as cold and uninterested to another. Matching your listening technique to the context and the person is important.

We practiced our listening skills in a role play, offering pastoral care to a fairy tale little pig struggling with anxiety about the possibility of a big bad wolf blowing his house down and troubled by a conflict with its siblings about how best to prepare. We also practiced with “cold call” visits. Sometimes a minister is asked to visit someone they don’t know much about, just that they need or want a visit. During the visiting session, students were dropped into zoom breakout rooms with strangers (to them) and asked to visit – ask good questions, invite deeper reflection, share from your experience but don’t make it all about you. Thank you to our lovely “visitee” volunteers – Elaine, Love, and Judy.

We explored the way Scripture allows us to hear and contextualize pain and grief, but also hope. Far from being a band-aid that makes all the troubles go away, Scripture takes us deeper into the full symphony of human experience. We also explored prayer as listening – listening for the Divine speaking to us – and ways of bringing prayer into spiritual care encounters that are appropriate and authentic.

Spending a week of full days in front of a computer can be challenging. Kim Inglis noted that an online platform is “good for resources, not so great for hugs.” Despite this, she often found herself forgetting that she was online somehow. Jenni echoes this. “Despite being held online, the circle was curated in a gentle and thoughtful manner fostering genuine connection, encouraging stillness, and honouring the sacred space between us.”

The online environment also provided opportunity for laughter. On the first day, Carling’s video camera stopped working. (Problems with a computer software update.) But during a community-building game she discovered that a Zoom avatar would work, so for the whole first day of the circle she participated as a cartoon otter. (She got her camera working the next day, allowing her to share her own facial expressions and movements, but kind of missed her otter persona for the remainder of the week.)

In the weeks leading up to the circle, two teams of student planners researched, reflected on, and designed educational sessions to share during the circle. The student-led sessions focused on “Difficult Conversations” and “Ministry of Presence.” Each session was a thoughtful, creative, engaging exploration of how to be a non-anxious presence in challenging contexts.

Linda Butler and Dawn Rolke joined us online for part of a session to share their professional experiences with counselling and spiritual direction as we teased apart the distinctions (and overlaps) between counselling, therapy, advocacy, spiritual companionship, and pastoral care. Their experiential wisdom, and their transparency, were inspiring and informative.

As is always the case with CCS learning circles, we ended the week with an opportunity to review our learnings and to offer each other feedback – affirmations and encouragements – in a spirit of care and commitment to learning together. Students had insightful and courageous feedback for each other. In our closing session, students contributed to a spiritual care litany – words and phrases they longed to share with others and to hear themselves:

The Divine is speaking to you.
All shall be well.
Don’t be afraid to share more! You have sacred gifts to offer.
You have a welcoming, comforting presence.
You are fragile. And hopeful. And courageous.
You are held in prayer and gratitude for this experience.
I hear you.
I am a safe place for you
You are a leader and a deep listener.
You can set the world down off your shoulders.
May hope always find its own special room in your heart.
Let me hear more about that.
May you experience hope and peace and community.
God is with you.