Becoming a listening church

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

O Holy Spirit, I ask you to descend upon me and give me a heart that listens, a heart that is open, a heart that is flexible, and above all, a heart that respects. O Holy Spirit, there is nothing more important in dialogue, in achieving consensus, than to have in my heart a Christ attitude, the eyes of Christ that view each person having value and therefore the right to be heard. O Holy Spirit give to me the ear of Christ that listens to what every person has to say without prejudging their positions. O Holy Spirit help me listen fully because such listening shows respect in what they have to say.
Amen.

I think this prayer encapsulates all that makes a Listening Church. A Listening Church listens as Jesus listened to all those He encountered in His brief Ministry on earth…a ministry which He urges us to continue.

Listening is not a 2-way conversation, and, for most it is not a skill that comes naturally.

That is why the Acorn Christian Healing Foundation have devised several courses aimed at better equipping men and women to listen in different situations.

Learning to Listen is a course which teaches a basic safe and empowering method of listening to absolutely anybody in any situation… a friend, a family member, a church member, a work colleague or simply somebody you may meet in your daily life.

As Christ’s listening representatives we owe it to ourselves to learn this valuable skill.

The courses will be tutored by myself (Julie Harrington), Paul Ludford and Debbie Youell and all will be held locally. We are flexible as to whether we host daytime or evening courses. Each course consists of 5 sessions and costs £28, but concessions are available.

We plan to start the next course towards the end of October.

Please prayerfully consider whether Jesus wants you to be His listening ear and become a member of a Listening Church.

Julie Harrington
St Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain

For more details please contact Julie Harrington on 023 92594860 or julieandy25@hotmail.co.uk or Paul Ludford on 023 92258133 or paulmarglud@talktalk.net