Listening Matters. This is the golden thread running through this article by Jean Nevills, titled, Find us Faithful: Spiritual Formation & Direction in a Disrupted World. Jean is a spiritual director and she is very aware that uneasiness and dread are two prominent themes being brought into spiritual direction sessions today. She offers encouragement and ideas for spiritual directors and for spiritual friends (me and you) to form a listening posture in today’s climate of shouting pundits and social media wars. Listening matters, now more than ever.
“I’m not sure why, but the church just doesn’t work for me anymore” is an all-too-common sentiment expressed by Christians these days. In his article, Helping Them Stay: Mature Believers and the Local Church, Dr. Ken Van Vliet draws on Hagberg and Guelich’s “six stages of faith” to show how pastors can help those expressing these sentiments continue to mature in the local church. Drawing on 28 years of ministry experience, Dr. Van Vliet offers unique insights and creative practices for cultivating a robust leadership ethos and a mature local church that can meet congregants at any stage on the journey of faith.