national stewardship conference july 2013 hope amidst uncertainty listening to your community

National Stewardship Conference July 2013Hope Amidst Uncertainty

Listening to your Community

“I had to learn how to hear all over again – to discriminate what was important

from interference, to distinguish

signal from noise”David Runcorn,

author and trainer

Listening is:“… a conscious willed action requiring alertness and vigilance, by which our whole attention is focussed and controlled.”Mother Mary Clare, spiritual guide

Listening is:“… above all else the capacity to be faithfully present to another person.”

David Runcorn, author and trainer

Listening is…“a wholly lived, embodied process

which requires the opening of the self

and a relinquishing of control…it is a tentative process,

involving vulnerability on both sides…”

David Runcorn, author and trainer

“…there is no such thing as casual

listening: all real listening is

deliberate, intentional” David Runcorn, author and trainer

“Listening requires a face to see,

lips to read and a hospitable environment.

It calls for a turning towards the

other” David Runcorn,

author and trainer

Information Triangle

Creative Ideas to find out more about your community

See Handouts

Restore COMMUNITY

One community consultation, 5 Activities

1. Buckets – to vote for different activities they

would like to see happening in the centre

2. Balloons – to celebrate what’s good about the area

3. A map on the wall – for people to write on problems or concerns about the local area

4. Problems in pictures - for people to vote with a sticker which they thought were the area’s biggest problems

5. Computers - one to fill in an online survey and one to make prayer requests

In the middle of the room there were chairs where people could sit and enjoy tasty and free refreshments

Aim: to use all the information they gathered to shape the services they provide in the community centre and to apply for funding

Hearing the Hidden Voices…

…of celebration Listen for the

positives: for the hopes,

dreams and aspirations

Then find ways to celebrate together!

Hearing the Hidden Voices…

…of sufferingSpeak up for those who

cannot speak for themselves:

ensure justice for those who are being crushed

Proverbs 31: 8

• People with disabilities• People with learning difficulties• The homeless – not just rough sleepers…• The mentally ill• Young people – what about those who don’t hang

around on the streets or go to youth clubs?• Parents – how many are at the end of their tether?• The housebound and those in residential homes• Those with dementia • Hidden (family) carers• The bereaved

Listening to your Community

“The difficulties are obvious… But is there is something truly sacramental about those moments when what is being offered is truly heard and received”

David Runcorn, author and trainer