In Small Groups

• Read the article 8 Ways God Speaks to Us Today, and then tell each other about times when God has spoken to you in some of the ways cited in the article.
• Read and discuss the short section on Listening from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic book Life Together.
• Read and discuss a book such as Adam McHugh’s The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in an Age of Distraction, Ruth Haley Barton’s Invitation to Solitude and Silence, or Dallas Willard’s Hearing God.

In Intergenerational Groups

• Gather people of all ages to listen to each other’s faith stories. Use these questions from our Faith Storytelling toolkit to spark conversation.
• Shape a summer series or plan a midweek gathering from the multitude of ideas in this list of Intergenerational Activities on the Faith Practice of Listening.

In Discernment Groups

• When someone is facing a big decision or life change, a discernment group can be very helpful. Quakers call these groups “Clearness Committees.” The person who is seeking discernment invites people whose opinion they respect to gather with them to ask thought-provoking questions, but not to give advice. For more on how Clearness Committees work, check out this webpage.

In Worship Services

• Plan a worship series on listening to God. Reformed Worship subscribers can access an outline of a three-service series called Listening to God: Scripture, Spirit, and Stillness.

In Your Community

• Sherman Street CRC’s “Voices of Our Community” project built connections between the congregation and their neighbors. Personal interviews gave people from all walks of life a space to tell their stories. And a photographer took portraits of church and community members sharing their response to the question: “What is your dream?” This project involved lots of listening—and participants learned a lot about each other! How might your church carry out a similar project in your unique context?