Revd Liz writes about how providing pastoral care is one of the goals in our Mission Action Plan.

Last Sunday was the annual Benefice All Souls service at St Luke’s. After the service everyone was offered the chance to be listened to if that was something they’d find useful.

Listening is a gift we all can share. But how to be good listeners? There are some basic skills that we can use: eye contact, smiling, nodding, leaning forward slightly, making sure we don’t get distracted by our phones!

One of the goals of our Mission Action Plan is to provide pastoral care in our congregations and wider community. Perhaps the most valuable thing we can do is to listen.

God’s love for us is shown by the fact that God not only gives us God’s word, but also lends us God’s ear. We do God’s work for our brothers and sisters when we learn to listen to them. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Below is a clip from the Pixar Film Inside Out shows that listening well can be difficult. If someone is sharing hard things we can fall into the trap of trying to cheer them up or distract them. But listening well can help to heal. When we listen well, we are loving the people God has brought into our life.