Our faith formation – spiritual exploration and growth in faith – is personal and at the same time communal.  It takes interaction with each other – a faith community – to learn, grow, and mature. Specific faith traditions offer spiritual insights learned over a period of time – we aren’t going to find adequate insights to grow and mature our faith on our own. Further, faith communities are often where we learn social mores that nudge us forward more than what we would glean from sitting home alone reading books (“Hey, come put your faith into action by helping at our soup kitchen,” learn about treating each well within a faith community, etc.). Friends, communities (prayer groups, faith circles, book clubs, etc.) and leaders within a faith community can help us avoid taking detours down unproductive rabbit holes.

Within that context, some individuals emerge who provide us with spiritual accompaniment: pastors, spiritual accompanists, faith mentors, spiritual directors, soul friends, and the like. 

Spiritual accompaniment is a relationship in which one individual helps facilitate another’s exploration and continued growth (maturity) in their faith journey.

Spiritual accompaniment takes innumerable forms, such as:

• A youth minister takes a spiritually curious young person “under their wing.”
• Someone at a parish notices that a parishioner “is at loose ends” or “looking for direction in their faith” and takes on a one–on-one faith guidance role.
• A parishioner who is experiencing a life transition – starting college, entering the workforce, having a child, losing a loved one, retiring, etc – asks their pastor for guidance and is directed toward “Hey, X or Y person would be a good person for you to connect with at this time.”
• An individual looking to potentially join a faith tradition – or a different denomination within a tradition – may be assigned a mentor and/or a lay minister to guide their faith inquiry.
• A parishioner may admire a fellow parishioner who has matured in their faith and ask the person for guidance and/or “faith friendship.”
• In various contexts, individuals exist who provide formal spiritual accompaniment (and/or spiritual directors) to individuals looking for direction in their faith. Such accompaniment often takes place when an individually formally seeks this out; during a period of questioning, doubt, or struggle; during periods of transition (life transitions, transitioning from one stage of faith to another); when a person wishes to continually hold themselves accountable in faith.

While spiritual accompaniment sometimes occurs in some kind of a formal or leadership capacity, we can also support each other – in peer or mentor capacities – in our faith journeys. There are a number of ways to support one another:

• Participate in faith groups – book clubs, prayer groups, bible studies, etc. Support and discussion about faith happens within such groups.
• Be welcoming to new people at church – reach out and initiate friendships.
• Reach out to people in your faith community who seem to be at loose ends or are having difficulty – look for ways to be present and supportive.
• Be someone in your faith community who talks about how you experience your faith. Someone may be listening for feet-on-the-ground insights about living one’s faith.
• Consider your faith-related strengths and look for opportunities to discuss those strengths with other people. If prayer is one of your areas of interest, for example, look for opportunities to talk to people about the nuts-and-bolts of cultivating a vibrant prayer life. If you take an interest in community service (running your church’s food bank, etc.), invite people to get involved in service projects.
• Participate in church-based programs that assist people in their faith – becoming a guide or leader in healing prayer groups, grief support groups, faith education classes, etc.
• Have an active prayer life. In order to relate to people in faith, we need to have an active relationship with God. Prayer is a relational activity between us and God (rather than a uni-directional monologue). Prayer is essential for growing in faith.
• Listen to people. Authentic listening is a deeply attentive activity. Hearing people makes it more possible to know “where a person is at” – making it more possible to identify how to support people. Further, being heard is an encouraging activity.
• Recognize that faith development incorporates a whole person – spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and the context of a person’s life circumstances.
• Offer insights or encouragement to people – this can go a long way.

Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist and The Books of the Ages. If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog post, please share it with them (thank you!).