Listening, again

On a sunny October day in 2016, 10 St. Paul people went to Davenport for a three-hour training on listening. It was practical, interactive, and full of newsprint. How to listen one-on-one to another human in a natural but uncommon way, to get beneath the surface, build a relationship with the person and understand who they really are, what they really care about. When the three-hour training was done, the St. Paul people echoed the consensus of other learners (church people from other congregations and a handful of nuns): “We wish it was four hours!” 
At lunch at my house, those 10 bubbled with energy to go listen to other St. Paul people. For a couple months, they did, under the radar, not part of any publicized “campaign.” With a little extra training, they recruited others, doubling the size of the team. The next spring, that team of 20 invited 185 St. Paul people and listened one-on-one to 123.
That first “listening campaign” set priorities for the “Listen, God is Calling” capital campaign, developed the leadership of those listeners, and identified dozens of others with an interest to work together: one group formed “Hope in Action,” John Montieth and others started a new book study group, and another team sought to grow the church.
Now a new 20ish person listening team prepares to launch another listening campaign on August 25. Get ready!