Partners in Covenant
The Art of Spiritual Companionship
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
Partners in Covenant is a guide for the personal formation and spiritual growth of those who seek to become more effective spiritual companions. Filled with concrete experiential examples and reflection tools, Barbara Sheehan's resource provides a practical way for individuals or groups to enter into a peer program. Her sensitivity to a wide variety of cultures and spiritual expressions enhances the book's ability to revitalize the spiritual caring ministry of Christian communities.
Barbara A. Sheehan, SP, is the director of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools urban clinical pastoral education program, a spiritual director, and the founder of the Ministry of Christian Listening, a spiritual companion program.
"In a world so filled with anxiety, stress, and confusion, spiritual companionship is not a nicety--it is a necessity! Partners in Covenant takes seriously the call to help each other to listen to God's promptings. I wish everyone in ministry would read this book as preparation for, or review of, what it means to be a spiritual guide for others. This book does something incredible: it reverences the delicate process of spiritual companionship while at the same time calling us to courageously take our natural spiritual role in carefully encouraging others in their search for God."
--Robert J. Wicks, author of Touching the Holy and Living a Gentle, Passionate Life
"Sheehan argues that spiritual companioning is an art. Those who practice it are not professionals. Those who receive it are neither patients nor clients. Companionship is a charism to be developed by prayer, practice, and supervision. It is a covenantal, not a contractual, relationship requiring an informed commitment and integrity of conscience. Even at points of contention the reader will engage the charism of Sister Sheehan's companioning."
--John Weborg, North Park Theological Seminary
"While spiritual companionship is an aspect of every Christian's life-in-community, this volume is the guidebook for those who hear spiritual companionship as a calling, a discipline; it insightfully explores the complexity and hazards of spiritual 'companioning' and describes the intertwining of psychological and spiritual well-being. It offers no 'one-size-fits-all' depiction of spiritual struggle and development; rather, the author examines the impact of race, gender, and culture on the difficult struggle toward spiritual healing and growth."
--Rev. Jim Gibbons, Vice President, Pastoral Care and Education, Advocate HealthCare, Oak Brook, Illinois
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