A Global Community of Accompaniment?

Last Thursday 7th of April, the Discerning Leadership Accompaniment network met for their yearly get-together in a full-day call.

Around 35 members from our accompaniment community, spanning more than 15 different countries and timezones, connected at various times of our online gathering to hear and reflect on different experiences of accompaniment and give thanks for the fruits of our collective work and the learnings of this journey. This gathering comes a year after our first in-person meeting in Rome, and a series of webinars and online gatherings in task forces.

It was a real joy to convene and spend time in prayer, reflection and sharing. We share below some testimonies offered by our members. As we enter the holy Triduum we renew our gratitude to the coaches, spiritual directors and facilitators who have joined us on this journey of serving and accompanying leaders in the Church. We are deeply thankful for your dedication to this sacred work and are grateful to sit at the table together. We wish you a blessed Triduum and a happy Easter week!

“Most days I sit in prayer by myself, trying to ground myself in the Presence of Christ. Some days I have my small local faith community and often we share more daily life challenges than faith expressions. Last Thursday I spent four hours wallowing in the Presence embodied by a global community of fellowship. I was completely overwhelmed by all that has been accomplished behind the scenes and throughout the Program in Discerning Leadership over this last year. Sometimes I think it is moving slowly because change and growth are never fast enough when desperately needed and yet in the year in review I was amazed by all that had been accomplished all over the globe! So many partnerships! So much training! So much deep thinking and expression of faith! We are told we will know the Spirit by Its fruits. That annual update was like a cornucopia!

The sense of community support through peer supervision is refreshing. The consolation is palpable. The message was clear: the process is the content and you are modeling it stunningly. It is obvious Something greater than ourselves is at play here. To get to be in any way a part of it is one of the greatest honors of my life. To learn from all of you and all the others, to support the mission is to taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Thank you for your faithful dedication to this work. Thank you for trusting the Spirit and not needing to be in control or lead through ego. Thank you for carrying those of us in the Accompaniment community as well as those in leadership roles. May you always know that yours is a Holy Exhaustion.”

Article written by Lisa Kelly at https://discerningleadership.org/blog/online-gathering-of-the-accompaniment-community/