Simonne Wood
Simonne Wood is Woodbrooke’s Programme Coordinator for Worship & Spirituality. In that role, she organises courses for the worship and spirituality programme, teaches on a…
Monday 25 November - Monday 16 December
The live Zoom sessions are at 19:00-20:45 (UK time) every Monday.
Seeking deeper spiritual connections between F(f)riends? This course offers practical advice for elders and anyone else interested in setting up Spiritual Friendship Groups for themselves or others.
Spiritual friendship is an opportunity for a small group of friends or a pair to engage in explorations of spirituality and spiritual practice, as trusted companions on each other’s spiritual journeys.
This course will support elders and others within a Quaker meeting who are planning or exploring the possibility of setting up spiritual friendship groups to help Friends ‘know each other in that which is eternal’. It is also suitable for anyone interested in setting up a spiritual friendship group outside the structures of a Meeting – perhaps for a geographically dispersed group who will meet online, or for a group of Friends (or others) who have some similarities in their life experiences and would like to reflect on them spiritually together.
We will identify the basic features of spiritual friendship groups and will examine in more depth the model of ‘peer circles’, in which participation and leadership/facilitation is shared amongst the group at different times.
Session 1: Why have a spiritual friendship group? What might it look like?
Session 2: How do we start forming a spiritual friendship group(s)?
Session 3: How do we run a session/series of sessions for a spiritual friendship group?
Session 4: How do we deal with difficulties? How do we evolve, end or leave a spiritual friendship group?
In each session, there will also be the opportunity to have a short time in a ‘practice’ spiritual friendship group.
On the booking form, there is a chance for you to let us know about any accessibility or communication adjustments that will enable you to participate more fully in the course. Automated Zoom closed captions are available for all live sessions but if you feel you require more accurate closed captioning please email us directly in addition to booking.