Every Context Tells a Story: Teaching the Art of Listening to People and Place

Authors

  • Lisl Heymans Paul

Keywords:

Context, Hermeneutic from below, Listening

Abstract

Every context tells a story, and listening to people and place is an essential skill that emerging ministry practitioners must learn in order to engage in transformative and sustained ministry practice. This article presents a field education curriculum at GarrettEvangelical Theological Seminary grounded in a hermeneutic of accompaniment. Through Gemba walks, listening conversations, power analysis, asset mapping, and communal storytelling, students learn to listen to people and place, joining the story God is already unfolding in their ministry context.

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Published

2026-04-25

Issue

Vol. 46 No. 46 (2026): HOLY GROUND: PLACE, PRESENCE, AND FORMATION FOR MINISTRY

Section

ARTICLES

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