Do people seem to turn to you as a person who will give them time and listen to them?
Are you open to new discoveries about faith in your Christian journey?
Are you someone who is seeking to deepen your own ‘walk with God’ through prayer and worship and pondering on the Scriptures?
If your answer to any of these is ‘Yes’ then perhaps God is calling you to be a spiritual companion to others.
WHAT IS A SPIRITUAL COMPANION?
Spiritual companions, (sometimes called spiritual guides or spiritual directors), are mature Christian men and women, who have been specially trained and have the experience and gifts to listen to you and encourage you in your journey of faith. They may be lay or ordained or belong to a religious order.
The exemplar of spiritual companionship, or spiritual direction, from the Scriptures is the story of Jesus meeting the two disciples on the Emmaus Road. The two disciples walked along the road together. The ‘direction’ is about where they are walking to. It is Jesus himself who is their guide. He came to where they were on the road and walked with them, listening, encouraging and gently challenging.
It was Christ himself who opened the Scriptures for them and made himself known in the breaking of the bread. In spiritual companionship one disciple acts as a ‘life servant’ to the other and holds the sacred space so that Christ can come and meet with them both.
A spiritual companion will not tell you how to pray or what to do. He or she understands that it is God who is the prime mover. A good spiritual companion works with you to listen, to notice, to name and to celebrate where God is in your life and then to discern God’s guidance.
People may meet in their companion’s home or a meeting room in a church, but many also offer online meetings or telephone calls or walks if that would be more accessible and/or safer. The frequency and length of meetings can vary, and this is something that needs to be discussed and agreed at the first meeting, but 60-90 minutes every 8-10 weeks is quite common.
Further details on what is invovled in this ministry are below.
If you already feel you are called to this ministry, click the button below to apply to begin the process of discernemnt.
Apply
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What a Spiritual Companion will do
- Listen attentively to the person they walk alongside and to God
- Pray with and for that person
- Help them to explore and to grow in prayer
- Help them to see more clearly how God is calling them and working in their life
- Help them to celebrate the good things God is doing in their life
- Help them to discern where God may be leading
- Encourage them in their faith journey
- Accept the person as they are, whoever they are, without judging
- Treat what they say as confidential within the safeguarding regulations laid down by the Church of England
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Training and Formation for this Ministry
The Diocese of Chelmsford has its own modular course which operates in different centres around the diocese and on different days/times. This is to ensure the course is geographically accessible. The cost is also kept low to ensure it is financially accessible.
The four modules aim to enable participants to explore the roots of this ministry within the Scriptures and Christian Tradition and the way in which they can resource our practice today.
The 4 core modules are as follows:
- Spiritual Companionship and the Scriptures
- Spiritual Companionship and the Christian Tradition,
- Spiritual Companionship and the Big Life Questions.
- Spiritual Companionship: Becoming Hospitality
The first three modules have 6 x 2 hour sessions and the last usually takes the form 4 x 2 hour sessions.
Each session is a blend of personal reflection, input and group discussion and triad work. The sessions are enfolded in prayer. There is an expectation that participants will engage in some personal work during the week, the fruits of which are then shared at the beginning of each session.
Some participants choose to undertake one module as part of their ongoing formation in the ministry they are already offering. Others build the modules into a whole course.
Participants who satisfactorily complete all the modules receive the Bishop of Chelmsford‘s certificate. Completion of the course does not in itself lead to offering this ministry in the diocese.
If someone then wishes to offer this ministry within the diocese, they will go through a discernment and safe recruitment process which may lead to them being authorised by their area Bishop and joining The Diocese of Chelmsford Spiritual Companionship Network.
Training and formation in this ministry is a lifelong experience and commitment and participants are encouraged to engage in other shorter modules and ongoing formation days offered by the diocese, after the core modules have been completed, and as they begin to offer this ministry within the diocese.
For further information, or to have a conversation about the course, please contact Ann Coleman annvcol@gmail.com and she will put you in contact with one of the tutors for your area.
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Requirements for Network Members
Those who are members of The Diocese of Chelmsford Spiritual Companionship Network will be:
- Baptised and confirmed worshipping members of parishes in the Diocese of Chelmsford
- Trained, authorised and safely recruited, having gone through the discernment process outlined above
- Receiving the ministry of spiritual companionship themselves
- Receiving supervision for their ministry
- Up to date with safeguarding training
- Paying attention to their ongoing training and development
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Course costs
Each of the four modules will be charged for seperately as they can be taken as stand alone units.
In 2026 each unit will cost £40.
You will recieve an invoice, via email, after you have attended the first study session of a module. The preferred method of payemnt is by bank transfer.
A Bishop's Certificate will only be awarded on completion of all four modules and on payment of all four fees.
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Course Modules in 2026 - Barking Episcopal Area
Manor Park
Saturdays 10.30 am - 2 pm
Module: Spiritual Companionship and the Scriptures
- April 11, 18, 25
Module: Spiritual Companionship and the Christian Tradition
- June 13, 20, 27
Module: Spiritual Companionship andthe Big Life Questions
- September 5, 19, 26
Module: Spiritual Companionship: Becoming Hospitality
- November 7, 14, 21
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Course Modules in 2026 - Bradwell Episcopal Area
South Shoebury
Thursdays 10 am - 12 noon
Module: Spiritual Companionship and the Big Life Questions
- January 29
- February 5, 19, 26
- March 5, 12
Module: TBC
- May 7
Chelmsford
Tuesdays 6 pm - 8 pm
Module: Spiritual Companionship and the Scriptures
- March 3, 10, 17, 24
- April 7, 14
Module: Spiritual Companionship and the Christian Tradition
- April 21
- May 5, 12, 19
- June 2, 9
Module: Spiritual Companionship and the Big Life Questions
- June 16, 23, 30
- July 7, 14, 21
Module: Spiritual Companionship: Becoming Hospitality
- September 22, 29
- October 6, 13
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Course Modules in 2026 - Colchester Episcopal Area
Venus and dates TBC
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How to apply
If you wish to explore the ministry of Spiritual Companionship, please fill in the application form here.
The details taken on the form will be sent to Ann Coleman, the Director of the Diocese of Chelmsford Spiritual Companionship Network who will take you through the safer recruitment process necessary for entry to the course.