Faculty Spotlight: Marcella Kraybill-Greggo
Marcella Kraybill-Greggo, MSW, LSW
Director of Spirituality Programs
Director of Spiritual Direction Training Program
The sound of the singing bowl invites us … “Come into the presence of God; pause from your normal daily activity, notice your breath, and be right here … right in this very moment … the only moment where God can be found.”
Following this sacred pause, the small group is invited to notice how they arrive …
“Take a moment and do a gentle inner scan: How is it that you come today … how do you arrive?” A one word check-in is placed in the Zoom chat box. Words such as 'open,' 'tired,' 'eager,' 'pensive,' 'anxious,' and 'calm' begin to appear in the chat box.
Each of us honestly naming ourselves into the circle. “Welcome, welcome, welcome … each part of you, welcome,” I gently offer. “Be right where you are … no need to change anything. Where you are … is where God is.”
Each month when we gather for our two-hour Group Spiritual Companioning circle, this is how we begin.
Gently … honestly … opening up space as a group … together … and within ourselves. A pause in our normal daily activity, to listen to and for the ‘still small voice of God’… together. For the remainder of the two hours together we each take turns sharing honestly where we are finding God in our lives at the moment, or where we wish to find God. We pause between sharings for silence … listening for what God might want to share. Then we take turns offering our noticings. The two hours pass very quickly, as we are caught up in hearing the heart sharings of our companions on the journey.
Group Spiritual Companioning groups launched over this past year, a continuation of the vision of the Moravian Church, Northern Province, to offer a space for spiritual companionship and formation. Dave Bennett and Betsy Miller invited me to partner with the Moravian Church Northern Province, to continue the vision that began so many years ago in the Choir System of the 18th Century Moravians. This vision was reignited in 2014 by Rick Beck, Peg Griener, Linda Toggert, Bertie Knisley, and others who said ‘yes’ to the invitation to gather Moravians in intentional Group Spiritual Companioning groups. As Director of Spirituality Programs and the Spiritual Direction Training Program at Moravian Theological Seminary, my partnership with the Northern Province is a continuation of my passion to offer sacred space to listen deeply for the presence of God.
A participant in a Group Spiritual Companioning group shared what this experience has meant:
“Group Spiritual Companioning has been a safe harbor in an unpredictable journey these last several months. Marcella has welcomed us into space to 'be' and to 'be still' in community. Even in a virtual format, I have experienced the palpable relief of the group as we set aside the many tasks of the day to reconnect with the presence of God, that is with us and communicating with us always. I always leave the circle feeling hopeful. I leave more open to offering that same grace to others.”
If you are interested in participating in a Group Spiritual Companioning group, new groups will be launching again soon. Please send an email to kraybill-greggom@moravian.edu and/or speak with your pastor.