Creative Conversations

17/06/2026

05/06/2026

What happens when we slow down long enough to read together, think together, and explore ideas that shape our practice?

Join us for our next Narrative-Informed Reading Group as we engage with thought-provoking texts that invite reflection on story, identity, relationships, ethics, and the practice of care.

This is not a lecture or an academic seminar. It is a conversational space where practitioners, students, pastoral caregivers, therapists, and anyone curious about narrative ideas can gather around a shared reading and learn from one another.

Together we will:
✨ Explore key narrative concepts
✨ Reflect on their relevance to our work and lives
✨ Share insights, questions, and experiences
✨ Connect with others who value thoughtful and collaborative learning

Whether you are new to narrative practice or have been walking this path for years, you are warmly welcome. RSVP on https://www.creativeconvo.org/event-list

Come curious. Come reflective. Come ready for conversation.

04/06/2026

*Stories that Shape Us, Care that Holds Us
Pastoral Counselling Conference October 2026*

How do faith communities respond to trauma, silence, mental health challenges, grief, and social suffering?

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

We invite ministers, pastoral caregivers, counsellors, academics, students, community practitioners, and researchers to contribute papers, workshops, and poster presentations for the Pastoral Counselling Conference 2026.

Themes include:
• Mental Health and the Church
• Trauma and Resilience
• Ethics and Dignity in Care
• Narrative and Contemplative Practice
• Community-Based Models of Care
• Radical Hospitality and Belonging

📅 Submission Deadline: 10 July 2026
📍 Benoni, South Africa
🗓 Conference Dates: 29–30 October 2026

Join us in creating a space of ethical care, reflection, dialogue, and hope.

For more information and to submit your proposal:
https://forms.gle/wEUMczcr85Sfb27R6

This Conference will be hosted by: Centre for Faith & Community - University of Pretoria, Department of Practical Theology and Mission Studies - University of Pretoria, Creative Conversations and Northfield Methodist Church

27/05/2026

In a world that moves quickly and asks much of us, gratitude gently calls us back to what matters most — kindness, connection, love, and the quiet gifts we so easily overlook.

Join Anne and Heather online for the June Morning of Reflection. Contact Anne directly to reserve your spot or to find out more on [email protected]

21/05/2026

What kind of listening makes space for dignity, complexity, faith, grief, hope, resistance, and healing?

Our upcoming Narrative-Informed Pastoral Counselling Training invites participants into a thoughtful and deeply human way of accompanying others.

This course explores:
✨ narrative-informed pastoral care
✨ reflective and ethical listening
✨ asking meaningful questions
✨ externalising conversations
✨ trauma-aware and compassionate practice
✨ spirituality, identity, grief, and meaning-making
✨ practices of curiosity, respect, and non-judgement

For more info visit www.creativeconvo.org

12/05/2026

There are some meaningful conversations and creative spaces unfolding in the coming months through Creative Conversations — each offering an opportunity to pause, reflect, learn, and reconnect with the stories that shape our lives.

Upcoming offerings include:

✨ Exploring Images of God in Pastoral Conversations
✨ Using Photographs in Narrative Conversations
✨ Narrative-Informed Counselling Training
✨ Weaving Stories: A 7-Day Narrative & Expressive Arts Intensive
✨ Online Reading & Reflection Gatherings
✨ Retreats & Mornings of Reflection

These spaces are designed for counsellors, pastors, healthcare professionals, caregivers, and anyone drawn to thoughtful, compassionate and story-centred ways of engaging with others.

Whether you are seeking professional development, personal reflection, creative renewal, or deeper pastoral practice, we would love to journey with you.

More details and registration information coming soon.
To express interest or receive updates, please contact us directly.

07/05/2026

This Narrative Pastoral Training Course invites clergy, counsellors, chaplains, therapists, pastoral caregivers, and helping professionals into a reflective and practice-oriented learning space rooted in dignity, curiosity, ethics, and hope.

Together we will explore:

Narrative approaches to pastoral care
Listening beyond problems and diagnoses
Faith, identity, trauma, and meaning-making
Images of God in pastoral conversations
Practices of accompaniment, reflection, and re-authoring
Creative and contextual approaches to care in the South African context

This is not simply a course about techniques — it is an invitation into a different way of listening and being present with people’s stories.

Suitable for both experienced practitioners and those wanting to deepen their pastoral presence and conversational skills.

Come join a learning community committed to compassionate, thoughtful, and life-giving pastoral practice.

Contact Nicky on [email protected] for more information
Visit www.creativeconvo.org/events-list to register

04/05/2026

Join Heather and Anne for a quiet morning as we discover together, with deep gratitude, the movement of God in our lives.

Fr Dennis Hamm, SJ, a scripture professor at Creighton University talks about reviewing your day as a prayer of “rummaging for God.” He likens it to “going through a drawer full of stuff, feeling around, looking for something that you are sure must be there.” We look back on the day, rummaging through the “stuff,” and finding God in it. We know he’s there.

To register contact Anne [email protected]

02/05/2026

Our newsletter went out today. Have you received yours? Are you on our mailing list?

There is a quiet truth that often goes unnoticed in the stories we tell about our lives: we do not arrive here on our own.

If we pause for a moment, we can begin to trace the presence of others— those who have shaped us, guided us, challenged us, and believed in us. Mentors, teachers, companions, authors, supervisors, family members and friends… people whose words have stayed with us long after they were spoken.

In many ways, we stand on their shoulders.
Not always in obvious ways.
Sometimes in a phrase that returns at just the right time.
A question that shifted how we saw something.
A way of listening that we now find ourselves offering to others.

This month, I’ve been reflecting on the people whose influence continues to echo in my work. Those who taught me to listen more carefully. To slow down. To trust the unfolding of a story rather than rush to resolve it. Their presence is often felt in the questions I ask, in the pauses I allow, and in the way I try to hold space for others.

Perhaps this is an invitation for you as well:
Who are the people whose shoulders you stand on?
What have they offered you—intentionally or otherwise—that continues to shape how you live or work?
And as you notice this, another question might gently follow:
How might what you have received now be offered forward,
in the way you listen, accompany, or care?

To see all the events we have on offer, visit www.creativeconvo.org

20/04/2026

We invite you to join our upcoming Pastoral Narrative Course, designed for those engaged in pastoral care, counselling, and accompaniment.

This course, starting at the end of May, will explore:

Narrative approaches to pastoral conversations
Listening for meaning, identity, and preferred stories
Practices that support dignity, agency, and ethical care
Integrating reflective and contemplative attentiveness into practice

Visit https://www.creativeconvo.org/event-list for more information or to register