Community of Hope International Opening Gathering

COMMUNITY OF HOPE INTERNATIONAL is a curriculum for pastoral care training especially developed for Episcopal communities by the Reverend Helen Appelberg in 1994. A number of churches in the Diocese of Minnesota currently use COHI training to prepare pastoral caregivers for ministry in their parishes. Pastoral ministry is one of the many ways Jesus calls us to discipleship. It serves to show love of neighbor and how we companion, champion, and care for one another.

COHI training is deeply rooted in Benedictine spirituality. It offers opportunities for discernment, formation, and the praxis of pastoral love and service. Pastoral ministers may make visits to homes, care and rehabilitation facilities, hospitals, and at church. They may serve communion to congregants who are homebound. They are spiritual listeners and companions. They pray with people, celebrate the Daily Offices, and read scripture with individuals, their friends, and families in person and sometime by video and on the phone.

Beginning Saturday, September 21, Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in partnership with the Diocese will offer COHI training in person at Saint Mark’s and on Zoom.

Those who complete Community of Hope training will be able to:

• Actively express Benedictine spirituality in their personal and community relationships.
• Use spiritual listening to care for and support others.
• Recognize Christ’s presence in others and show them the gift of Benedictine hospitality; and
• Experience spiritual growth in a small group guided by The Rule of Saint Benedict.

“It’s about the skills and the practices of spiritual life that prepares each one of us to be open to the other…to believe and trust that the hospitality of the Christian faith is to look for the Christ in the other person, and as we approach them to serve them and in humility provide ministry to them. Our prayer is that the stranger will receive us and look for the Christ in us.”

— Rev. Dr. Helen Appelberg | Community of Hope International Founder

This training is open to all members of ECMN faith communities. Contact helenh@ourcathedral.org to find out more about pastoral ministry.

See more information about each of the sessions here before planning to attend.