By Rev. Mark Stephenson Executive Director, Pathways to Promise Once, a friend shared with me that she lives with schizo-affective disorder, which sometimes gives her visual hallucinations. A few months later, she called and said, “It’s raining on my television set.” I had never before had someone speak so plainly about a hallucination they were having, and I had to choose how to respond. When we care about someone, we’re tempted to push, cajole, or argue with the person when they express...

By Rev. Mark Stephenson Executive Director, Pathways to Promise Companionship is a way of presence, a relationship responding to isolation and suffering and supportive of healing and recovery. Companionship is rooted in five practices which build on one another, beginning with Hospitality which offers a safe, sacred space in the personal sense. Companions respect every person as an equal, endowed with dignity and agency to set their own course for their lives. Craig Rennebohm, founder of...

By Rev. Mark Stephenson Executive Director, Pathways to Promise In the last blog, I gave an overview of Companionship, and promised to describe its five practices, which begin with hospitality. When picturing hospitality, most of us see ourselves extending an invitation to our homes where we share a meal and conversation. As the first practice of Companionship, The Companionship Movement founder, Rev. Dr. Craig Rennebohm, envisions rest and refreshment flowing out of a much broader...