Why Listening Is a Superpower in Your Church
- Hope Couples Counseling Center
- Sep 16, 2025
- 4 min read
How everyday believers can start helping hurting people without giving advice, solving problems, or going to seminary.
Have you ever had someone say, “Thank you. I just needed someone to listen”?
It might seem small, but that moment is sacred.
In a world full of noise, opinions, and quick fixes, what people are really longing for is presence. A person to be with them, not talk at them. Someone to hear, not just their words, but their heart.
And chances are, someone in your church, maybe even you, already has what it takes to make a difference.
The Church Is Full of Listeners (We Just Haven’t Called Them That Yet)
Every Sunday, people walk into church carrying pain they don’t know how to speak out loud.
They’re grieving a loss that others have moved on from.They’re fighting anxiety behind a polished smile.They’re dealing with marriage struggles, depression, addiction, or loneliness
And a lot of these struggling churchgoers are hoping someone, anyone, might notice.
And while pastors and counselors have a vital role, they’re not the only ones God uses to bring comfort. In fact, they’re not even the first line of care in many cases.
Some of the most powerful healing moments happen:
● Over coffee, not counseling.
● In the hallway, not the prayer room.
● Through a conversation after small group, not a scheduled pastoral meeting.
God has placed people in your church who are already gifted with compassion. People who naturally sit with the suffering. People who listen without judgment. They’re not looking to “fix” others, they’re showing up faithfully.
That’s ministry.
The problem? No one has told them how monumental being a listener is in such a fast-paced world.
Listening Is a Ministry:
At The Church Cares, we train churches to launch lay-led care ministries using a simple biblical model called CARE.
But here’s the secret:The most powerful starting point for any care ministry isn’t expertise. It’s presence.
That’s why the first and most essential skill we teach is how to listen well.
Why? Because most people don’t always need a sermon or a solution. They need a safe space. A person who sees them. A presence that says, “You matter.”
We believe listening is holy work. It’s what Jesus did so often in His earthly ministry:
● He noticed people others ignored.
● He sometimes asked questions instead of giving full-on sermons.
● He lingered with the hurting instead of rushing to solve.
When we listen like that, we reflect the heart of Christ. And we help our churches become the kind of place people turn to when life falls apart.
You Don’t Need to Be a Counselor to Care
It’s a common objection: “I’m not a therapist.”We get it. And here’s our response:
You don’t need to be a counselor to care.
You need:
● A willing heart
● A teachable spirit
● A few simple tools
That’s what our CARE model is built on. It’s a 6-week, biblically grounded video course that trains everyday people to:
● Listen with empathy
● Respond with grace
● Know when and how to refer
It’s simple. Scalable. And deeply spiritual.
We’ve seen greeters, small group leaders, youth parents, and retirees discover that they already have what it takes to care for others. They just needed someone to name it, bless it, and train them up.
The Harvest Is Plentiful—And the Listeners Are Ready
In Matthew 9:37–38 (NIV) Jesus looked out at the crowd and said:
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We usually hear this verse in the context of evangelism. But Jesus was responding to something deeper:
“He saw the crowds and had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (v. 36)
People were suffering. Jesus’ heart was moved. His solution? More workers—not necessarily more experts, but more compassionate presence.
That harvest is still all around us:
● People drowning in grief after the loss of a child
● Parents overwhelmed by their teen’s mental health diagnosis
● Young adults disillusioned by faith but longing for meaning
● Elderly members who feel forgotten and unseen
The Church doesn’t always need to outsource this work. The workers are already in the building.
They just need to be equipped and released.
Commission the Listeners in Your Church
What would happen if, instead of recruiting volunteers to do more, you called out the gifts people already have?
What if you said:
“That thing you do—that ability to sit with someone, to notice when someone’s not okay, to offer prayer and presence without needing to fix anything—that’s ministry. And we want to help you do more of it.”
Something shifts when people realize they’ve been doing God’s work all along. They just needed someone to name it and send them.
This is what the early Church did so well:
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” —Galatians 6:2
You don’t need more programs.
You need more permission-giving.
You don’t need to fix people to be faithful.
You just need to be present.
Want to See Your Church Become a Place That Cares?
Start with what you already have:
● A few people who know how to show up.
● A simple, biblical training to equip them.
● A culture that believes presence is powerful.
We’ll help you with the rest.
Here’s how to begin:
Download the CARE QuickStart Guide – sign up and receive a free, step-by-step starter to help you gather and equip a team.
Preview the 6-week CARE Training – video-based, discussion-driven, and designed for everyday people.
Identify someone to be a CARE Coordinator – not the pastor, but a volunteer who helps organize the team and connects people to the right level of support. This person would help your church move from your current care to a higher, more organized, way of caring for people in your congregation. Once identified, we offer a free coordinator guide with a kit for implementation. Sign up for the kit here.
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