Spiritual Companionship
on the Margins
Accompanying Those Who Walk the Edges of Society and Spirit
A 2-Part Webinar Series from SDI
Presenters
Paul Houston Blankenship-Lai
Don Bisson
Dates
November 17 & 24, 2025
Time
Duration
4 hours (total)
Webinar will be recorded.
“When we are present to another’s pain without trying to fix it, something sacred happens.”
— Fr. Richard Rohr
Spiritual companionship has always found its deepest expression on the margins — in spaces where people experience exclusion, vulnerability, and profound transformation. As spiritual directors and companions, we are often called to walk alongside individuals and communities who live at the edges of dominant culture: those facing systemic injustice, displacement, poverty, incarceration, or experiences of deep otherness.
This webinar invites us to reflect on what it means to offer presence, dignity, and solidarity in these spaces. Through stories, shared wisdom, and contemplative reflection, we will explore how spiritual companionship can become a channel of hope and belonging — not by “fixing,” but by witnessing, honoring, and holding sacred the journeys of those we accompany.
Together, we’ll consider:
- How to ground ourselves spiritually and emotionally for this work.
- The postures of listening and humility needed to companion at the margins.
- Practical ways to honor the wisdom and agency of those we serve.
- How communities of spiritual directors can support one another in this vocation.
Whether you are already accompanying people at the margins or are discerning how your practice might expand in this direction, this conversation will offer inspiration, practical insights, and a shared sense of purpose.
Join us as we lean into this vital and sacred work — listening for the movement where the world’s pain and resilience meet.
“Our ministry is not to bring people to where we are, but to meet them where they are and accompany them on their journey.”
— Henri Nouwen
- Participants from all religious traditions, and spiritual and vocational orientations are welcome to this webinar series.
- No experience is required to attend.
- Each session runs 120 minutes.
- All sessions will be recorded and be viewable for at least 12 months after the last session goes live.
Session Outline
Session 1: Don Bisson
The presentation will have three elements:
What might be elements necessary for initial formation for those called on the margins?
- empathy versus codependency
- rooted in hope not optimism
- listening skills within social realities on the ground
- powerlessness as spiritual practice
What kind of supervision is necessary for those working on the margins?
- awareness of the spirituality of trauma
- destruction of beliefs of God, goodness, love and truth, deepening of the mystery
- discerning the difference between holy and unholy darkness
What are the long term effects?
- cost of double marginalizes on the director
- demand for a deeper spirituality
- living the paradox of the gospels and religious traditions
- confronting our rage as fire for social transformation
Session 2: Paul Houston Blankenship-Lai
TBA
“Being listened to is so close to being loved that most people cannot tell the difference.”
— David Augsburger
When
The webinar series will run 2 consecutive Mondays: November 17 & 24, 2025: 10 AM Seattle/Los Angeles. Find your own local time here.
But if that timing doesn’t work, you can enjoy the webinar any time you like.
Each session is recorded so you can watch at your convenience.
Presenters
Paul Houston Blankenship-Lai
is a spiritual companion who is devoted to a question about how to cocreate loving presences with others through contemplative, creative, and compassionate practice. He received a PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, an MA from Vanguard University of Southern California, and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from San Francisco Theological Seminary. Paul recently published his first book with Fordham University Press called Soul Woundedness: Spirituality on the Streets of Seattle. Paul and his wife Evelyn are gearing up for a big move to Humboldt County, California—and they live with their tender animal companion, Xin-Xin.
Don Bisson
has lived over 30 years in American inner cities in Chicago, Oakland and new York. in multicultural, multiracial and new immigrant communities. He is the founder of the Spiritual Direction Program in the Bronx with over 50 directors being formed with African American and Hispanic formators for poor parishes, housing projects, prisons and new immigrants living in fear. He is partnering in training young religious Anglican and Catholic to do spiritual direction in Liberia, Cameroun, Ivory coast and South Africa. The Marist brothers, the community he belongs to, will be building the first retreat house in West Africa and Don is working on fund raising and also training retreat directors for the project.
Additional Information
- Everyone is invited to participate in SDI Webinars.
- Each session will run 120 minutes. We understand that the timing of the seminar will not be convenient in every time zone on the planet. For those who have trouble making this time, a recorded copy of each session will be made available to all those who sign up.
- CEU credits are available for all those who participate. SDI will provide a certificate of completion for self-reporting to agencies. More information can be found here: continuing education units (CEUs).
- Cost: $39 or less for SDI members. Non-members please contact [email protected] for your pricing
- Scholarships are available for those facing financial hardship. Please apply here.
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