St Peter’s Hall organised a Spiritual Formation Retreat for the Anglican students from 12th to 14th January 2018. Theological students can sometimes forget that knowing about God is never the same as knowing God. Thus, the retreat was a timely and much-appreciated occasion to review and realign our priorities from the beginning of the year and semester. We were blessed to have Reverend Alfred Quah from One Path Ministry to share his experience with us and offer guidance on the subject, “Listening Spirituality: Listening to Self, Listening to God, Listening to Others”.

Through the retreat, we were reminded that listening impacts not just how we listen to God, but also to ourselves and others. Listening is an essential spiritual discipline and disposition that deepens our self-understanding, our relationship with God, and enriches our service of God.

What was equally memorable was the time spent together as a community. The retreat was open to spouses of our students, all of whom were blessed by the fellowship and teaching. Beyond the usual banter and chatter, group sessions gave us the time to share more deeply and offer mutual encouragement. We also experienced the blessing of serving Holy Communion to each other. Being in tune with God involves being in tune with others. Indeed, there are no commandments greater than loving God and our neighbour as ourselves.

Esther Peh (MDiv, Ist Year)