Sacred Hosting: Creating Space Where People Can Encounter God

Blog by Gem Fadling

Over the course of decades, Alan and I have received multiple renewed visions for our lives and ministry. You might even call them holy downloads or upgrades to our Spirit-guided operating system.

Whatever you call it, every time one emerges if feels like an energizing gift of grace. I experience it as a way the Spirit might keep alive in us our original calling to encourage Christian leaders* and to share our lives in the process.

The most recent renewal of our calling happened earlier this year as we were driving home from our Spring Retreat. Alan and I were giving thanks and talking about the dynamics we loved most about leading such a time.

As we unpacked our thoughts, I realized that the center of what we do is more than teaching, coaching, guiding, or facilitating (although we do those).

At the center, we are simply hosts.

Sacred Hosting

We do our best to create a safe and sacred atmosphere in which people open to grace.

Here at Unhurried Living, we host settings in which people can rise to their optimal receptivity and responsiveness to God, themselves, and one another.

It’s not enough to merely teach to the intellect. We prefer to provide interaction, reflection, solitude, and discernment time so what is learned can be chewed and digested…not merely ingested.

All these layers deepen learning and increase personal ownership and initiative. Not to mention a greater felt sense of God-with-us in our hearts, minds, and bodies, and in whatever we do as we move forward.

Does God Really “Show Up”?

There's another realization that has become deeply connected to this understanding of sacred hosting. Let’s look at a phrase that I am growing to really dislike: God showed up.

I realize that phrase is often used with good intentions to express a spiritually powerful experience. But it would be more accurate to instead say something like “I sensed God’s presence” or “I felt the Spirit moving among us.”

I’m concerned that phrase “God showed up” sends a message to our brains, our hearts, and even to others that might create an unintentional inner divide. I would like to propose that God never “shows up” because God is always already present. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

It matters to me that I remember that God is never elsewhere. I do not need to do anything to call him into my presence or drum up something that makes him want to “show up.”

God is here. God is now. God is love. This is such a great grace that speaks deeply to our minds, hearts, and bodies in a time when it’s easy to feel fractured and alone.

This matters because it changes how I perceive my own role whenever I am gathered with others. If God is already present and already at work, then I don't have to manufacture a spiritual experience. I don't have to persuade God to come near.

My work is more relaxed and joyful. I simply help foster the kind of space where people become more receptive and responsive to the God who has been with them all along.

As I continue to reflect on this image of sacred hosting, I realize that beneath it all is trust. Sacred hosting is simply what leadership looks like when we trust that God is already present and already doing the deepest work.

Our role is not to produce transformation but to prepare a space where people can become more receptive and responsive to God, themselves, and one another.

This is true whether you're a parent, a pastor, a teacher, a team leader, a therapist, a spiritual director, a coach, a friend gathered around a dinner table, or simply someone seeking to love others well.

Wherever we have influence, we have the opportunity to become gracious hosts who trust God's loving activity more than our own ability to make something happen.

God Is at Work

God is already at work in every person I meet, and that work will continue with or without me. What a freeing thought. I have the honor and privilege of joining God in what he is already doing.

Rather than carrying the burden of making something happen, I simply offer my presence, my gifts, and a welcoming space where others can notice and respond to God's gracious activity.

• No matter your vocation or connection to others, what might it look like to think of yourself as a host?
• As you plan events or family outings, retreats or business meetings, what would imagining yourself as a host do for you and your group?
• What new dynamics would emerge?
• What new connections might be made?

Let’s circle back to our own Unhurried Living phrase once more:

We host settings in which people can rise to their optimal receptivity and responsiveness to God, themselves, and one another.

May this be an inspiration for you as you look to God for a refreshed vision of your life and leadership.

For Reflection: 

• You have your own vision and calling. Even so, it might be good to lean into the questions I posed above. Allow yourself to dream a bit about being a sacred host.
• In addition, spend some time asking God for a fresh perspective on your own setting, vision, and purpose. As you listen to him, does anything new emerge?
• What are some refreshed ways you can lean into the God who is already present?

* I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you are reading this, you are a leader. Some may beg to differ. Whether you have an official title or paid position, you have influence in your life, even if it’s simply the leadership of your own soul. And you actually do have more influence than that. I believe you are the kind of person who wants to grow and overflow for good into the lives of others. That is leadership.

Gem Fadling is a founding partner of Unhurried Living, Inc., a non-profit that trains people to rest deeper, live fuller and lead better. She is a trained Spiritual Director and a Certified Life Coach who trains people at the intersection of spiritual leadership and soul care. She co-leads PACE, a two-year leadership formation journey that helps leaders live and lead from spiritual depth rather than depletion. Gem is the co-host of the Unhurried Living Podcast as well as the author of Hold That Thought and co-author of What Does Your Soul Love? Her work has appeared in Propel Women and Our Daily Bread. To connect with Gem and find resources for soul care and leadership, visit unhurriedliving.com or find her on Instagram and LinkedIn.