Eric Massanari's guest appearances

Eric Massanari

SDI Encounters

Ed Bastian

Roshi Joan Halifax

Richard Rohr

Amy Eilberg

Joan Chittister

Sean Murphy

Lauren Tuchman

Diane Millis

Carla Howard

Mirabai Starr

Pat McCabe

Langston Kahn

Dave Brown

Jamal Rahman

Azra Rahim

OwlTail

In this interview we talk to Eric Massanari, Chair of the SDI Board of Directors. Eric invites all SDI Members to join him and the rest of the SDI Board for virtual teatime gatherings on March 10, 2023. Learn about what it's like to serve on the Board and bring your questions! Bring your tea or coffee to this informal online gathering on March 10th at either 10am Pacific, or at 4pm Pacific! Register here. On a related note, the Board is accepting applications and nominations for new members to serve. the role comes fiduciary, visionary, strategic planning, and Executive Director oversight responsibilities. As part of this Board’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, we strongly encourage people from diverse backgrounds, gender identities, ethnicities, nationalities, and religious traditions and/or spiritual orientations to apply. We deeply value, cherish, and encourage applicants from these diverse areas, and others.” Eric Massanari (he/him) is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite tradition, living in northern Washington state where he serves as the Executive Conference Minister for the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA. He also maintains a private practice in spiritual direction. Eric has served on the SDI Board of Directors since 2018 and brings a passion for inter-faith and inter-spiritual connections, community formation, peace and justice building, and companioning people who are at diverse places on the spiritual journey. An avid poet and essayist, Eric is a contributing author of An Open Place: The Ministry of Group Spiritual Direction. In his own words: “I celebrate how spiritual companioning takes so many vital forms across time, place, traditions and cultures. In its myriad expressions it’s a practice that our world needs now more than ever, as together we seek the paths that make for enduring peace.”

In this interview we talk to Eric Massanari, Chair of the SDI Board of Directors. Eric invites all SDI Members to join him and the rest of the SDI Board for virtual teatime gatherings on March 10, 2023. Learn about what it's like to serve on the Board and bring your questions! Bring your tea or coffee to this informal online gathering on March 10th at either 10am Pacific, or at 4pm Pacific! <a href="https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-events/free/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Register here</a>. On a related note, the Board is accepting applications and nominations for new members to serve. the role comes fiduciary, visionary, strategic planning, and Executive Director oversight responsibilities. As part of this Board’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, we strongly encourage people from diverse backgrounds, gender identities, ethnicities, nationalities, and religious traditions and/or spiritual orientations to apply. We deeply value, cherish, and encourage applicants from these diverse areas, and others.” Eric Massanari (he/him) is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite tradition, living in northern Washington state where he serves as the Executive Conference Minister for the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA. He also maintains a private practice in spiritual direction. Eric has served on the SDI Board of Directors since 2018 and brings a passion for inter-faith and inter-spiritual connections, community formation, peace and justice building, and companioning people who are at diverse places on the spiritual journey. An avid poet and essayist, Eric is a contributing author of An Open Place: The Ministry of Group Spiritual Direction. In his own words: “I celebrate how spiritual companioning takes so many vital forms across time, place, traditions and cultures. In its myriad expressions it’s a practice that our world needs now more than ever, as together we seek the paths that make for enduring peace.”

Eric Massanari - SDI Board Chair - An Invitation to Community

Eric Massanari, M.Div., is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA, living in Newton, Kansas where he serves as a spiritual director and the chaplain of a continuing care community for older adults. He serves on the SDI Coordinating Council, where he brings a passion for inter-faith learning, community building, and companioning people who are exploring the fertile ground of elderhood and those who are nearing the end of life. An avid poet and essayist, and a personal good friend.   Part 2 of my conversation with Eric Massanari focuses on the topic of death and companioning people at end of life. Last week we learned about what it means to be curious. Inquisitive. Leaning into the unknown and dwelling there in a state of openness and hospitality. As a chaplain Eric encounters and companions a lot of people who are at the end of their life, and who pass on. This also awakens in him a sense of curiosity and humility about his own life, which opens him up to a deep sense of gratitude, and compassion for others. I (Matt Whitney) am so grateful to Eric for his openness and vulnerability in the questions I ask him around his companioning work. What I heard from him was not specific worded answers to these questions, but rather reflection on how he’s living out these questions every day, and by doing so means leaning further and further into a place of not-knowing. --- Support for this week’s podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming contemplative writing retreat, called: Writing at the Edge of the World, June 15th through June 19th, 2020, on beautiful Orcas Island in Washington State, USA. Led by award-winning writer Tania Casselle, and NEA Fellow and Zen Teacher Sean Murphy, this retreat is designed to meet you wherever you are on your creative journey. You’ll leave with a notebook full of writing, and a fresh set of tools to invigorate your creative voice. Learn more on our homepage, sdiworld.org – and you’ll find the Writers Workshop in the homepage slider.

Eric Massanari, M.Div., is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA, living in Newton, Kansas where he serves as a spiritual director and the chaplain of a continuing care community for older adults. He serves on the SDI Coordinating Council, where he brings a passion for inter-faith learning, community building, and companioning people who are exploring the fertile ground of elderhood and those who are nearing the end of life. An avid poet and essayist, and a personal good friend. Part 2 of my conversation with Eric Massanari focuses on the topic of death and companioning people at end of life. Last week we learned about what it means to be curious. Inquisitive. Leaning into the unknown and dwelling there in a state of openness and hospitality. As a chaplain Eric encounters and companions a lot of people who are at the end of their life, and who pass on. This also awakens in him a sense of curiosity and humility about his own life, which opens him up to a deep sense of gratitude, and compassion for others. I (Matt Whitney) am so grateful to Eric for his openness and vulnerability in the questions I ask him around his companioning work. What I heard from him was not specific worded answers to these questions, but rather reflection on how he’s living out these questions every day, and by doing so means leaning further and further into a place of not-knowing. --- Support for this week’s podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming contemplative writing retreat, called: Writing at the Edge of the World, June 15th through June 19th, 2020, on beautiful Orcas Island in Washington State, USA. Led by award-winning writer Tania Casselle, and NEA Fellow and Zen Teacher Sean Murphy, this retreat is designed to meet you wherever you are on your creative journey. You’ll leave with a notebook full of writing, and a fresh set of tools to invigorate your creative voice. <a href="https://www.sdiworld.org/events/special-events/writing-retreat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn more on our homepage, sdiworld.org – and you’ll find the Writers Workshop in the homepage slider.</a>

EP057 - Companioning with Death and the Dying - Eric Massanari - Part 2

Eric Massanari, M.Div., is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA, living in Newton, Kansas where he serves as a spiritual director and the chaplain of a continuing care community for older adults. He serves on the SDI Coordinating Council, where he brings a passion for inter-faith learning, community building, and companioning people who are exploring the fertile ground of elderhood and those who are nearing the end of life. An avid poet and essayist, and a personal good friend. Eric joined me for a conversation about his work as a spiritual companion, which we’ve turned into two episodes. The first one, here, touches on curiosity – which here I would define as a posture of listening that is genuinely inquisitive and engaged with someone they are listening to. And not just curious about what that person is saying or thinking or feeling, but curious also about the ways the listener finds themselves responding to what they are receiving. Part 2 of this conversation will come out in our next episode, where we focus on the topic of death and companioning people at end of life.  --- Support for this week’s podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming contemplative writing retreat, called: Writing at the Edge of the World, June 15th through June 19th, 2020, on beautiful Orcas Island in Washington State, USA. Led by award-winning writer Tania Casselle, and NEA Fellow and Zen Teacher Sean Murphy, this retreat is designed to meet you wherever you are on your creative journey. You’ll leave with a notebook full of writing, and a fresh set of tools to invigorate your creative voice. Learn more on our homepage, sdiworld.org – and you’ll find the Writers Workshop in the homepage slider.

Eric Massanari, M.Div., is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA, living in Newton, Kansas where he serves as a spiritual director and the chaplain of a continuing care community for older adults. <a href="https://www.sdiworld.org/about-us/servant-leaders/coordinating-council" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">He serves on the SDI Coordinating Council</a>, where he brings a passion for inter-faith learning, community building, and companioning people who are exploring the fertile ground of elderhood and those who are nearing the end of life. An avid poet and essayist, and a personal good friend. Eric joined me for a conversation about his work as a spiritual companion, which we’ve turned into two episodes. The first one, here, touches on curiosity – which here I would define as a posture of listening that is genuinely inquisitive and engaged with someone they are listening to. And not just curious about what that person is saying or thinking or feeling, but curious also about the ways the listener finds themselves responding to what they are receiving. Part 2 of this conversation will come out in our next episode, where we focus on the topic of death and companioning people at end of life. --- Support for this week’s podcast comes from SDI’s upcoming contemplative writing retreat, called: Writing at the Edge of the World, June 15th through June 19th, 2020, on beautiful Orcas Island in Washington State, USA. Led by award-winning writer Tania Casselle, and NEA Fellow and Zen Teacher Sean Murphy, this retreat is designed to meet you wherever you are on your creative journey. You’ll leave with a notebook full of writing, and a fresh set of tools to invigorate your creative voice. <a href="https://www.sdiworld.org/events/special-events/writing-retreat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learn more on our homepage, sdiworld.org – and you’ll find the Writers Workshop in the homepage slider.</a>