The Church is Not a Monologue, She is a Conversation in the Spirit

By Laurika Nxumalo – The Church is not a monologue, she is a conversation in the Spirit. At Pentecost, the Church was born not through a single voice asserting control, but through many voices speaking as the Spirit descended upon the disciples. The Holy Spirit did not impose uniformity, rather He created communion.

This moment reveals a lasting truth – the Church becomes herself when she listens as much as she speaks.

The idea of the Church as a conversation does not deny hierarchy or doctrine, rather, it places them within discernment. Authority in the Church is not meant to replace listening but to safeguard it, ensuring that the conversation remains anchored in Christ rather than drifting into mere opinion. Doctrine is not a script, it is a living tradition that has been handed down, contemplated upon, deepened over time, and applied anew in changing contexts. The Spirit who spoke in the past continues to speak even today, leading the Church into fuller understanding of her role in society.

When the Church slips into a monologue people stop listening because they feel unseen and unheard. A conversational Church does not rush to correct before it understands; she recognises that listening itself can be an act of healing and a form of evangelisation. Jesus models this over and over again in Scripture. He asks questions, He listens to stories, and He lets one go through the confusion before revealing the truth. One example is the road to Emmaus. Christ allowed the disciples to speak of their confusion and disappointment before revealing Himself. When the Church listens well, she reflects the face of Christ, who never treated people as problems to be solved but as persons to be heard and seen.

A Synodal Church

This understanding has become especially visible in the Church’s renewed emphasis on synodality. A synodal Church is not one where everyone simply gets a turn to speak, nor is it a democratic forum driven by majority opinion. It is a Church that trusts that the Holy Spirit is active in the whole People of God. Discernment, then, is less about winning arguments and more about recognising the quiet movements of grace that emerge when people pray, listen, and walk together. Seeing the Church as a conversation in the Spirit also reshapes how Catholics understand belonging. In his Rule, St Benedict reminds monks to “listen with the ear of the heart.” This ancient wisdom invites all Christians into a deeper attentiveness – one that hears beyond words to the Spirit speaking through them. To listen from the heart means noticing the unspoken and recognising that every conversation holds the possibility of grace, if we are willing to receive it.

In practical terms, having a conversation in the Spirit and listening from the heart means pausing before responding, reflecting on the Spirit’s guidance, and asking ourselves – Is this thought, word, or reaction inspired by love, not fear? By unity, not division? By patience, not haste? Listening from the heart requires us to lean into God’s presence in others, trusting that the Spirit can use even the quietest voice to reveal truth, healing, or hope.

As a new office term has just begun within different structures of the Church (parishes, sodalities, etc.), all newly elected leaders are encouraged to listen to one another (laity) and to the clergy with the ear of the heart and conduct all conversations through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, we will be successful in building a synodal Church.

Ms Laurika Nxumalo is the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council Secretary of the Archdiocese of Pretoria. She’s also the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) Council of the Laity Representative of Pretoria, the Deputy Secretary of the SACBC Commission for Synodality, and the Deputy Chairperson of the South African Council of Churches Women’s Forum.