BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 8: COMMITMENTS
BY MARK HICKS
© Copyright 2012 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 11:46:04 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
We humans are deeply, fundamentally, inescapably, relational beings. Our spirituality, our experiences of the sacred, revolves around how we relate to ourselves, to each other, to the cosmos. — Rev. Peter Morales, in Bringing Gifts, a publication of the Latino/Latina Unitarian Universalist Networking Alliance
This workshop invites participants to reflect on their experiences in Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults and to consider the commitments they each will make to continue the work going forward. The program ends with a worship service the group plans together that provides space for participants to bear witness to one another's experiences and commitments and to celebrate the work the group has done together.
If there are musicians in your group, invite them to bring along their instruments. You may also opt to recruit a volunteer musician who will serve as accompanist for the worship service.
Before leading this workshop, review the accessibility guidelines in the program Introduction under Integrating All Participants.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Reflections and Commitments | 45 |
Activity 2: Planning the Closing Worship Service | 40 |
Closing | 30 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
As you prepare to lead this final workshop, spend some time reflecting on how your own understanding of and commitment to antiracism and multiculturalism have deepened. Consider the following questions:
What would you tell a friend or colleague about your experience?
WORKSHOP PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Light the chalice or invite a participant to light it while you read Leader Resource 1 aloud. Remind participants of the spirit of their covenant. Share the goals of this workshop.
If you are taking a group photo, do so now.
ACTIVITY 1: REFLECTIONS AND COMMITMENTS (45 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Call attention to the posted questions and invite participants to journal in response to one or more of them. Explain that there will be opportunities both in small groups and in worship to name out loud the commitments each person will make to continuing the work of building the world we dream about. Allow 15 minutes for journaling and personal reflection.
Review the rationale for race-based reflection groups or caucuses, using the information in Workshop 5, Leader Resource 1. Invite each participant to choose one of three groups:
People who are White
People of Color and those from racially or ethnically marginalized groups
Biracial or multiracial people or people who find they are not able to identify with the White or People of Color groups
Note: If you chose not to use racial or ethnic identity-based reflection groups, invite participants to move into the small reflection groups established in Workshop 3.
Indicate where each group will meet. Review the serial testimony protocol. Explain that each participant will have up to five minutes to share some reflections on the posted questions. Participants should use the serial testimony protocol to keep the group on track.
ACTIVITY 2: PLANNING THE CLOSING WORSHIP SERVICE (40 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Introduce the activity using these or similar words:
We are going to plan a worship service to create a sacred space for us to share our reflections about the experience of this program with one another and to bear witness to each of our commitments to move forward with the work of building the world we dream about.
Distribute Handout 1, Planning the Worship Service. Invite participants to consider their own journal entries as well as the questions on the handout. Ask:
Invite everyone to work together to plan a service that will run less than 30 minutes. Use the suggested order of service in Handout 1 as a guide. Encourage participants to record the plan on newsprint. Decide whether to establish an order for reflections or to let people speak as the spirit moves them. Choose the music for the service, referring to Singing the Living Tradition as needed. If the group includes musicians, ask if they have musical selections they would like to offer. If you have recruited a guest musician, prepare to welcome and orient that person as to your plans.
CLOSING (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Conduct the worship service you planned.
Distribute Taking It Home and Handout 2 (unless you plan to email it), calling attention to the request for evaluation and feedback. Thank participants for their investment in the program. Extinguish the chalice.
Including All Participants
Prepare a large-print version of Taking It Home for participants who may be visually impaired.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few moments right after the workshop to check in with each other. Ask yourselves:
TAKING IT HOME
We humans are deeply, fundamentally, inescapably, relational beings. Our spirituality, our experiences of the sacred, revolves around how we relate to ourselves, to each other, to the cosmos. — Rev. Peter Morales, in Bringing Gifts, a publication of the Latino/Latina Unitarian Universalist Networking Alliance
Set aside some time to reflect on the experience of participating in Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults.
Complete Handout 2, Final Evaluation and send it to [e-mail address].
BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT: WORKSHOP 8:
HANDOUT 1: PLANNING THE WORSHIP SERVICE
Plan a worship service that inspires participants and allows them to bear witness to one another's commitments to take on the work of building antiracist, anti-oppressive, multicultural communities and groups in all areas of your lives. Use the questions and template below as a guide.
I. QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
II. SUGGESTED ORDER OF WORSHIP
OPENING READING
In my vision of a Beloved Community, I see a dazzling, light-filled, breathtakingly beautiful mosaic, a gigantic, all-encompassing mosaic, where each of us can see, can really see, and deeply appreciate each piece. We know that each piece is of immeasurable value. We know that each piece is part of a larger whole, a larger whole that would not be whole, indeed would not BE, without each piece shining through, and being seen and appreciated as its unique self. — Marla Scharf, First Unitarian Church of San Jose, California
OPENING HYMN
Choose a hymn that speaks to the journey you have undertaken and will continue. Possibilities in Singing the Living Tradition include "I'm On My Way" (Hymn 116) and "Guide My Feet" (Hymn 348).
EXPRESSIONS OF OUR EXPERIENCE
Choose three or four people to share a two- or three-minute reflection on their experience.
MOMENT OF SILENT REFLECTION
HYMN
Choose a hymn that acknowledges how challenging this work has been and will be and expresses a promise to continue—a quieter, more meditative hymn, such as "Spirit of Life" (Hymn 123) or "There Is More Love Somewhere" (Hymn 95).
EXPRESSIONS OF OUR EXPERIENCE
Choose three or four people to share a two- or three-minute reflection on their experience.
MOMENT OF SILENT REFLECTION
HYMN
Choose a hymn that speaks to how joyful and soul-enriching this work has been and will be. Possibilities in Singing the Living Tradition include "For All That Is Our Life" (Hymn 128) and "I've Got Peace Like a River" (Hymn 100).
EXPRESSIONS OF OUR EXPERIENCE
Choose three or four people to share a two- or three-minute reflection on their experience.
MOMENT OF SILENT REFLECTION
COMMITMENTS
Invite participants, as they are moved, to give voice to a commitment they make to continue this work and to light a candle.
CLOSING HYMN
Choose an upbeat hymn that expresses hope, such as "We'll Build a Land" (Hymn 121; consider using the alternate words to the chorus from Workshop 5, Handout 5), "Love Will Guide Us" (Hymn 131), or "One More Step" (Hymn 168; consider replacing the word "step" with "move" to fully include people with mobility limitations).
CLOSING WORDS
If you are who you were,
and if the person next to you is who he or she was,
if none of us has changed
since the day we came in here—
we have failed.
The purpose of this community—
of any church, temple, zendo, mosque—
is to help its people grow.
We do this through encounters with the unknown—in ourselves,
in one another,
in "The Other"—whoever that might be for us,
however hard that might be—
because these encounters have many gifts to offer.
So may you go forth from here this morning [afternoon, evening]
not who you were,
but who you could be.
So may we all. — by Erik Walker Wikstrom (used with permission)
BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT: WORKSHOP 8:
HANDOUT 2: FINAL EVALUATION
We humans are deeply, fundamentally, inescapably, relational beings. Our spirituality, our experiences of the sacred, revolves around how we relate to ourselves, to each other, to the cosmos. — Rev. Peter Morales, in Bringing Gifts, a publication of the Latino/Latina Unitarian Universalist Networking Alliance
Which activities, experiences, models, and methods in Building the World We Dream About helped you stretch or deepened your understanding of race and equity?
Please describe a particular activity that was successful in helping you learn.
Please describe an activity that was less effective for you or disappointed you.
What did you learn about how race, ethnicity, power, and privilege play out in your congregation and in the world?
How did the program shift your approach to thinking about and doing antiracist, anti-oppressive, multicultural work?
What do you consider the greatest challenges of doing antiracist, anti-oppressive, multicultural work?
If you were to write a letter to a mentor or friend about this experience, what would you say?
BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT: WORKSHOP 8:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: THE SHAKING OF THE FOUNDATIONS
From The Shaking of the Foundations by Paul Tillich.
Sometimes . . . it is as though a voice were saying: "You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. . .
In the light of this grace we perceive the power of grace in our relation to others and to ourselves. We experience the grace of being able to look frankly into the eyes of another, the miraculous grace of reunion of life with life. We experience the grace of understanding each other's words. We understand not merely the literal meaning of the words, but also that which lies behind them, even when they are harsh or angry . . . We experience the grace of being able to accept the life of another, even if it be hostile and harmful to us, for, through grace, we know that it belongs to the same Ground to which we belong, and by which we have been accepted. We experience the grace which is able to overcome the tragic separation of the sexes, of the generations, of the nations, of the races, and even the utter strangeness between humans and nature. Sometimes grace appears in all these separations to reunite us with those to whom we belong. For life belongs to life.
And in the light of this grace we perceive the power of grace in our relations to ourselves . . . because we feel that we have been accepted by that which is greater than we. . . We cannot force ourselves to accept ourselves. We cannot compel anyone to accept himself [sic]. But sometimes it happens that we receive the power to say "yes" to ourselves, that peace enters into us and makes us whole, that self-hate and self-contempt disappear, and that our self is reunited with itself. Then we can say that grace has come upon us.
FIND OUT MORE
The UUA Multicultural Growth & Witness staff group offers resources, curricula, trainings, and tools to help Unitarian Universalist congregations and leaders engage in the work of antiracism, antioppression, and multiculturalism. Visit www.uua.org/multicultural (at www.uua.org/multicultural) or email multicultural@uua.org (at mailto:multicultural@uua.org) to learn more.