A team of two or more adults who have experience as congregational leaders should facilitate the Harvest the Power workshops. Work with a partner to plan the workshops together and share the facilitation responsibilities.
Be intentional about bringing different perspectives and different experiences to your facilitation team; for example, you might consider having people of different genders, including non-binary, different racial identities, or different age cohorts working together.
Workshop facilitators may be laypersons or religious professionals. Facilitators will be most effective if they have the following strengths:
- Experience in congregational leadership as a member of the governing board, a committee chair, a leader in the young adult group, or in some other leadership capacity
- The time and willingness to prepare thoroughly for each workshop and to take appropriate action in the event of unexpected cancellations
- Experience in facilitating a group process
- The ability to create a supportive group environment
- A willingness to listen deeply and to let “answers” emerge from the group process
- Integrity, and the ability to maintain strong boundaries, especially in the midst of challenging conversations
- Respect for the congregation and its mission
- A commitment to Unitarian Universalist Principles and to the faith development components of this curriculum
- Respect for individuals, regardless of age, race, social class, gender, sexual orientation, and ability, and the willingness to modify workshop plans to support the full inclusion of all participants
- Willingness to support healthy group process by reinforcing ground rules politely and confidently.
Facilitators must be capable of creating and nurturing a supportive, respectful community within the workshops; following congregational safety guidelines and policies; and modeling respect for the congregation, its mission, and its lay and professional leadership throughout the course of the workshop.
