Tapestry of Faith: Building the World We Dream About: An Anti-racism Multicultural Program

Activity 1: Next Moves

Activity time: 50 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Newsprint, markers, and tape

Preparation for Activity

  • Title a sheet of newsprint "Group 1" and write:
    • What do you need as individuals and as a group in order to move forward with the work of building an antiracist/multicultural faith community?
    • What actions do you need to take to move the work forward, and in what order?
  • Title a sheet of newsprint "Group 2" and write:
    • How can we sustain the level of commitment we have to doing antiracist/multicultural work?
    • What support do we need and from whom in order to move this work forward?
  • Title a sheet of newsprint "Group 3" and write:
    • What more do we need to learn? What knowledge is missing? From whom can we learn?
    • What additional resources do we need?
  • Title a sheet of newsprint "Group 4" and write:
    • What changes do we need to make within our congregation to make this work attractive to our congregational community?
  • Decide how you will assign participants to the four groups. If you did the case studies activity in Workshops 20 and 21, you might simply invite people to remain in those groups.
  • Make arrangements for four breakout spaces for small groups.

Description of Activity

Invite participants to move into four reflection groups according to the plan you have devised. Give each group markers, one set of questions on newsprint, and several blank sheets of newsprint. Invite them to discuss their questions and list their answers. Allow 25 minutes for this part of the activity.

Ask the small groups to post their responses. Invite all participants to move around the room and read the other groups' responses. Allow 10 minutes for this part of the activity.

Re-gather the large group and lead a discussion with these questions:

  • What phrases or words are repeated from list to list?
  • Is there a metaphor or an overarching theme or phrase that describes what we've learned?
  • What story do we want to tell about our process and what we have learned?

Allow 15 minutes for this discussion.