Leader Guidelines
Part of What Moves Us
It is very helpful for leaders to prepare by reading through and reflecting on Workshop 10, Thandeka, to gain understanding of the author's Unitarian Universalist Theology of Personal Experience. This theological frame determines the approach she uses to engage with the lives and work of those profiled in the workshops.
Leaders are urged to pay particular attention to their own intellectual, emotional, and spiritual preparation for leading the workshops. You may want to set aside time for personal study, prayer, meditation, and journaling AND you may choose to form a study group with others who are facilitating the program. Study groups might be formed through your UUA District or your professional organization. Consider a group that meets electronically as an alternative to face-to-face meetings.
At times, the workshops invite participants to explore emotional territory that some may find challenging. Be sure to maintain appropriate boundaries for yourself and the group while at the same time affirming each person's sharing of experiences. Some participants will need time to retrieve their own emotional stories and find their voices to share them; become comfortable with allowing silences. Respecting these silences is critical important here, as a spiritual practice. As theologian Nelle Morton would put it, allow the silence to hear the other into speech.