Activity 3: Testing Chauncy's Ideas
Activity time: 20 minutes
Materials for Activity
- Newsprint, markers, and tape
- Participant journals
- Variety of writing and drawing implements
Preparation for Activity
- Write questions for small groups on newsprint and post:
- Does it make sense to you to use Chauncy's four categories as a guide for thinking about what you mean when you talk about your own "personal spiritual experiences" as part of your liberal faith tradition?
- Do you consider the physical, emotional, and mental experiences that are linked together in your religious service an active and ongoing source of renewal for your liberal faith?
Description of Activity
Invite participants to move into the same three-person groups they formed in Activity 1, and share their reflections about spiritual experiences using Chauncy's categories as a guide. Remind them of Chauncy's words: "[I]f you have indeed been renewed in the spirit of your minds, it will [show] it self in your lives."
Ask participants to each, in turn, share their analysis of an element of a Unitarian Universalist worship service. Then, invite participants to share thoughts about each posted question sequentially, so that each person speaks to the question at hand before the group moves on to the next question. Remind them that they are not critiquing the thoughts and feelings and experiences of others, but rather are sharing their own thoughts, feelings, experiences, and insights. Tell participants that after all who wish to have spoken in response to each of the questions, they might each, in turn, offer final reflections, feelings, and insights based on their experiences in this small group exercise.