Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Handout 1, Case Study – East Red Velvet UU Fellowship
• Handout 2, Healthy Communication Practices

Preparation for Activity

• Read both handouts and copy them for all participants.
• Arrange six chairs in a circle for role-play volunteers and chairs outside the circle for observers.

Description of Activity

Distribute Handout 1, Case Study – East Red Velvet UU Fellowship. Introduce the case study, a budgeting discussion among congregational leaders. Ask for up to six volunteers to participate in the role play and assign them each a role number. Give the group about five minutes to read the case study description. Then read the case study description aloud and invite volunteers to enact the role play. If you have more than six participants, invite those who do not have a role to observe the process.

Tell the role players their task is to make progress toward a solution, but they needn’t come to a final resolution. Allow 10 to 12 minutes for the role play. Afterward, give role players an opportunity to offer feedback about their role. Was it easy or challenging? Comfortable or uncomfortable? Why?

Distribute Handout 2, Healthy Communication Practices, and engage the full group to discuss these questions:

• What healthy and/or unhealthy communication practices did you observe among the role players?
• How might people’s reticence to discuss money directly play into healthy and unhealthy communications?
• Are there other healthy behaviors the players might have engaged in, given their roles and circumstances?

Including All Participants

If the group includes people who use mobility devices such as a wheelchair, arrange the role-play space in such a way as to welcome them to take a role; that is, set chairs for the inner circle aside until you know how many you will need.