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A New Creed, The United Church of Canada We are not alone, we live in God’s world. We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God. We are called to be the Church: to celebrate God’s presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. |
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Small Group Discussion: Assumptions and Norms Prepared by John Lee
Following is the summary of the assumptions and norms that will help our small group discussion in a variety of Church meetings. This may be changed in different situations. So it is a suggestion only, not a final answer. I hope it will work as a starting point of our sharing our thoughts and experiences; and will develop into a complete one that we can adjust in our conceret situations.
Assumptions 1. We all love the church. 2. We all seek truth and justice. 3. 4. We may have different ways of thinking, working
and acting. 5. Other persons also have gifts as I do although
they may be different. 6. Creative tension by presenting different
perspective helps the group to be healthier. 7.
Any discussion without different perspective or
creative tension has more chance to be one sided. 8. Confronting oppression/domination will benefit
everyone. 9.
All forms of oppression are interconnected and
it is not useful to argue about a hierarchy of oppression. (intersectionality) 10.
Fixing blame helps no one. 11.
Expect to learn from mistakes. 12.
Accept the fact of conflict. 13. We continuously develp by learning and changing.
1. Elect group facilitator, writer or reporter as
needed. 2.
Writer must include everyone’s speaking and
confirm with the speaker by reading the written summary. 3. Reporter should be objective by avoiding
reinterpreting others saying. 4. Non judgmental – Superiority/inferiority dynamic
inherent in all power relations. Doesn’t mean we don’t make ethical judgments. 5. Express opinions by using “I” statements. 6. Set the time of
individual’s speaking, eg., a 90-second speech. 7. Take responsibility to share time for speaking
and for appropriate silences and listening. 8. First time speakers first. 9. Make sure everyone has
a chance to talk. 10.
Before shifting the
topic, facilitator should invite the person who had any chance to speak or who
wants to add more to speak. 11. For speech, raise your
hand to get permission then introduce yourself before speaking. 12.
Try to make a positive
expression all the time although the content is negative. 13.
Consider other's
perspective. 14.
We will affirm and support respectful
disagreement and presentation of different points of view. 15.
Avoid controversy. 16.
Non-offensive way of
communicating. 17.
Take care of yourself emotionally, physically. 18.
No question is a stupid question. 19. Keep
confidentiality. 20.
Validating everybody’s experience. 21. Be generous to other’s mistakes. |