Being church together doesn’t have to mean we have one mind. Listening to the Holy Spirit within each of our stories can help us move beyond disagreement and confusion. There is no one way to help us along this journey, but there are many resources to help us find common ground. Below are some suggestions – please let us know if you have experience with these or other tools you want to share.
Methods:
Talanoa Dialogue – Read the history (click here) of this telling/listening process based on three foundational questions:
>Where are we now?
>Where do we want to go?
>How do we get there?
View sample workshop on how to share this method (click here).
World Cafe Method – There is a whole community of facilitators with online advice (click here) who can help you figure out how to use this manner of group decision making. This is a great format when you have people together who already care about an issue but don’t know what steps to take next or feel like they aren’t hearing from all perspectives. Download an easy visual guide here.
Deliberative Dialogue – For a clear definition of this process of group engagement explore the National Issues Forum site (click here). For a whole toolkit using this process re: Climate Choices (click here).
Resources:
- Communication tools from ecoAmerica’s BlessedTomorrow
- Find a Speaker near you to serve as an expert on how our faith can direct our actions – see map here.
- Request a Creation Care Ambassador to speak in (or virtually) to your congregation/community.
- Explore these recordings which can help you see these efforts in action or offer a shared experience to start a conversation.
- Read about recent church experiences using conflict resolution tools from Braver Angels.