The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 1

Welcome
For the next few weeks, we will dive into a hard topic as a church. The Bible calls out racism as a sin. While many of us would not think of ourselves as racists, we may find that we have biases that we did not realize were in our hearts and minds. It’s an uncomfortable feeling to sit with, but one that we need to sit with and reflect upon. The only way to grow is to dig out what stifles our growth as a people and a church.

This week, our discussion guide will look familiar to those who have been in CoreGroups before. However, starting next week, we will begin our journey through an Implicit Bias course together as a church. Everybody at The Gathering will be encouraged to engage with the Implicit Bias course on their own, taking the time to examine their own hearts and minds. Group discussions for the rest of the series will weave together sermons, scripture, and the training material.

To learn more about the Beloved Community series, check out this video from Pastor Charity.

Opening Prayer
In lieu of an opening prayer, each week of this series we invite groups to start by reading the following poem together out loud, inviting God into this Brave Space.

An Invitation to Brave Space
By Micky ScottBey Jones inspired by a poem by Beth Strano

Together we will create brave space
Because there is no such thing as a “safe space”
We exist in the real world
We all carry scars and we have all caused wounds.
In this space
We seek to turn down the volume of the outside world,
We amplify voices that fight to be heard elsewhere,
We call each other to more truth and love
We have the right to start somewhere and continue to grow.
We have the responsibility to examine what we think we know,
We will not be perfect.
This space will not be perfect.
It will not always be what we wish it to be
But
It will be our brave space together,
and
We will work in it side by side….

Ice Breaker
We are going to talk about our feelings a lot in the next four weeks. Did you grow up in a family that encouraged emotions or one that didn’t talk about them? Did you ever hear the words, ‘I’ll give you something to cry about’? Or did you run to your grown-up with each tear? Each week of this series we will spend some time checking in with one another to understand our emotions on a deeper level. To do this, we will use the Emotional Wheel Word by Geoffry Roberts:

• Using this wheel, how would you describe your feelings as you enter the group today?
• What is your gut reaction to engaging in an Implicit Bias course together as a church?

The Head
The Bible often uses our differences as people to prove a point: God does not see our differences the same way we do. God looks at people’s hearts and celebrates the diversity they have created. From the beginning, God created a vast array of differences in the world. Looking at creation, we see the differences between the land, plants, animals, and humans. None of us are alike, and it is something to celebrate. Let’s take a look at these truths in scripture.

Genesis 1:26-27
“Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.” God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them.”

• How do you see diversity represented in this passage?
• What do you think God means by ‘own image’ and ‘divine image’? 
• Would it be easier if God had created us all the same? Explain your answer.

The Heart
It can be uncomfortable to talk about our private thoughts, especially if we worry that they might be judged as wrong. It is also essential to explore these topics and understand why we think what we think. Our first thoughts can be impulsive or based on false information. Our second thoughts can come after we step back and analyze a situation. While our first thought might be biased and untrue, we all have the chance to look at it a second time in a more informed way. Hopefully, over time, our second thoughts will start to inform our first thoughts more and more.

Deuteronomy 10:17  
“Because the Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes.”

• How does it make you feel that God does not have favorites? 
• Would you like it better if God did have favorites? Think about people you disagree with. Would it be easier if you knew God had your back over theirs? 
• Why is it sometimes difficult to see God in certain individuals or groups in your life?

The Hands
It can be helpful to join your community and find ways to take tangible action after talking and thinking about complicated subjects like race. Take some time as a group to think through ways you can tangibly try to change your thinking.

Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider each other carefully for the purpose of sparking love and good deeds. Don’t stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing. Instead, encourage each other, especially as you see the day drawing near.

• In what ways can you spark love in your home/community this week?
• How can you encourage good deeds in your home/community this week?
• How can you encourage yourself to do this hard work this week? 

Closing Prayer
Creator, be with us. Draw near to us this week. Thank you for these hard subjects and the time to discuss them. Guide us as we go out this week and continue to do this work. May you open our hearts to where we can change and how to be more like Jesus. Give us all grace as we go out into the world and help us to show that same grace to all we come in contact with. Amen.

Instructions for Next Week
Please join the rest of The Gathering community as we lean into our collective efforts to pursue racial justice. This is going to be a powerful experience for our whole congregation! The next three weeks of discussion guides will go hand in hand with a self-paced Implicit Bias Course. Each week there is a module with videos and questions. CoreGroups will discuss these modules in their group each week, in addition to a few questions about the sermon.

Here are some next steps:

1. If you haven’t done so already, please enroll in the free Implicit Bias Course. This will only take a few seconds!
2. Complete the Getting Started section for helpful background on the rest of the course.
3. Complete the module called Seeing: Recognizing Implicit Bias. This can be done at any time, but please try to complete this module before your group meets next week as this will be the basis for much of the discussion. 
4. Pray! For yourself, for your group, for your leaders, for the congregation, for your community, and for the world. 

Please note: Each module also includes an “Application” section. This is intended for teachers, preachers, and church leaders but you are more than welcome to review these resources too.