The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 4

Opening Prayer 

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….

Check In
How are you feeling as we begin this final discussion of our series? Where is your comfort level now compared to when we started? Share with your group one thing you have learned so far that may impact your interactions with people at church, at home, or at work.  
The Sermon
Conversations about race are good. Naming what is wrong is an important step, but our lives change when we act. Confronting racism is an ongoing action, a lifestyle, and there is always room to grow.

Micah 6:8 is a verse often used to encourage people to speak up against injustice.
 
He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God. [CEB]

• What resonated with you the most from the sermon this week? What challenged you?
• Define justice in your own words. What does it mean to do justice? 
• What does it look like to “walk humbly” with God?
• What did you experience in this week’s sermon that makes you want to take a step toward racial healing? What step will you take?

Transition
As we transition to our discussion of Implicit Bias, it is important to remember that All humans have Implicit Bias. This is our opportunity to create Brave Space together.

Implicit Bias Course
Doing: Transforming Implicit Bias

Having discerned where our implicit biases come from and how they are formed, the challenge is what to do when they appear. In this section we consider how an interruption or intervention of implicit thinking is essential for transformation.

Matthew 15:21-28
From there, Jesus went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from those territories came out and shouted, “Show me mercy, Son of David. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” But he didn’t respond to her at all.

His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away; she keeps shouting out after us.”

Jesus replied, “I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”

But she knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.”

He replied, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”

She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their masters’ table.”

Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you wish.” And right then her daughter was healed.

This experience in Jesus’s ministry is used to help us learn how an interruption can redirect our thoughts and influence our behavior.

• What are your first impressions of Jesus in this story?
• What is unsettling about the incident?
• Can you think of a time you ignored or discounted the voice of another person, or when you felt you were being ignored? Share how that experience felt.
• What interruption changed the outcome for the woman?

Our study outlined four lenses for recognizing implicit bias. The first was illustrated in the video through the example of Nathaniel’s reaction to hearing that Jesus came from Nazareth. Worksheet #3 gave us an opportunity to interact with the other three lenses.
 

• Define the four lenses (Priming, Pattern Recognition, Value Attribution, and Primacy Bias) in your own words. 
• Share an example of one of these lenses from your own life.
• Brainstorm together what types of interruption might be needed to confront each bias.
• Why is it so difficult to counter, disrupt, or transform implicit bias?

Check Out
Wrestling with how to respond to bias is a big deal. Will we do nothing? Will we eliminate questioning? Or will we counter, disrupt, and transform? During this Beloved Community series we have started each meeting with a prayer and a hope for Brave Space. Spend some time this week meditating on the words of the prayer. Consider how God might use the teaching of this series to impact the space we all live in. Pray about the ways you will be a part of creating a brave space, an anti-racist space, a beloved community space, wherever you go.

Closing Prayer
God, you are faithful forever, and you give justice to people who are oppressed. We confess that sometimes we have worked against you as we respond to people based on deep bias. Forgive us our sin. We want to imagine a world free of the threat and weight of racism. We want to live at peace with our neighbors. Give us strength and courage when we are tired of the task of justice and mercy. Open our eyes to the beauty you see in all of your creation and in the face of every human. Thank you for those who have gone before us that spur us on. Thank you especially for the pastors and leaders and members of this community who help us grow. Praise be to you in Jesus’s name. Amen  

Going Deeper
This session referred to Dr. Robin DiAngelo. If you did not have time to click on the link while you were going through the study, she offers a good explanation of “white privilege” here.

From Pastor Charity
Thank you for leaning in to The Beloved Community series. I know some of you leave this series anxious to do more anti-racism work, while others may have felt challenged unnecessarily. I suspect most of you are somewhere in between. I’m simply grateful for the fact that you are engaging the content and facing yourselves and our bias. I want you to know that I, too, am doing this challenging, messy and beautiful work alongside you.
 
Here are some ideas as to what you can do now that the series is over:
 
The Beloved Community Resource Page: Here, you'll find books to read, podcasts to listen to, sermons to catch up on, as well as a list of St. Louis organizations doing great work in this space. Spend some time perusing, and I know you'll find a next step to take that's right for wherever you are on your journey.

Community for Anti-Racist Action Wellness Group: If this wasn't the first time you've tackled intentional anti-racism work, I encourage you to sign up for this action group. It's definitely for those more familiar with this space, and will be a powerful, action-oriented, experience.

Ash Wednesday + Lenten Devotional: Ending this series right as Lent begins will allow us to come together for a season of reflection and examination on what we just experienced. We'll have early morning ashes all over town on Ash Wednesday (March 5) as well as a service that night at 7pm at the McCausland site.

And, this year’s devotional is experiential, artistic, and communal. Sign up for the Lenten Devotional TODAY.

Faith in Practice Class: Serve Your Community: Finally, I hope to see you at the next Faith in Practice Class on Saturday, March 8. Set up as a "Ministry & Mission Fair," it will resource you with ways to serve within and beyond the church, as I'm sure many are feeling the nudge to do after this series. In addition, there will be speakers throughout the day.

Moving Forward,

Charity