Wouldn’t you know it?
As soon as I uploaded the blog post on Saturday about the challenges churches are facing in deciding when and how they will reopen their church buildings I came across a great resource coming out of the Presbyterian Church USA. It is a document entitled Seeking to be Faithful Together: Guidelines for Presbyterians in Times of Disagreement and comes from their Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
This resource has been created for sessions and congregations to establish good principals for healthy discussion when the topic is difficult and leaders anticipate division within their community of faith. It includes ten key principals for conversation. These principals outline ways we can become better listeners as well as better speakers. It also includes detailed explanations for these principals and how they were developed. The writers of this document recommend that the first page be circulated within the committee or community and reviewed together before the discussion begins so that our conversation might not become destructive. Instead we are called to seek out new insights, offer mutual care and strive for growth together.
I’ve attached this document to this blog posting as well as to Saturday’s posting for you to download and use in your conversations around church reopening or with any other conversation that you might find challenging.
Click HERE for the document Seeking to be Faithful Together.