Finding God in the diversity of races, cultures, and creeds that make up our neighborhoods and cities, our country and our world, is one of the most important tasks for people of faith today. Seeing God in Diversity: Exodus and Acts, takes that task seriously. Here readers will find a parish study resource that promotes tolerance, diversity, and inclusiveness by looking at two biblical stories from multiple points of view: the story of the returning Jews in the Book of Exodus and the story of the new Christian community in the Book of Acts.
The lessons of these ancient communities - and the way they dealt with many of the issues we face today - lead readers to put themselves in the place of each group and re-examine their faith and work for greater inclusiveness in their own communities. Lessons are arranged as six two-hour sessions, and include background commentary for study leaders, readings, activities, and discussion questions.
Finding God in the diversity of races, cultures, and creeds that make up our neighborhoods and cities, our country and our world, is one of the most important tasks for people of faith today. Seeing God in Diversity: Exodus and Acts, takes that task seriously. Here readers will find a parish study resource that promotes tolerance, diversity, and inclusiveness by looking at two biblical stories from multiple points of view: the story of the returning Jews in the Book of Exodus and the story of the new Christian community in the Book of Acts.
The lessons of these ancient communities - and the way they dealt with many of the issues we face today - lead readers to put themselves in the place of each group and re-examine their faith and work for greater inclusiveness in their own communities. Lessons are arranged as six two-hour sessions, and include background commentary for study leaders, readings, activities, and discussion questions.
Seeing God in Diversity: Exodus and Acts
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Overview
Finding God in the diversity of races, cultures, and creeds that make up our neighborhoods and cities, our country and our world, is one of the most important tasks for people of faith today. Seeing God in Diversity: Exodus and Acts, takes that task seriously. Here readers will find a parish study resource that promotes tolerance, diversity, and inclusiveness by looking at two biblical stories from multiple points of view: the story of the returning Jews in the Book of Exodus and the story of the new Christian community in the Book of Acts.
The lessons of these ancient communities - and the way they dealt with many of the issues we face today - lead readers to put themselves in the place of each group and re-examine their faith and work for greater inclusiveness in their own communities. Lessons are arranged as six two-hour sessions, and include background commentary for study leaders, readings, activities, and discussion questions.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780819226204 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Morehouse Publishing |
| Publication date: | 03/01/2006 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 64 |
| File size: | 892 KB |
About the Author
Elizabeth Magill is a UCC minister who leads a parish in Massachusetts.
Read an Excerpt
SEEING GOD IN DIVERSITY
Exodus and Acts
By Elizabeth M. Magill, Angela Bauer-Levesque
Church Publishing Incorporated
Copyright © 2006 Anti-Racism Committee of the Executive Council of the Episcopal ChurchAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8192-2620-4
CHAPTER 1
WHAT IS PERSPECTIVE?
Before the Session
Invite participants to bring an item that reminds them of their cultural, ethnic, or racial heritage for the worship activity. In addition, participants should scan Exodus 1–15. They should also read the background material on Exodus from the introduction.
Leader Preparation
• Reread the background material on Exodus, as well as Exodus 1–15, particularly Exodus 15:1–21, in preparation for section 4 below.
• Set up a worship space with room for a Bible, a cross, candles, and other objects meaningful to your congregation. Allow ample space for displaying items related to people's cultural, ethnic, or racial heritages.
• Make sure that the meeting space is flexible and large enough that chairs can be moved around to accommodate both large and small group discussion.
• Make sure there are enough bibles for everyone in the group, or ask people to bring bibles with them.
• If desired, make sure that coffee, tea, or other beverages are available for break periods.
• Mark the scripture passage, Deuteronomy 26:5–9, and choose a hymn or set up a CD player for music. Before the session begins, assign participants readings for worship time.
• Make copies of the story in the FINDING PERSPECTIVE section. Make enough copies so that small groups of three to four people will each have at least one copy of the story.
Suggested Outline for Session One
1. Opening worship (10 minutes)
2. Setting the tone: ground rules (5 minutes)
3. Finding perspective (25 minutes)
4. Considering scripture: Exodus (60 minutes)
5. Closing concerns and prayer (5–10 minutes)
Details of Session One
Worship
Leader: The Lord be with you
People: and also with you
Leader: Let us pray.
We gather together, Lord, to share your word with one another. Guide us in our reading, in our studying, in our sharing, and guide us, dear God, in our listening to each other, and to you. Teach us to hear your word, and to live your word, with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds. Amen.
Scripture: Deuteronomy 26:5–9
Leader: All are invited to share of themselves during this study. Please come forward now with the item you have brought. Share your name and a sentence or two about why this item is important to you.
Singing: Choose a song about liberation that is familiar to your group. If you do not have a song leader in the study, consider playing a CD.
Go Down, Moses (LEVAS 228)
Oh, Freedom! (LEVAS 225)
We shall overcome (LEVAS 227)
Closing Prayer: All: O God, who created all peoples in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, p. 840)
Once the group is settled, even before introductions, use the ground rules to set the tone for your study. Let participants know that these particular ground rules will help create a space within which conversation—even risky conversation—can happen honestly. Remind them that this study touches on topics that are heartfelt and perhaps difficult to discuss, so the ground rules are important. Read them out loud and get cooperation from each person by giving each member of the group an opportunity to respond to the ground rules, ask questions, etc. Ask participants if there are any additions that would help to create a space for comfortable conversation. Keep copies of the ground rules available for every session or post a large version in your room.
Finding Perspective
The next part of the session provides an opportunity for people to get involved personally with the week's theme. Let the group know that you are going to read a very short story to them and then ask them to break up into small groups to work with the story. It can be helpful to break them into groups before reading the story so that the movement around the room doesn't cause people to forget what they've heard.
• Break into groups of two to four people and hand out a copy of "A Story of an Executive" to each group. Assign each group a different role: Executive, Police Officer, Homemaker. Each group should listen to the story from the perspective of his or her assigned character. If your study has fewer than six participants, some persons may take a role by themselves, or do the exercise as a whole group three times, once for each role. If you are working with a large group, let several different groups cover the same character rather than making the groups larger.
• Give the groups about fifteen minutes to rewrite the story from the perspective of their assigned character. Ask them to develop a story that has a happy ending from their character's viewpoint. They cannot change the details provided, but they may add details, descriptions, other events, dialogue, and explanations where necessary. Let the small groups know that you will be asking them to share their stories with the whole group.
• Stop after fifteen minutes even if some groups have not completed the assignment. Allow each group to talk about its role and to tell the story it created in a creative way.
• After the small groups have shared their stories, involve the entire group in discussion using the questions below.
A Story of an Executive
An executive is walking home after a bad day at work. Focusing on frustration with an incompetent manager, the executive takes a wrong turn and does not notice the neighborhood is of a different ethnic heritage than that of the planned route.
A police officer startles the executive by offering to help. A quick explanation is all that is needed to send the police officer back to work, but the executive can't help wonder what prompted the question, and how long the police officer had been watching.
Arriving home, the executive is met by the family homemaker, who says that dinner will be late this evening due to an earlier crisis. The executive swears, slams down a briefcase and newspaper, and stamps out of the house.
Discussion Questions
1. How did the stories that the groups came up with differ? How were they the same?
2. How does the character telling the story influence the story and the definition of a "happy ending"?
Considering Scripture, Exodus 15:1–21
In this section, work with the group on reading and understanding the story in Exodus 15:1–21. Read the story aloud or ask someone in the group to read it, and then engage the group in conversation using the questions below. Try to keep the group focused on appreciating the richness of the diverse approaches from the various study participants as well as the connections between how people understand or interpret the story.
Discussion Questions
1. What is celebrated in this story?
2. Imagine you are among the Hebrews. What does the story tell you about yourselves, your God, your neighbors?
As your ending time nears or as the discussion begins to quiet down, you may find it helpful to summarize some of the diversity as well as the points of similarity or connection heard during the conversation. Let the group know what the following week's reading assignment is. Close the session with the prayer below.
Closing Concerns and Prayer (based on Exodus 15:11–13)
Let your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, guide us in our journey. In the greatness of your majesty, overthrow those who stop us from living your way. Who is like you, O LORD, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? In your steadfast love, lead us, the people you have redeemed, guide us by your strength to your holy abode. Bring us to the sanctuary that you have established. Let us sing to the LORD who triumphs gloriously! Amen.
CHAPTER 2
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE: ACTS
Before the Session
Participants should read Acts 6:1–8:2 before this session, as well as the background on Acts from the introduction. If you are not able to keep your study space intact from week to week, follow the preparation procedures from week one again.
• Mark the scripture passage, Joel 2:28–29. Choose a hymn or set up the CD player.
• Reread the background on Acts at the beginning of this chapter and be prepared to summarize that information as needed during the CONSIDERING SCRIPTURE section of today's session.
• Assign two people to read Stephen's words as well as one person to be the council and another to be the narrator. Make photocopies of the readers' theater in this session for the readers.
• Gather news magazines or newspapers, one for every three or four participants. Provide several pairs of scissors for each group. Glue, tape, and poster board are optional.
Suggested Outline for Session Two
1. Opening worship (20 minutes)
2. Setting the tone (10 minutes)
3. Finding perspective (25 minutes)
4. Considering scripture:Acts (60 minutes)
5. Closing concerns and prayer (5–10 minutes)
Details of Session Two
Worship
Leader: The Lord be with you
People: and also with you
Leader: Let us pray.
We gather together, Lord, to share your word with one another. Guide us in our reading, in our studying, in our sharing, and guide us, dear God, in our listening to each other, and to you. Teach us to hear your word, and to live your word, with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds. Amen.
Scripture:Joel 2:28–29
Leader: Tell us briefly about your ethnic, racial, or cultural heritage. [Note to the leader: try to limit each person's contribution so that you don't exceed the twenty minutes allocated for worship. If you have a large group, break into smaller groups for this time of sharing.]
Singing: Choose a song about the Holy Spirit that is familiar to your group. If you do not have a song leader in the study, consider playing a CD.
Spirit of the Living God (LEVAS 115)
Every Time I Feel the Spirit (LEVAS 114)
Breathe on Me Breath of God (H1982 508)
Santo, Santo, Santo (WLP 785)
Sweet, Sweet Spirit (WLP 752)
Closing Prayer: ALL: O God, who created all peoples in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, p. 840.)
Setting the Tone
Remind the group of the ground rules and ask how they are feeling about using them. Consider adding additional rules if necessary.
Ask the group to focus on one particular ground rule, saying, "We will try something new." Use the following questions to guide the conversation:
• What is hard about trying new things?
• What do you need in order to be able try a new idea?
Close this part of the session by reminding people that these sessions are composed of dialogue, not debate. Encourage them to continue trying to look at things in new ways. Participants can try out new ways of looking at things and then decide later that they don't like a given perspective. Trying it is not a commitment to liking it!
Finding Perspective: Who Looks Good?
Divide the group into smaller groups of three to four people each, and give each group one or more newspapers or news magazines. Ask the members to cut the source up and divide the stories and pictures into two piles: those who are getting "good press" and those who are getting "bad press." Let each group decide for themselves exactly what that means. If your group has creative energy, encourage them to divide a poster board in half and make two collages with the "good" and the "bad" stories. (20 minutes)
When the groups have finished, ask them to share their results or to show their collages. After each group has had a chance to present, lead the large group in conversation using the questions below.
Discussion Questions
1. What race or ethnic heritage predominates in the good press lists?
2. What race or ethnic heritage predominates in the bad press lists?
3. Do these lists of groups getting good and bad press provide an accurate picture of your community? Why or why not?
Considering Scripture, Acts 7:48–60
Give the group some background on today's readings from Acts. Set the stage most particularly with the events in Acts 6–7:48 that lead up to today's readers theater. You can use the following introductions to the various characters to help set the stage.
An Introduction to the Characters
All of the characters in today's scripture understand themselves to be Jewish. Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew who follows the Messiah, Jesus. Hellenists were Jews of the Diaspora, whose culture and formal language was Greek, though they also spoke the local language of their community. Since the story takes place in Jerusalem, Stephen must have been visiting the city in order to worship or to trade. His family would have been one of the many Jewish families that settled throughout the Roman Empire for generations. Aramaic, the spoken language of Palestine, would be a foreign tongue; he would have known the Jewish scriptures in Greek, from the translation called the Septuagint.
Stephen is in front of the council in Jerusalem; that is, the Jewish leaders. In Jerusalem, the leaders of the faith were the political leaders of the community until 70 CE, when Rome destroyed the temple and instituted their own leadership. Elders, scribes, and the high priest are mentioned as part of the council. The role of high priest would disappear once there was no temple worship; however, the council's authority over the faith is still clearly strong in this story.
Jewish leaders in this story are Palestinian Jews, referred to in Acts as Hebrews. While the local tongue was Aramaic, the liturgical language was Hebrew. Jesus and all of his disciples were Palestinian Jews; the first Hellenistic converts were made in Acts 2, on Pentecost.
Acts 7:48–60
Stephen One: "Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says,
Stephen Two: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?'
Stephen One: "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it."
Council: When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.
Narrator: But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Stephen Two: "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
Council: But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed,
Stephen One: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Stephen Two: Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."
Narrator: When he had said this, he died.
At the end of the reading, lead a discussion of the passage using the following questions as discussion starters.
Discussion Questions
1. What behavior is honored?
2. Imagine you are among the Christians. What does the story tell you about yourselves, your God, your neighbors?
Commentary on Acts 15:1–21 as Background
Watch for the presence of the Holy Spirit throughout this study! In Acts 6, the story of Stephen starts with early congregational conflict. The location is Jerusalem; the new Christian community is growing rapidly. Remember from Acts 2 how the Holy Spirit is firing up people from diverse ethnic and language heritages. The use of the words "Hellenists" and "Hebrews" in the opening passage likely is a reference to language. In this context, "Hellenists" are not pagan converts, but rather Jews of the Diaspora. They live in different communities throughout the Roman Empire, speak local languages rather than the Aramaic of Jerusalem, and have returned to Jerusalem for worship or trade.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from SEEING GOD IN DIVERSITY by Elizabeth M. Magill, Angela Bauer-Levesque. Copyright © 2006 Anti-Racism Committee of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
Leading the Study
Introduction to Exodus and the Acts of the Apostles
Session One: What Is Perspective?
Session Two: A Christian Perspective: Acts
Session Three: Exodus from a Canaanite Perspective: Looking from the
Underside
Session Four: Diversity: Who Are the Pagans?
Session Five: Exodus from the Egyptian Perspective: What is the Good
News?
Session Six: Jews in Acts: A Perspective of Roman Rule
Appendix 1: Excerpts from "A Native American Perspective ..." by Robert
Allen Warrior
Appendix 2: Excerpts from Set Them Free: The Other Side of Exodus by
Laurel A. Dykstra
Bibliography
About the Authors
What People are Saying About This
"This booklet leads the local parish in serious study of issues of racial, cultural, and religious diversity. The urgency of the need to address the question of diversity adds to the overall value of this booklet."
—The Bible Today