Foundation of a Reconciling Community

Gain relational skills to address the complicated emotions of fear, anger, shame, and grief which often arise in the work of racial healing and reconciliation.

Workshop Summary

Prepare the foundation to build a healthy framework for reconciliation.

When we pursue the work of racial healing and reconciliation, we inevitably encounter fear, anger, shame, and grief in ourselves and others. Without the proper tools, these strong emotions can derail conversations, deepen division, and discourage this imperative work. This highly interactive workshop will prepare you with the skills needed to understand your own emotions and disciple others towards emotional maturity and constructive engagement across difference, in order to build a reconciling community.

Foundation of a Reconciling Community is led by two Arrabon facilitators and uses group interaction and personal reflection to:

Recognize how the complicated emotions of fear, anger, shame and grief show up in your life, particularly around the topics of race, class and culture.
Discern how these emotions are impacting your relationships and ministry capabilities.
Identify best practices, as well as practices to avoid, in addressing complicated emotions in those around you.
Practice using new discipleship skills in trauma-informed scenarios.

Session 1: Discipling Through Fear

Learn to differentiate between fear-based reactions and real fears that inhibit our ability to love, to grow, and to respond to the Spirit’s leading.

Overview:

Recognize the threats and opportunities that exist around negative emotions
Analyze your own fear-based reactions
Identify best and worst practices for responding to expressions of fear
Practice discipleship skills in real-life situations relating to fear

Session 2: Discipling Through Anger

Engage what Scripture reveals about anger, and learn to acknowledge and work through anger as you pursue true reconciliation within community.

Overview:

Define a biblical view on anger
Identify actions, words, and topics that trigger your anger
Learn to discern between helpful and unhelpful ways of responding to anger
Analyze the potential value of positive expressions of anger in your community
Practice discipleship skills in real-life situations relating to anger

Session 3: Discipling Through Shame

Understand why shame manifests in certain ways within yourself and your community and learn healthy ways to deal with shame.

Overview:

Identify the differences between shame and guilt
Discover common ways that shame shows up within communities
Diagnose the spiritual formation weak points in your community that contribute to shame
Reflect on personal shame warning signs
Practice discipleship skills in real-life situations relating to shame

Session 4: Discipling Through Grief

Learn how to grieve as an individual and as a community in a way that leads to renewal.

Overview:

Name personal feelings around your interactions with grief
Reflect on ways that you and/or your community have experienced grief in the past years
Discuss whether your community is positioned to grieve with hope
Identify good and bad tactics when interacting with those who are grieving
Practice discipleship skills in real-life situations relating to grief

Cultivating a Space for Reconciliation

Arrabon workshops cultivate a space for reconciliation and transformation by grounding our content in Scripture, prayer practices, and trauma-informed principles of engagement.