The three steps to the social inquiry/pastoral circle are:
Materials:
Using Greek terms “protagonist” and “antagonist,” Forum Theatre seeks to show a person (the protagonist) who is trying to deal with an oppression and failing because of the resistance of one or more obstacles (the antagonists). This exercise is to explore what are the barriers keeping people oppressed in their places.
Ask one person to embody an oppression (they can choose anything). Other participants are asked to make a physical barrier by naming what keeps the person oppressed. When they name a barrier they stand in front of the person, blocking them. After several have formed a wall blocking the person who is oppressed, the remaining participants are asked to break down the barrier. Invite them to suggest solutions to break down the barriers of oppression.
Story based on a book by Sheila Zubrigg
This is an exercise to practice asking “why” questions. Listen to this story. Take a few minutes to journal or think about it, and then discuss. Continue reading
“In short, praxis is the process by which people reach deep understandings of themselves and their world by cultivating a conscious, active, and purposeful engagement with that world. Praxis also emphasizes that how an individual is positioned relative to systems of power strongly influences how the individual understands those systems of power.
Purpose: The purpose of post-service reflection is to gather together and listen closely for the CALL of your experience. Through reflection, we remember, celebrate, integrate, and honor what we have experienced. What are you pushed and pulled to do in your personal life and in the larger community?
Check-in: This is critical to get a pulse on how people are returning from their experience. How have you shared your story, or how will you share it? Are there parts that you have not shared with anyone? Has it been difficult to come back? What concerns do you have about keeping the experience alive?
Hands reflection: How are you holding your experience?: Close your eyes. Open your hands in front of you. Notice how they feel. Now clench your fists tightly. Pay attention to how it feels. Open your hands again, notice any difference. Clench them one more time. Open your eyes. What did you notice about how it felt to open or clench your fist? Continue reading
“Burnout only really begins to heal when people learn how to grieve.”-Rachel Naomi Remen
Activity: Instruct participants to draw a large circle. Create an identity wheel by drawing different “pie slices” for your identities using the following categories:
The corporal works of mercy (flowing from the Gospel, especially Matthew 25: 31-46) are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, cloth the naked, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy, also rooted in the Christian scripture, are to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offenses, bear wrongs patiently, and pray for the living and dead. Continue reading
Do this only if whole group feels comfortable touching and holding hands. Maybe ask people to close their eyes and put their thumbs up or down if they are comfortable. If even one person is not, do not do this activity.
Choose an issue such as poverty, education, immigration, or anything you/the group/society are currently facing. Ask the group to stand in a circle and join right hands with a person across the circle from them. As the pair join hands, invite each of the people (or both as a pair) to name a cause that contributes to the issue you’ve selected. Go around the circle until all participants have had a turn to speak. Continue reading