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Listening Sessions

by | Apr 12, 2023 | Uncategorized

This season at the parish we are working together to discern our what.  What is it that God is calling us to in this moment in our community? Are we to be about caring for children? Serving the houseless? Welcoming our community? Or something else entirely?

Our leadership team figured out at our retreat last month that we needed to learn more about our neighborhood to help us understand what God is doing here and how we can join in that work.

Last week we held two trappings on the basics of how to have a listening conversation with someone, grounded in principles from community organizing.  If you are interested in engaging in this work or curious about the process we are using I’ve shared our next steps below.

Listening is a key step in understanding what we are to do. As people we tend to want to jump to the details of how we can serve others and figuring things out in the silo of our own minds and parish. To truly find God in our midst and ensure we are attuned to God’s movement in the world we are called to listen.  What a holy gift it is to do that work together!

-Eilidh

Next steps:
1. Watch the training video if you were unable to attend a training session this week. Link here. Warning: my bangs are pretty wild.
2. Sign up to be a listener for the organization that you are most curious about from the list here.
3. Work with your group to prepare for the listening session by picking questions and planning your introduction and closing. Remember to pick questions that help you learn about what this person knows about the neighborhood and the people in it. Feel free to ask me for help or support with any of the prep work. You should choose 3-4 questions.
4. Listener one should schedule a meeting with the person being listened to for 30-45 minutes. Sessions need to take place in April or May. Groups should be 2-3 people.
5. After the session each person should write up their notes. Post your notes on the jamboard here.
6. We will meet in early June to review our learnings and look at what we are wondering about our community and what is bubbling up in us.
Here are the intros, questions, and closings that arose from the sessions.

Intros:
* Hi I’m E and I’m on the leadership team of the Southeast Portland Parish. I’m really curious about our neighborhood and how our parish can be a better neighbor.
* I’m wondering how we can better serve our neighbors.
* I’m Chris and I’m part of the Southeast Portland Parish.
* I love our neighborhood and want to know it better, that’s why we’re here today.
* I’m really curious about the people in our neighborhood.
* I want to know about the people who live, work, & play here.
* I’m interested in things that can benefit our community.
Questions:
* What do you see as the needs in our neighborhood?
* Where do you take people from out of town when they come to our neighborhood?
* What is the best or worst story from your time here?
* What brought you here and what keeps you here?
* What is challenging for you in the neighborhood?
* What fears do you have about our neighborhood?
* How does our neighborhood reflect or not reflect your values?
* What you tell us about the focus of your organization in our neighborhood?
*  Where do you like to do in the neighborhood? Green spaces? Shops? restaurants?
Closing:
* Thank you for your time and mental labor.
* Do you have any questions for us?
* Can we email you a follow up?
* I so enjoyed our conversation today.
* Is there anything else you would like to say?
* Thank you for sharing your insights and understandings.