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Community Interactions

This is the second of four weekly questions and discussions to be sent during June.  Thank you for your response to the first part, “Who We Are – Our CUMC Identity.” This week we are focusing on our CUMC Community Interactions – how we live together in Christian love.

The first part includes information related to our circle conversations and feedback.  Scroll down further to “Dialogue Response” in order to see the related questions.

What are we saying about our interactions…

Among those who participated in the JustPeace dialogue process (through circles or written feedback) nearly all expressed some thought or idea about the nature of our interactions.  While there was diversity in the feedback, a common hope seemed to be more constructive and Christ-like interactions as a CUMC community.  This hope touched on different areas of interactions including those clustered around:

  • The focus, spirit and nature of interactions within the CUMC community – those who expressed a yearning to experience a more “Christ-like spirit” as a community, engaging one another with actions that mark Christian love and focusing on God’s presence among us.
  • Engaging difference and diversity – those who expressed a yearning for the community to be more open, tolerant, and accepting of differences within the CUMC community, including constructive engagement of different ideas, thoughts and opinions about the church, our community and the world.
  • Person-to-person and group interactions – those who expressed a yearning for the CUMC settings.  This included such things as utilizing dialogue, listening for understanding, constructive speech, tempering gossip, and regulating negativity and reactivity.
  • Care and nurture of members – those who yearned for the community to be more attentive to care and nurture of all members, and how our interactions may affect such care and nurture.

Dialogue Response:

1. Consider the following statement: CUMC would be strengthened by intentionally focusing on God's presence in our midst and striving to be more "Christ-like" in our individual and corporate interactions. Please indicate what best describes your response.

 Strong Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

2. CUMC includes persons with many and diverse skills, insights and experiences. Consider this statement: Being part of a church and focusing on what's best for the community includes: respect for individuals, diverse opinions, and our church organization; honoring the commitment that we make to the church, honoring our values about constructive communication.

 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

3. Many of the JustPeace circle participants expressed appreciation for using a covenant of respectful interactions and for our use of the book "Three Simple Rules" - 1) Do no harm; 2) Do good; 3) Stay in love with God. With their foundation in the Great Commandment of Jesus (Mark 12:29-31), these "rules" of the early Methodist movement helped remind those followers of Christ of their faith, the reason for gathering, and the values that they wanted to be explicit in their daily lives. Consider the following statement: CUMC would be strengthened by having a simple, clear relational covenant that helps make explicit its values and interactions. Please indicate what best describes your response:

 Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

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