Monthly Leader Guide
This Monthly Leader Guide includes a design to be used at the beginning of meetings of the session and/or board of deacons. Use these as a way of presenting the content provided for each question and studying together the questions affirmed in ordination.
Question f - Follow, Love, and Work
W-4.0404 f. Will you in your own life seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love your neighbors, and work for the reconciliation of the world?
REVIEW
1. If possible, arrange the seating in the room where
you will meet to allow for two groups to be seated on opposite sides of the
room, facing each other. This arrangement illustrates our separateness from God
and from one another and our need for reconciliation. (Slide 32)
2. For a deeper look into The Confession of 1967 and The Confession of Belhar, consider reviewing the lesson on “A Call for Reconciliation in Society” in the Race and Reconciliation Workbook as a part of the Being Reformed series.
3. (Slide
33) For a basic review,
present the background information on The Confession of 1967 and The Confession
of Belhar in “The Confessions” section of the resource material.
4. If you have not already split into two groups, do so now. Give one group copies of The Confession of 1967 (9.44–9.47) and the other group copies of The Confession of Belhar. Ask each group to determine the understanding of reconciliation as defined in each confession and to share their discoveries with the larger group.
If you separated the seats at the beginning of the session, before you ask each group to share their understanding, instruct them to move their chairs closer together, mirroring reconciliation.
REFLECT
1. Reflect on a time in the life of your church where reconciliation was needed OR reflect on a time in your own life where reconciliation was needed. Did reconciliation occur? If so, how? If not, why not? What were the factors that prevented reconciliation?
2. If you altered your room set up to reflect separation, ask participants how it felt to come into the meeting space and if their feelings changed as they moved closer to one another.
3. How will you work specifically for reconciliation as a spiritual leader in this congregation? As a Christian in the world?
RESPOND
(Slide
34) If you are using the PowerPoint slides, read together the words from
The Confession of 1967 or read 9.31 and 9.44 from the confession, pausing
between sections to allow time for personal prayer. Close with these words: The
Confession of 1967 assures us that God equips us for this important task,
closing with these words from Scripture: “Now to him who by the power at work within us is
able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Book
of Confessions, 9.56).