Come to the Table
Invite your friends, pass the cookies, and dig into Sojourners. Table Talk discussion guides provide a gathering place for communities to discuss issues of faith, politics, and culture—local and global. Table Talk offers a smorgasbord of questions (enough for four sessions, if you want to arrange it that way), as well as resources for further study and action. You bring dessert.
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Session I. A New Nuclear Age
"The Bomb is Back" (p. 20)
Perhaps you took to the streets for anti-nuke protests in the '80s. Or maybe you came of age after the Cold War, and Hiroshima seems like ancient history. It'll take all of us, Jonathan Schell warns, to reverse the vicious cycle of proliferation and finally abolish the nuclear threat.
Questions to Consider
1. How have you experienced nuclear danger in your lifetime? What during the Cold War? Do you feel more or less threatened by them now?
2. Are people "on the streets" aware of nuclear proliferation and the new, aggressive U.S. policy? Is it true, as Schell writes, that those who oppose the bomb are back too?
3. How has your denomination or congregation opposed the nuclear arms race? Does your church have a statement on nuclear weapons?
Resources
UrgentCall.org. An initiative to educate the public about the new nuclear threat. (http://www.urgentcall.org)
The Nuclear Reduction/Disarmament Initiative. An effort to mobilize people of faith around the danger of nuclear weapons. (http://www.nrdi.org)
Peace Action. A national organization to abolish nukes and develop a peace-oriented economy. (http://www.peace-action.org/camp/nukes/nukes.html)
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Session II. Community Power and Light
"Long Train Runnin'" (p. 30)
"Theater of the Soul" (p. 64)
The activist artists of Sol & Soul have something in common with Ruby Sales' SpiritHouse: They share the civil rights movement's premise that "leaders are grown and nurtured out of the body of the community."
Questions to Consider
1. What individual sacrifices, during or after the civil rights movement, have been most inspiring to you? How have you acted on that inspiration, or how might you act on it in the future?
2. Sales' activism continues around the USA Patriot Act and the racism of our prison system. What are the most important nonviolent struggles for justice today? How is your church involved in those movements?
3. How have leaders you respect remained rooted in the communities they serve? What are some of the difficulties and rewards of the "marriage between leaders and their communities"?
4. Sol & Soul uses the arts—as well as education, youth empowerment, and activism—to advocate for justice. What role do you see for the arts in social change?
Resources
The Veterans of Hope Educational Video Project sells a series of interviews in which religious leaders, artists, educators, and activists—including Ruby Sales—reflect on the role of spirituality in their lives and work. (303) 765-3194; e-mail VOHProject@iliff.edu.
Sammy Younge, Jr. : The First Black College Student to Die in the Black Liberation Movement, by James Forman (Random House, 1968).
Here Am I, Send Me: The Journey of Jonathan Daniels, a documentary film (Episcopal Media Center, 1999).
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Session III. Faith Healing
"A Place of Peace and Rest" (p. 36)
Where do you go when you need healing for the mind as well as soul? Today, many churches are offering mental health services to those they serve.
Questions to Consider
1. If you had a serious problem such as depression, would you feel more comfortable going to a minister or a secular counselor? Why?
2. Does your church offer any psychological or other health services? What would be the pros and cons of starting such programs in your church?
3. Can you afford health insurance? Other than offering health care services, are there other ways in which the church can or should respond to our society's health care crisis?
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Session IV. Bread Winner or Bread Breaker?
"Where the Boys Aren't" (p. 26)
"Flexing Some Muscle" (p. 10)
Voluntary service attracts people who are idealistic, generous, and—usually—female. Often, writes Holly Lebowitz Rossi, social and economic pressures keep men from volunteer service and steer male volunteers towards administrative roles rather than direct service.
Questions to Consider
1. When you volunteer for a church event, what's the gender ratio among the volunteers? Do you notice that some activities have more women (or more men) than others?
2. How might the church be called to creatively challenge deeply rooted cultural attitudes and expectations about gender? How does Galatians 3:28 ("There is neither...male nor female...are all one in Christ Jesus") address cultural gender roles?
Resources
"Equal Promise: What the Bible says about women, men, and mutuality" (Sojourners, Jan-Feb 1998) contains a feature on Promise Keepers and a meditation on gender equality in marriage. (
"Strengthening Bones and Watering Gardens," by Jill Carroll Lafferty (Sojourners, March-April 1995). Volunteer programs cultivate community, service, and simplicity.
SojoCircles
SojoCircles is a network of local groups that meet regularly to pray, dialogue, and build community in churches, families, and neighborhoods. Organized by Sojourners after Sept. 11 to discuss issues of peacemaking and social justice, SojoCircles includes groups from Australia to Wisconsin. Sojourners provides an organizer's packet with tips on meeting facilitation, resources for publicity, and links to SojoCircles around the world. Want to join? Contact sojocircles@sojo.net or call 1-800-714-7474.
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