Work and Systemic Renewal

Entering In / Group Examen

How are you entering into this space? What emotions are you experiencing in your body/heart/mind?

What word/phrase would you use to describe your (work) week?

When did you experience God’s presence in your week?

When did you experience the absence of God’s presence in your week?

5 Min Scripture Reflection: Systems in Society

Read: 1 Samuel 8:6-22

Discuss: What are the implications of Israel’s desire to have a king (a monarchy)? Can you identify the groups of people who are affected by this decision?

One potential observation: the Israelites chose to reject Yahweh as King, and install a human King. Their “new system” (human monarchy) of rule has widespread implications.

One potential takeaway: the systems that we choose to create or order our society around have implications for many groups of people - from workers, servants, livestock, families, children, etc.

30 Min Group Discussion: Identifying and Naming Systems that Require Renewal

In the Sunday conversation, Andre named some of the ways that we can recognize oppressive systems and structures in our workplaces. We can start by noticing the ways we ourselves or others have been dehumanized in any way. We can also have conversations with those who share our identity, or those with under-represented identities, and listen to their experiences of marginalization in the workplace. We can begin to notice the ways that certain structures may be set up to benefit a few, or only those in power.

Discuss: In your workplace / field of work ...

Can you identify 1-3 systems, structures, or processes that present problems, inequality, or brokenness?

What might it look like for you to get involved in addressing these issues and systems in your workplace?

What can you do with your current level of power / influence?

Some example of case studies (real people)

#1: Mee, a teacher at a high school, noticed that the school’s students were nearly 40% students of color, but there were less than 5% staff and teachers of color. Although she was only in her first year of teaching at the school, she signed up to join the school’s diversity and inclusion committee. When appropriate, she voiced her opinions and suggestions, and quickly became a trusted member of the committee. She began advising Asian-American students and advocated for their voice to be heard in the midst of rising anti-Asian violence. She became a respected leader in only her second year, and was asked to join the school’s principal-search committee (to hire a new principal) and other anti-racism policy committees within the district.

#2: Justin, a manager at a tech company, noticed that his team’s culture was cut-throat and competitive, and many new hires were isolated and lonely. He suggested that at team conferences, the team spend 1 day doing team-building and empathy exercises. He designed an empathy exercise where everyone wrote down one thing they felt insecure about professionally on an index card (without their name), and then passed around the index cards and everyone read one out loud. People were shocked to discover how they did not feel alone. This led to the team culture changing to become more empathetic and inclusive. Justin had only been at the company for one year at that time.

#3: Karl, an engineer, noticed that the management of his company and the vast majority of its employees were white. He saw hiring managers disregarding applications and resumes for people whose names they couldn’t pronounce. He began to pull their applications out of the trash and put them back into the piles for consideration. When he was promoted to a manager position, he instituted a policy where any candidate who met the qualifications received an interview to counteract the implicit bias in hiring practices in his company.

Closing

How can this group pray for you this week?