[Forgiving Victim]

During the retreat sessions, we brainstormed about the role of facilitator as both host and guest. We remembered how Cleopas and N experienced a reversal from hosts to guests in the breaking of the bread. Here are our thoughts:

The facilitator as host

• Prepare space
• Invite people
• Provide a loose structure
• Provide for food
• Check for food or pet allergies
• Welcome
• Good listener
• Sound and audio check
• Prepare low risk questions
• Prepare open ended questions
• Gatekeeper or moderator
• Some ideas to involve quiet folks: write down thoughts before sharing; have a moment of silence; ask that everyone be given a chance to talk; don’t be too quick to offer a “fix” – be patient over a few sessions; go around the circle asking for a one word answer to a question; allow the meal to do its work; use a talking piece; be sure everyone speaks within the first 5 minutes
• Some ideas to handle talkers: ask speakers to invite someone else to speak when they are done; offer them something to eat!
• Be patient and trust the group
• Be prepared to be surprised
• Provide an intro to the video
• Share your enthusiasm
• Be a non-rivalrous, calm presence
• Be open
• Let James be the teacher
• Keep track of unanswered questions
• Provide blessing or prayer if appropriate for the group
• Hold the vision of the course
• Be both messenger and witness
• Guarantee safety
• Establish group norms
• Clarify and raise themes
• Observe the end time of the session

The facilitator as guest

• Waiting to see what will happen
• Taste everything
• Enjoy diversity of opinions
• Allow what’s going on to become part of you; you are also being inducted
• Receive hospitality
• Honor and respect the space and the people
• Say thank you
• Keep alive the sense that God is the host
• Bring something for the meal
• You can relax because you are not in charge or in control
• Help clean up
• Observe confidentiality of the group by only sharing only your experiences with those outside the group.
• Observe ground rules
• Remember who is in charge!
• The facilitator is not responsible, in the good sense
• Facilitator is dependent on the good will of the participants
• Be vulnerable

[Author]

Posts