Book Study with Ebenezer to begin in Lent

We have created a two-part structure for our gatherings. The first part will help us create sacred space, readying ourselves for our time together. We will begin by using Ebenezer’s N.O.W. (Navigating Our World) structure that features a musical offering, intercessory prayer, and a short homily/theological reflection (these segments will be led by St. Luke’s and Ebenezer on alternate weeks). The second part of our time together will focus on our study of Caste.

Following is the planned schedule:

6:00 - Music/intercessory prayer/homily (theological reflection)

6:20-6:30 - Presentation of the week’s theme and discussion questions by the Rev. Ed Bacon or the Rev. John Vaughn. Start time is variable, depending on how long the theological reflection lasts.

6:30-6:40 - Move into small groups (breakout rooms in Zoom-speak) for 40-50 minutes

7:20 - Breakout rooms return to full group for insights sharing and closing prayer

7:30 - Gathering ends

Your participation matters as we seek to be foot soldiers in creating our beloved community, so please enter our sacred space at 6:00 p.m. ET every Wednesday evening. Arriving on time also will help Wesley (our Zoom host) as he manually moves facilitators into small groups that Zoom will create randomly.

Small groups will be assigned randomly by Zoom and will change every week (this is an automatic step generated by Wesley; participants need not do anything). We are excited about the number of participants, and we trust that over the eight weeks of the ministry you will have the opportunity to be in fellowship with many different people.

Each group will be assigned one trained discussion leader/facilitator who will help guide the conversation and offer discussion questions. At the start of every small group gathering, the discussion leader/facilitator will offer a short “icebreaker” so that everyone can introduce themselves. Conversation will then proceed organically or based on discussion questions provided to all participants. Groups will cover one “part” of the book each week (the book chapters are organized into “parts”) beginning with Part One on February 24.

We are aware that the content of Caste might bring up emotional or traumatic feelings for some. If you find yourself in a challenging space, you have permission to leave for as long as you need…just mute yourself and stop your video. Return on your terms when you are ready.

Participants are asked to read one “part” of the book in advance of each week’s gathering. Following is the schedule:

February 24: Part One: Toxins in the Permafrost and Heat Rising All Around (pages 3-35; chapters 1-3 plus “An Invisible Program”)

March 3: Part Two: The Arbitrary Construction of Human Divisions (pages 39-96; chapters 4-9)

March 10: Part Three: The Eight Pillars of Caste (pages 99-164; “The Foundations of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” plus pillars one through eight)

March 17: Part Four: The Tentacles of Caste (pages 167-260; ”Brown Eyes versus Blue Eyes” plus chapters 10-18)

March 24: Part Five: The Consequences of Caste (pages 263-308; chapters 19-24)

March 31: Part Six: Backlash (pages 311-357; chapters 25-29)

April 7: no reading assignment; an evening with Isabel Wilkerson

April 14:Part Seven: Awakening (pages 361-375; chapters 30-31 and Epilogue)

Small groups are the centerpiece of this ministry, and we hope that they might be fertile ground for planting the seeds of relationships among participants from both Ebenezer and St. Luke’s. To fertilize the soil, we will ask participants to use full names (if comfortable with that) plus church affiliation (E, FOE, StL, FOStL which are acronyms for Ebenezer, Friend of Ebenezer, St. Luke’s, or Friend of St. Luke’s). To adjust your name, click on the three dots at the top right corner of your personal Zoom video window (not right corner of your computer screen) and click on the “Rename” command. If you feel a resonance with someone in your small group, please ask for that person’s contact information using the “private message” function in the Chat. You can also contact Jonese Austin ([email protected] for Ebenezer members/friends) or Sue McAvoy ([email protected] for St. Luke’s member/friends) to see if that person has given permission to share her or his email address. We hope that this ministry will yield abundant fruit as it moves through its eight-week season.

Bethany Trout ([email protected]) will send the Zoom link every Wednesday afternoon for that evening’s gathering; it will not change from week to week. As we seek to build our safe and beloved community, please keep the link for your use only. In addition, on the technology side, our Zoom platform can support a maximum of 500 devices for each of our gatherings. So please hold space for each of our participants to join in. Sue McAvoy ( [email protected]) will email the weekly discussion questions and icebreaker question to all participants every Wednesday morning.

Please email Sue McAvoy at [email protected] if you need to cancel your participation.

At the conclusion of the ministry, all participants will be asked to complete a short survey.

Please contact Jonese Austin ( [email protected]; Ebenezer co-chair) or Sue McAvoy ( [email protected]; St. Luke’s co-chair) or Ebenezer team members (Tameka Bell and Reverend Kyle Stevenson) or St. Luke’s team members (Wesley Boutillier, Melba Hughes, Carolle Perkins, Marisa Sifontes, and Jon Tonge).