Module 1

Materials

  • For virtual facilitation, you can use a tool like the Zoom virtual whiteboard or Mural (free) to begin the Community Covenant. Participants can add their answers via the stick notes feature, or via their own text boxes. You can also use different-colored sticky notes to delineate responses. Be mindful of people who may be color-blind in your group.  
  • If you are new to using virtual whiteboards and similar tools, you can learn more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0nMPqe10GE
  • Keep the Mural or Whiteboard accessible for future reference.

Gather – Welcome, Land Recognition, and Centering

Welcome all participants, thank them for participating in the SACReD Journey curriculum, and invite them into a centering moment. Consider recognizing the native tribal land where the gathering is taking place (or the general vicinity of where most people are, if meeting virtually). See this chart for reference: https://native-land.ca/. While more action is needed to support native peoples, land acknowledgements are still a meaningful way to raise awareness of oft forgotten history. You can learn more about the practice from the National Museum of the American Indian: https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/informational/land-acknowledgment. 

Our opening reading is from Steve Biko, a South African activist against apartheid. In the midst of that incredible struggle for human dignity and equality, he wrote: 
 
We regard our living together
not as an unfortunate mishap 
warranting endless competition among us 
but as a deliberate act of God to make us a community…
 
jointly involved in the quest 
for a composite answer 
to the varied problems of life.

Ground – Participant and Leader Introductions

  • Introduction instructions in the chat: Name, Pronouns, Where are you finding joy or meaning in your life right now?
  • If sharing pronouns is not common in your setting, explain that having everyone proactively share pronouns helps to create a more welcoming space for people of all gender expressions. Although it may feel new or awkward, encourage folks to show respect for each other and refrain from making jokes about it. See this article for additional framing for why we share pronouns in introductions: https://ssw.smith.edu/faculty-staff/campus-resources-faculty-and-staff/pronoun-introductions
  • A reminder from the facilitator notes about SACReD’s approach to Gender and Expansive Language:

This curriculum engages the full spectrum of reproductive experiences. People of all genders have a reproductive story. While some of our content may refer to “women,” we acknowledge that not everyone with a uterus identifies as a woman or female. People who identify as men, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, and many other gender identities can become pregnant and may need abortion care. We affirm that all material in this curriculum can be relevant to trans and nonbinary people, as much as it is relevant to cisgender women. 

The particularities of one’s social experience impacts the ways our stories are honored or dishonored in religious spaces. We cannot ignore the gendered nature of religious norms for sexuality. The oppression of all of our bodies stems from the devaluation of women and femininity. This misogyny is also at the root of anti-trans and anti-queer antagonism. We understand the fear of erasure associated with shifting away from the word “women.” Still, reproductive liberation for everybody and every body requires a more inclusive movement and vision. Therefore, you will see expansive language in this curriculum referring to women, people who can become pregnant, female people, birthing people, etc. We invite facilitators and participants to join us in using expansive language on this SACReD journey.

  • Round 2 question for the chat: Why are you interested in this curriculum?

Study – Curriculum Introduction and Overview

Introducing Reproductive Justice

The definition we use is from SisterSong (https://www.sistersong.net/about-x2), the nation’s oldest and largest reproductive justice organization. SisterSong defines Reproductive Justice as the human right to:

  1. Maintain personal bodily autonomy, 
  2. Have children, 
  3. Not have children, and 
  4. Parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.
SACReD’s Core Values

Send – Looking Ahead and Closing

Homework

Depending on the size of your group, please assign individuals or small groups to review the following material from one category before the next session. They should be prepared to share what they learned with the group. All of this is on the Resources Page.

  1. Race and Racism:
    1. Video – BBC Ideas – Daniel Nils Roberts “The Myth of Race” (7:01) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=926PqQUOVOg 
    2. Video – The Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley – Dr. Chip McNeal “Structural Racism Explained” (7:24) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ_8eOaiz8o 
  2. White Christian Nationalism:
  3. Patriarchy:
  4. Liberation Theology:
  5. Black Liberation Theology + Womanist Theology

In addition, all participants should read through the glossary definitions of these terms and take some time to journal and reflect on the following questions:

  • How do these topics relate with your religious tradition?
  • How does your video content intersect with the concerns of Reproductive Justice?
  • How might racism, patriarchy, or White Christian Nationalism impact Reproductive Justice? 
  • What questions do you have about what you watched? 
  • How can this group help you to understand these concepts better?

Closing

Question: What is a hope you have?
 
Prayer
 
God who is known by many names,
Spirit of Life and Love, 
We are grateful for this unique opportunity to be together,
To share honestly about our lives and our struggles, our principles and our hopes.
 
Be with us on this journey: 
Towards the goal of individual and collective healing.
Towards the goal of individual and collective liberation. 
 
Amen.