ATTENTION PLEASE! We are in the process of updating all A SACReD Journey online resources. While most resources match the updated curriculum, there are some misalignments across the modules. We apologize for any frustration or complication this adds to your facilitation of the ASJ Curriculum. We aim to have all modules updated by early April. If you have questions please reach out to Kentina Washington-Leapheart: [email protected]. Thank you for being with us on this journey! 

• Playlist
• Worksheet 8.1 Local Community Assessment
• Worksheet 9.1 Community Scan

Reflection Prompt

• “I see…” – What RJ issues do you see happening in your example? (How is the RJ framework lacking in this example? To which tenet does your item relate?)
• “I think…” – What do you think is happening in this situation? (Think about what systems of oppression or traditional religious teachings you suspect are at work)
• “I wonder…” – Wonder to yourself:How could this be different? (What would you advocate or work toward to make this different?)

Option 1:

Watch the video “Free Yourself, A Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh,” which commends the Buddhist practice of mindfulness as a way to regain groundedness in one’s self and agency amidst overwhelm and suffering. 

Encourage participants to make themselves comfortable, assuming a restful position.

Video: Plum Village App “Free Yourself | Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh” [5:08]

Option 2: Prayer

Alternative Opening:

Offer a prayer or reading from your own tradition that invites people into transformation, or select one from the bank found on the Resource Page.

• Have each participant share their name and pronouns. What is one word or sound that represents how they are feeling/arriving? 
• Following the check-in, ask for one or two people to share any themes or pressing content that came up from their RJ Show & Tell discussions.

This community commits to:

• Creating loving, justice-seeking faith communities where shame, judgment, and stigma for diverse reproductive decisions and journeys have no place
• Supporting the work of parenting and the healthy growth of children in safe, sustainable, and nurturing communities.
• Advocating for equitable access to the full spectrum of comprehensive reproductive healthcare as a moral and social good, and supporting the fulfillment of reproductive moral agency and flourishing for all.

These commitments can only be realized through the transformation of ourselves and the
spaces in which we belong. Transformation can happen in a number of ways. SisterSong2
informs us that any transformation that leads to Reproductive Justice requires us
to regularly:

1. Analyze power systems
2. Address intersecting oppressions
3. Center the most marginalized personal
4. Join together across issues and identities

Transformation (noun from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

• Case Study 1: The Presbyterian Outlook “Pennsylvania church surrenders part of the proceeds of the sale of its manse to the Lenape people”
• Case Study 2: Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle “Jewish tradition meets sustainability: Pittsburgh synagogues go solar”
• Case Study 3: United Church of Christ “UCC churches see Reproductive Justice as key ministry in 2022”
• Case Study 4: Anabaptist World “How a congregation came to pay reparations”

• What community values and beliefs lead them to engage in transformational action?
• Who helped this transformation occur? What are the different ways people participate in the process
• What were the decision points along the way? How did the community navigate them?
• What was transformed? Property? People’s thinking? Institutional rules? Norms?

• What do these stories all have in common? From these case studies, what lessons about local transformation resonate most with you?
• Can you see any similarities between this case study and your context? Could you see your context following a similar path?

• What is the role of trust and relationships in local transformation?
• What is the role of conflict?

Worksheet 8.1 Local Community Assessment 

• Where are there distinctions?
• What do you notice about each category?
• Where is there energy or consensus?

• What is your local community Reproductive Justice Commitment?
• How does your local community’s life and story connect with Reproductive (in-)Justice?
• How is shame impacting the internal life of your congregation/organization (regarding issues related to Reproductive Justice)?
• Based on your assessment, what needs to transform in your local community’s beliefs, behaviors, biases, or habits to more deeply commit to the work of Reproductive Justice?
• In the most concrete, day-to-day terms, where/how do you think your local community is most ready to deepen its practice of RJ commitments? What are your next best opportunities over the next 6 months?

• Prepare your RJ Show & Tell item
• Complete your Worksheet 9.1 — Community Scan on page 156. The worksheet asks you to do some research to brainstorm how your local community can plug into the work larger movements and/or groups are already doing for Reproductive Justice.
  • Worksheet 9.1 Community Scan

In Emergent Strategy, adrienee maree brown offers the practice of the next best step. (adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy (Chico, CA: AK Press, 2017), p. 220.)

Often we cannot see the full plan, or we need to pivot or shift gears. At times like these we

can turn to the question: What is our next best step to help maintain momentum? This question can be used over and over again, always being helpful.

Considering the areas of focus that we just named for our community. What is your next best step to help your local community deepen their commitments to Reproductive Justice?

Alternative Closing:

Offer a prayer or reading from your own tradition or select one from the bank found on the Resource Page.