Commission on Evangelization

Father Tom Charters, director of the Glenmary novitiate, invited the Glenmary Commission on Evangelization to participate in the following activity as the opening exercise for his presentation about spirituality for evangelizing. The purpose is to remind us to uncover and discover continually the presence and action of God in our lives. The total process takes an hour. These steps can be adapted for other groups:

1. Setting the stage: The spirituality of story.

The leader may need to acknowledge that participants know one another but perhaps not as well as they assume. The leader invites the group to allow the time necessary to enjoy and relax during this prayerful activity. The leader also states that the purpose of this activity is to help one another see in a deeper way God’s presence and action in each other’s life.

2. General directions for the group process:

Discern what to share: Take a 15-minute walk. During that time, quiet down inside and review in imagination a “photo album” of snapshots from your life. Start at any point that you wish: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, last year, yesterday. At the end of the 15 minutes, gently review the imaginary “photos” you collected during the walk. Decide the two best “photos” to talk about. Select those photos that reveal key aspects of you. Remember to share only those things that feel safe and are okay to share with the group. (The number of photos depends on time available.)

Choose a partner: Arrange to meet with a partner in a quiet place. Choose someone that you really don’t know, hardly know or wish to get to know better.

What to do when partners meet: One person begins by describing their photos for the first 15 minutes. They include in the description why the event in the photo is important and what impact the event has had in their life. The partner listens reverently to the story. He/she asks questions only for clarification. No advice giving!

Stick to the 15-minute time allotment. It’s easy to lose track of the time!

When the first person finishes, both pause for a moment of silent prayer and then bow reverentially to one another. Then the second person shares his/her significant photos.

Conclude the sharing with a moment of silent prayer and a bow. (The leader checks for any questions or clarifications needed by the group before they begin the quiet time.)

3. When the process is completed, the leader may invite the group to take a short break before reassembling.

4. When reassembled, the leader may:
• read an appropriate Scripture reading or a selection from page one of Go and Make Disciples (USCC) concerning the power of stories of faith.
• invite any insights/ nuggets of wisdom from the group.

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