This week we began our new semester-long leadership series. This semester our good friend, dgroup leader and former Wesley missions council person, and current phD student - Sara Gonzalez is leading the conversation.
She began by helping us to reflect on and talk about the values we hold most deeply. Not aspirational values, but the things that really move us day-to-day in how we act. We then spent time at our tables working on finding shared values. One or two came pretty quickly, but then it took some time and real conversation to find more common ground that we could build from. Then we did the same exercise with the whole room. And it took even more time and even more conversation and some give and take.
We talked about what this process was like and what it shows us. We talked about how there were so many different values represented in the group. And yet, how we could find some things that we could hold in common. And that even when those didn’t emerge quickly, we could ask one another questions and share a little more about why we picked certain values and that often times this led us to finding that underneath the unique specifics we could find even more that we have in common.
Then we shifted to begin to talk about what culture is. Both in terms of big and broad and in terms of more mirco cultures… for example the culture of Wesley. What is it? Where does it come from? How does it work?
And we talked about what it is like to encounter, enter into or interact with a culture that feels different, unfamiliar, maybe even strange to us. We talked about how we do this as being a skill; something we can learn how to do. And that it doesn’t mean giving up your values, but that we can learn how to make space for others whose view of and experience of things is quite different from our own. And what’s more we can even find ways to work together to do really important and meaningful work together.
This is very close to my heart for what Auburn Wesley will always be about: That we would have people who come to Auburn from all kinds of different backgrounds and experiences, but that from the shared value of having our lives impacted by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we find that at Wesley we’re able to share deeply and in really meaningful ways in mission and ministry in the name of Jesus.
And so between this month and our next meeting we’ll be taking a cultural intelligence assessment. And when we meet again, near the end of February, we’ll talk through the results. And do more learning about how to grow and take next steps in this - specifically for the benefit of being able to work well and faithfully together as a campus ministry. But, also to help as us in the ways we interact on campus and as we begin to enter internship and the work place. It will help groups like our Ecuador mission team as they meet monthly to prepare to be on mission together, immersed in a different culture this May.
And so, if you’re a part of Wesley in any way and this sort of thing sounds like something you’d want to be a part of, please email tony@auwesley.org from your auburn email address NO LATER THAN Wednesday, February 1 - so that you can be sent a link to take the CQ assessment. Even if you weren’t able to be at this first meeting, it’s ok. But mark it on your calendar and plan to join us on Mon. Feb. 27 at 7:30pm for part 2.
