Prepare your meeting room

1. Have Bibles distributed for use.

2. Have the Marks of Faithfulness available for reading. If you will read responsively again, ask one participant to be ready to read the underlined lines individually.

3. Determine if you want to use the liturgical service prepared from Interfaith Relations and the Churches. If so, prepare copies. Be sure to plan for the time this will require.

4. Organize the questions you will present and discuss in this session.

Prepare for issues you may face during discussion.

Think about possible outcomes of this study series. Be ready for the discussion about recommendations for the future by having talked with other church leaders in advance, as appropriate, in order to prepare the way for possible next steps.

Our Vocation as Christians
Among People of
Other Religions Traditions

Goals for this session:

• To discuss questions raised regarding living as a Christian with people of other religious traditions

• To consider distinguishing characteristics of faithful discipleship in relation to neighbors of other faiths

• To decide on next steps as this study series comes to a conclusion

Opening

Open the session with a prayer, perhaps thanking God for the hope we experience through God’s Spirit.

Experience

Ask participants to break into pairs. Ask them to show each other the object they have brought from home and describe, through talking about it, one thing that they find most nourishing in their own experience of Christian life; ask that they then tell each other about one thing that causes them discomfort or questioning in their experience of Christian life. The task of the non-speaking partner is simply to listen, not to comment or argue. Remember to leave equal time for each partner to share. (5 minutes each)

When you have come together as a whole group, tell the participants: The ways in which we are rooted in our own Christian life —and the struggles we have with it—ground us for living with others. They also play a role in generating some of the questions that arise in regard to Christian discipleship amid religious diversity. Quickly share, and list, the nourishing aspects and the difficulties of your faith journeys. (10 minutes)

Return to the questions identified at the end of the previous session. What kind of study or discussion will be required to address the most urgent or important of them? Has anyone had any important insight to share into any of the questions listed? Tell the group that the remaining questions may help set an agenda for future directions, following the conclusion of this study series; there will be time for future planning at the end of this session. (15 minutes)

Exploration and Reflection

1. Biblical Perspectives

Read Romans 8:14-23. In this passage, Paul speaks of the gift of the spirit given to the "children of God" and about the relationship between these "children of God" and the whole of creation. Do you feel that the phrase "all who are led by the Spirit of God" refers only to Christian believers? If so, what does Paul imply about the relationship between the lives of Christians and the rest of creation? If you feel the phrase refers to a different group, is it wider (i.e., does that group include people outside the Christian fold), or narrower (i.e., not all Christians)?

Read Galatians 5:19-26. This passage contrasts the "works of the flesh" with the "fruit of the Spirit." What does it tell us about how we might discern where the Spirit of God is at work? How does the passage help us understand how someone who is led by the Spirit will relate to those around him or her? In what ways can this behavior benefit or help the whole of God’s creation?

Does the concern for creation and the hope for its redemption expressed in Romans help us to identify common concerns that we might share with men and women of other faiths? Could any of these concerns be turned into concrete action with people of other faiths? Are some concerns requiring common action better pursued in cooperation only with Christians? What basis do you find for your answers in the passages of Paul?

2. From the Policy Statement

Read the Marks of Faithfulness (Box 3, p. 8) again.

Ask participants to think for a moment about the families they know.

• How do you get people to sit down together at a family meal or come together for a family occasion?

• What is involved for us to be faithful in our family relationships?

• What ideas, attitudes or suggested behavior do you find in Marks of Faithfulness that can help us be faithful in our relationships with people of other religions traditions? What do you think is problematic—or still unclear—in the Marks of Faithfulness? What needs further clarification or discussion?

Reflection

What action or further study might the group like to take, or recommend, in light of these sessions spent in exploring Christian discipleship and interreligious relations? Identify ways to move forward, e.g., to whom to offer specific recommendations.

Closing