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ŀLEADER’S GUIDESEEING
Written by:
LEADER’S GUIDE
CHANGE
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes we sit and discuss issues without taking any practical action. At other times, we may be all
too busy acting, but our action will have no effect, because it is not rooted in prayer and patient listening
to God and to our neighbours.
That’s why prayer, Bible study, listening and action are woven together in this five-week course.
Weeks One to ThreeWeeks One to ThreeWeeks One to ThreeWeeks One to Three are 90 minute discussion sessions centred on the story of the Prophet Nehemiah.
This grows out of a course prepared by and for east London churches involved in community organising.
These were Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Pentecostal and Salvation Army congregations, and
they were greatly helped by Robert Linthicum’s book Building a People of Power – an excellent book to
read if you want to go into these issues in greater depth. The course has been revised in the light of a
survey of the Church Urban Fund’s partner churches across England and Wales, asking what they needed
in terms of theological and practical reflection on the economic crisis.
After these first three sessions there will be a week’s break to prepare for action in Week FiveWeek FiveWeek FiveWeek Five. This will be
a 90-minute session for a much wider group of people from the wider congregation and community.
Instead of the normal session, your church (or group of churches) will hold a Money Talk Money Talk Money Talk Money Talk – a structured
conversation looking at the impact of the ongoing economic crisis on your area, and identifying ways
you can act together for change. And afterwards, the core group will meet again – possibly joined by
others who attended the Money Talk – to ensure the discussions in Week Five lead on to further action.
A church can of course hold a Money
Talk and a follow-up meeting
without doing the whole five-week
course. But our hope is that many
churches will choose to do the entire
SEEING CHANGE course and not course and not course and not course and not
simply to cut straight to the simply to cut straight to the simply to cut straight to the simply to cut straight to the
action. action. action. action. For it is when our action is
rooted most deeply in God that it
will have the greatest impact.
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the Lord Unless the Lord Unless the Lord Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. (Psalm 127.1)watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. (Psalm 127.1)watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. (Psalm 127.1)watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. (Psalm 127.1)
WEEK ONE: SEEING CLEARLY
OPENING PRAYER (5 MINS)
This is an opportunity to lift up
the course—and the life of
your congregation and
neighbourhood—before God
in prayer.
WELCOME AND
INTRODUCTIONS (10 MINS)
Everyone should be invited to
say:
- their name;
- the neighbourhood in which
they live (if all from one
church) or the church they
attend (if in a mixed group);
- one thing that makes them
angry or saddened about the
state of their neighbourhood.
INTRODUCING THE COURSE (5 MINS) This section is taught by the leader - so present the material below in
your own words, and your own way.
This course is based around a prophet who isn’t particularly famous—the
Prophet Nehemiah. Prophet Nehemiah. Prophet Nehemiah. Prophet Nehemiah. Nehemiah is significant because he helped rebuild
his people’s city.
Some generations before Nehemiah, Israel had been conquered by the
Babylonian empire, and all of its leaders were taken into exile. Later,
some Jews were allowed back to Jerusalem—which had been ruined by
the invaders.
The story of Nehemiah matters to us because of the things that ‘ruin’ our
neighbourhoods—the ways in which the places we love and treasure are
broken or held back from their true potential (here you may want to draw
on the issues raised in the rounds).
Nehemiah couldn’t rebuild the city on his own. To rebuild a city, he first
had to build a people of power. And he could only do that in God’s
power.
Nehemiah has been chosen for these studies because the way he got
Jerusalem restored has lessons for us. Nehemiah is one of the Jews still in
Babylon—but he comes to hear how his home city is ruined. The Book of
Nehemiah tells the story of how the city gets rebuilt.
DISCUSSION: WHAT IS BROKEN? (15 MINS)
Spend time in pairs discussing in more detail the ways in which your neighbourhood, and the wider area,
is broken or held back from its full flourishing – and what you feel needs to change. (The last five
minutes should be feedback to the wider group)
BIBLE STUDY: NEHEMIAH 1 (30 MINS) Read Nehemiah 1 together, then discuss this question: Nehemiah is far off in Babylon, but has a great
love for his home city of Jerusalem. How does he act on that love?
Ensure the following points are drawn out in the discussion, along with others the group may make:
1)1)1)1) Nehemiah begins by listeningNehemiah begins by listeningNehemiah begins by listeningNehemiah begins by listening
2)2)2)2) He identifies with, and shares, the pain of his peopleHe identifies with, and shares, the pain of his peopleHe identifies with, and shares, the pain of his peopleHe identifies with, and shares, the pain of his people
3)3)3)3) He prays He prays He prays He prays – lifting the problems of the city to God, because he recognises that real change
requires God’s initiative
4)4)4)4) He takes responsibility. He takes responsibility. He takes responsibility. He takes responsibility.
It might be useful to spend some time focussing on the importance of listening. You might ask the
group to consider the questions below:
What are the qualities of a good listener we know?
Do we find it easy to listen?
When has listening enabled us to see a problem in a new way?
When does our church listen to its neighbours?
Then spend some time focusing on the place of prayer in the story. Nehemiah doesn’t act until he has
listened to his fellow Jews, and listened to God. Next week we will learn how in Chapter 2 Nehemiah
convinces the King to let him go and rebuild Jerusalem. For this week it’s worth noting that between
hearing about Jerusalem’s problems and being allowed to do something about it 4 months went by.
Often it takes perseverance in prayer to make a real difference! In your group you may want to ask:
How do we lift the needs of our neighbourhood before God?
How can we listen as well as speak to God when we pray for our neighbourhoods?
How can we make sure this is not a one-off or occasional activity?
Make a link between praying praying praying praying and taking responsibility. taking responsibility. taking responsibility. taking responsibility. Point out that Nehemiah’s main prayer is a
prayer of repentance. He says sorry for his own sins and the sins of his people.
WEEK ONE: SEEING CLEARLY CONTD.
REFLECTION: SEEING CLEARLY (10 MINS)
Read out the following reflection on repentance:
Repentance needs to be realisticrealisticrealisticrealistic. It is about seeing reality clearly. clearly. clearly. clearly. We’re not responsible for all the
problems of our neighbourhoods. We need to be careful not to blame those who are poor for their
poverty (cf. James 2.6&7). Sometimes our responsibility lies less in having caused the problems of our
neighbourhood than in our passive acceptance of them.
Repentance is also a hopefulhopefulhopefulhopeful activity. It is about seeing that at the
heart of reality is the God who is made visible in Jesus Christ. The
word in the New Testament for repentance is metanoia—it means
‘turning’. If the way the world has gone wrong is partly down to our
action (or inaction) that means that if we behave differently—if we
‘turn’ and change the direction of our lives, by God’s power—
things can be different. In that way, repenting is the opposite of
moaning! Too often, when we discuss what’s wrong with our
neighbourhoods we end up in an extended moan, casting
ourselves in the role of passive victim. Repentance means seeing
ourselves as active not passive—agents through whom God can
work to make real change happen.
Ask the group to discuss how they might engage in this realistic,
hopeful repentance – so that they see the reality of their
neighbourhoods, and of God’s dawning Kingdom, more clearly.
CLOSING REMARKS AND PRAYER (5 MINS) Reinforce the key messages of this session—namely, the importance of listening, prayerlistening, prayerlistening, prayerlistening, prayer and
responsibility responsibility responsibility responsibility in changing our neighbourhoods for the better. End the session in prayer.
WEEK ONE: SEEING CLEARLY CONTD.
DISCUSSION: MAKING CHANGE (15 MINS)
Get people to discuss in pairs, the times when they have experienced a positive change—or made a
positive difference, either in personal relationships or in the life of their church or neighbourhood. Ask
them—what made those changes possible? Again, allow five minutes to feed this back in a group
discussion.
OPENING PRAYER (5 MINS)
WELCOME AND
INTRODUCTIONS (10 MINS)
Ask each person to respond to
the following question: Can
you describe a time when
someone tried to exercise
power over you without
gaining your trust and
co-operation first? What
happened?
Introduce the session by
explaining that it will focus on
two things - people and power
– and look at what Nehemiah
teaches us about both.
Christians are often frightened
to talk of ‘power’ because of
the very negative ways in
which people can use power
over and against one another.
But Christianity offers us a very
different vision of a power
which is built on love – God’s
love for us, and our call to
reflect that love in the way we
treat and value one another.
BIBLE STUDY: NEHEMIAH 2 (30 MINS)
Ask the group to read Nehemiah chapter 2 - the story of Nehemiah’s
return to Jerusalem and how the Jews begin to rebuild the city walls. Tell
the group that the key question for today is how Nehemiah built the
power needed to rebuild the city. Discuss the following questions
together or in smaller groups:
1) The walls in Jerusalem were destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar
in 586 BC. By the time Nehemiah arrived it was 445 BC – almost 150 years
later. How do you think the Jewish leaders and people were feeling
about this situation?
2) Nehemiah had the support of King Artaxerxes and was able to
prove it with letters. So why do you think he started off so secretively?
Why didn’t he just announce that the King had decreed he was to
rebuild the walls and everybody should help him?
3) How did he persuade the Jews to help with the project in verses
17-18? (If your group is stuck you might want to ask about the way he
used ‘we’ and ‘us’, why he mentioned their current disgrace but only in
the context of a future change for the better, and why he mentions God’s
gracious hand on him to that point).
Nehemiah was a man who understood how to build power with people
rather than exercise it over them. He recognised that the Jewish people
were demoralised but still proud, and so wouldn’t respond well to an
outsider coming in and simply dictating what was going to happen.
Explain that Chapter 3 is a long list of the different people involved in
rebuilding different sections of the wall. Read Chapter 3 verses 9-10 to
the group. Ask the group how they think Jedaiah was persuaded to take
part in the rebuilding.
Although Chapter 2 suggests that Nehemiah persuaded all the Jews very
quickly, actually it seems that there was a detailed and probably quite
lengthy process of apportioning different tasks, which had to
incorporate lots of individual interests (such as having a safe area for
their home). See Chapter 3 verse 5 for a suggestion that this didn’t
always go exactly to plan!
WEEK TWO: SEEING PEOPLE
BIBLE STUDY CONTD. If we don’t bother spending time finding out about the people around us, their passions and interests,
we won’t be able to build the kind of movement Nehemiah built – to rebuild his broken city. More
importantly, it’s only if we know what is on the hearts of those around us that we can discern what the
Holy Spirit is doing in their lives - so that we’re building on God’s work, not inventing our own. Paying
attention to others – seeing them as people, not simply as numbers which we want to add to our cause
or our campaign – is more than good tactics. It’s at the heart of the Christian vision of community.
Ask the group to think of other Biblical examples of power being built in relationship with others (e.g.
Jesus and his disciples, Paul’s picture of the Church as a body with different parts).
REFLECTION: SEEING PEOPLE (10 MINS)
Read out this reflection from Fr Sean Connolly, a Roman Catholic priest in East London who has been
involved in community organising campaigns for a Living Wage, affordable housing and safer streets. Fr
Sean’s work began with one simple thing: face-to-face conversations to identify the passions of the
members of his congregation and the wider community.
A one-to-one is a conversation between two people, which opens up their stories and their passions.
When you come away you have a greater sense of what gets the other out of bed in the morning, what
makes them tick, what is most important to them.
There is much that has been written by community organisers about the importance of these one-to-one
meetings. But Christians can understand it as sacramental– they are about building a communion of
hearts and minds, which reflects and shares in the communion at the heart of God, who is revealed to us
as Father, Son and Holy Spirit – an eternal flow of love.
What distinguishes Christian social teaching from so many philosophies and ideologies of our day is its
understanding of the human being as a person, that is, not just an individual, but as one in relationship
with others.
God did not create human beings for life in isolation. He created us to share his image together. Yet so
many forces in today’s society—whether of the state or market—serve to isolate and alienate people
from each other. The one-to-one repairs the torn fabric of society. They informed and enriched my
ministry immeasurably.
Ask the group to discuss in pairs: how might we place relationships more firmly at the heart of our life as
a congregation, and of our work for social justice?
WEEK TWO: SEEING PEOPLE CONTD.
EXERCISE: WHO AM I? (15 MINS)
Fr Sean’s testimony shows the strong link between
valuing people and building a powerful
movement for change. Over the last 12 years, he
has been at the heart of the community
organising movement that has won over £100
million for low-paid workers in London through
the Living Wage Campaign. He ministers in the
borough of Newham – home of the Olympic park
– and this campaign ensured that everyone who
built the park and worked on it was paid a Living
Wage. As his testimony made clear, this was won
because people engaged in the patient, prayerful
task of building relationships: face-to-face
encounters where there is genuine listening to the
other person.
Explain that, for the next half hour, the course is
going to focus on how we build such relationships
– with a practical exercise to help us listen
attentively to those around us.
If we want to understand others and what makes them tick, we first of all have to understand ourselves.
For the first fifteen minutes, you need to prepare to present your own ‘stick person’—a simple diagram
with a stick picture of yourself in the middle, and around it words which describe
– The key institutions (schools, congregations, workplaces etc) which have been central to your life
– Your key relationships (both public and private—with no need for intimate details)
– Your key hopes and habits (‘what makes you tick’)
– A couple of key events or stories which have shaped your life
– Your fears and anxieties
– How you spend time, energy and money
Ask members of the group to spend 10 minutes in quiet, constructing their own ‘stick person’, and
promise no-one will have to share anything they don’t want to!
When the group is ready, ask one or two people to share as much about their stick person with the rest
of the group as they are comfortable with.
WEEK TWO: SEEING PEOPLE CONTD.
EXERCISE: WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR? (15 MINS)
Explain that the group will split into pairs to have one-to-one conversations. A good ‘one-to-one’ should
enable you to find out about the other person some of the things you’ve just been writing about
yourself.
So good questions to focus on are ones with whywhywhywhy in them: Why is something important? Why are people
interested in this or that? Why do they value something? Why do they act on this and not that? They
shouldn’t be intrusive, but they aim to find out what matters to, and what motivates, the person you are
meeting. Instead of simply telling them what God has put on your heart, it involves spending an equal
amount of time listening to what he has put on theirs.
Get people into pairs, doing one-to-ones together for 10 minutes (you can join in if there are otherwise
an odd number—it mustmustmustmust be done in pairs not threes or fours). Tell people when it gets to half time—so
that if one of the pair has done most of the questioning in the first half, the other can take more of a lead
in the second.
PLENARY (10 MINS)
Ask people for reactions—What worked? What didn’t? What
would have made it a better conversation, yielding more
depth without being intrusive?
N.B Next week’s session requires a bit of N.B Next week’s session requires a bit of N.B Next week’s session requires a bit of N.B Next week’s session requires a bit of
preparation. Read it in advance and print out preparation. Read it in advance and print out preparation. Read it in advance and print out preparation. Read it in advance and print out
enougenougenougenough copies of the ‘Holding a Money Talk’ h copies of the ‘Holding a Money Talk’ h copies of the ‘Holding a Money Talk’ h copies of the ‘Holding a Money Talk’
pack for everyone in the group. pack for everyone in the group. pack for everyone in the group. pack for everyone in the group.
WEEK TWO: SEEING PEOPLE CONTD.
CLOSING REMARKS AND PRAYER (5 MINS)
Ask your group if they would each be willing to do a ‘one-to-one’ with someone else from their church or
workplace in the week before the next session. Before you close the meeting in prayer, remind the group
of Nehemiah’s words – ‘The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding’.
OPENING PRAYER (5 MINS)
WELCOME AND
INTRODUCTIONS (10 MINS)
If your group agreed to do
one-to-ones during the week,
ask how they went. Then ask
each person to describe
another conversation which
had a lasting impact on them.
Introduce today’s session, by
setting it in context. In the
last session, we considered
how relationships are at the
heart of making change
happen. Nehemiah’s work of
rebuilding didn’t begin with a
simple rush into action: he
first built relationships, and
did some listening. That
meant he knew what issues
needed action, and had built
a movement of people who
were willing and able to act.
In this session, we are going
to look at how this process
led on to action – on an issue
which is as relevant today as it
was in Nehemiah’s time.
BIBLE STUDY: NEHEMIAH 5 (30 MINS) Ask the group to read Nehemiah 5.1-14. This story moves us from one-to-
one relationships into collective action for change.
In the passage, there is a specific injustice facing Nehemiah’s people – the
practice of usury (lending money at exploitative interest rates). It’s a very
practical, economic issue, and yet the Bible treats it as a profoundly
spiritual question, one that shows whether people are truly obedient to
God.
For the Bible, the spiritual and the material are deeply connected. Jewish
and Christian spirituality is not ‘other-worldly’. The ‘spiritual journey’ is
about a growth into the love of God. Jesus sums up the whole of the
Jewish law in this way:
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another,
and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which
commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear,
O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and
with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour
as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’
The Bible’s teaching about economics is all about how our use of wealth
and power can embody that kind of love.
Ask the group to consider:
- How does our use of wealth, as individuals and as a community, reflect
our values?
- What are examples of positive, loving uses of the world’s resources?
- Where do we see resources used unjustly today?
After that, turn the focus to how Nehemiah achieves change. Encourage
the group to identify the action Nehemiah takes, including
- gathering the people in assembly
- identifying who has the power to achieve change
- holding them to account
WEEK THREE: SEEING INJUSTICE
BIBLE STUDY CONTD.
Why might this be effective? Are there echoes of this in other passages of Scripture, or episodes of
church history?
A direct parallel would be Moses assembling the people before going with Aaron to Pharaoh (Exodus
4.29f) or the role of South African churches in resistance to apartheid. We also find echoes in the ways
prophets such as Amos and John the Baptist speak truth to power.
Explain that this model has inspired Christians engaged in Community Organising – with ‘one-to-one
conversations’ and large assemblies being key to how the Citizens UK movement persuaded banks and
politicians to pay the Living Wage.
REFLECTION: THE BIBLE, DEBT AND USURY (10 MINS)
Read this reflection by the Christian theologian Luke Bretherton:
In the law given to the Israelites, central to the faithful witness of the People of God is that they do not
make each other debt slaves and exploit each other in pursuit of money. Neither land (the basis of the
covenant) nor the people (who were saved to serve God) are to be exploited for personal profit. Rather
they are to be good neighbours to each other and good stewards of the land. The proper ordering of
lending and borrowing is part of the right ordering of relationships within the community.
Human ownership and use of created goods was limited because God is the ultimate owner: humans are
simply stewards of what they have received from God...Treatment of the poor is a touchstone that marks
whether relations of faithful, mutual responsibility that encompass the whole people are adhered to or
not…
In the lending of money, the key issue is the nature of the relationship between the lender and the
borrower as fellow members of the people of God. Both land and people belonged to God and were not
to be expropriated for personal gain or monetized as commodities to be bought and sold.
FFFFrom his briefing on “Scripture, debt & usury” for the Contextual Theology Centre, 2010rom his briefing on “Scripture, debt & usury” for the Contextual Theology Centre, 2010rom his briefing on “Scripture, debt & usury” for the Contextual Theology Centre, 2010rom his briefing on “Scripture, debt & usury” for the Contextual Theology Centre, 2010
Ask the group for their reactions to this passage. How would our financial systems and institutions
change if people thought like this? Make sure you wrap this discussion up with plenty of time for the
next section (you can tell people that the Money Talk will be an opportunity for more on these issues!)
WEEK THREE: SEEING INJUSTICE CONTD.
NEXT STEPS: HOLDING A MONEY TALK (30 MINS)
If we want to hold the ‘nobles and officials’ of our own day to account, just like Nehemiah did, we need a
strong body of evidence and a broad alliance of people. Explain that in two weeks’ time the group is
going to host an event called a ‘Money Talk’ designed to start a conversation about people’s experiences
of the current economic situation and what changes they’d like to see. It will involve giving small groups
of people three simple sets of questions for discussion and writing down their responses as a basis for
future thought, prayer and action.
Take a few minutes to read the ‘Holding a Money Talk’ pack as a group and make sure everyone
understands the purpose of the event. Make a decision as a group whether a ‘Church Money Talk’ or a
‘Community Money Talk’ would be most appropriate.
As it says in the pack, there are a few administrative tasks that need to happen in order to make this
event a success. The key ones are:
• Finding a location and fixing a good time
• Producing a flyer or other simple promotional material
• Sourcing refreshments (tea/coffee/juice etc) for the event
• Giving a brief introduction at the event to explain why people are there and what you are hoping
to achieve
Assign each task to one or two people in your group and make sure everybody takes responsibility for
inviting people to come to the event and bring their friends/family. If necessary, arrange to meet again
in one week’s time to see how the planning is going.
CLOSING REMARKS AND PRAYER (5 MINS)
To download the ‘Holding a Money Talk’ pack please visit www.theology-centre.org
