Peace Circles—seminar overview

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Peace Circles are a 6-week experience for groups of 6–10 designed to empower participants for acts of peacemaking in their hearts, homes, community and the world while being supported with prayer and spiritual community. Peace Circles works to empower active peacemakers through congregational resources, and small group sessions.

Congregational Experience

  • Hosted 6-week circles; could be monthly
  • Expanded on the Circles of Ten (which was not faith-based) to base it in Biblical peace-making
  • The focus is to empower participants for acts of peacemaking in their hearts, homes, community and world while being supported with prayer and friendship
  • Purposefully within the faith community because of own need for a supportive place to pray, to seek the mind and spirit of Christ, to consider and state intentions of "courageous peacemaking", to share about those efforts afterwards
  • Action/reflection;  action/reflection
  • 6–10 people
  • Initial commitment of 6 sessions; evaluate
  • Depending on the size, 60–90 minutes
  • Simple 3-step process

 

Weekly Circle Process

  1. Gathering and Lighting a Candle
  2. Reading and Silent Reflection on passage of Scripture
  3. Sharing Acts of Peacemaking Last Week
  4. Song/Hymn
  5. 3-Step Process
    1. Awareness
      Call to mind and hear an image or feeling that makes you feel peace.  Focus on what already feels peaceful to you.  Going around the circle, share aloud saying, "I feel peaceful when……."
    2. Vision
      This is about vision at any level – personal, community, world.  Call to mind what you experience or know is NOT peaceful in you, in a setting in which you work or live, in your community, congregation, world.  Consider what would make that situation more peace for yourself or others.  Imagining the peaceful situation you would like to see come about, share around the circle by saying, "Peace for me would be……."
    3. Action
      Consider a very specific, single, realistic action you are willing to take (or behavior you are willing to change) this week to grow peace.  This is commonly related to Step 2 (though not always).  Complete this statement, "To grow peace, this week I will……."
  6. Peace Prayer Dismissal

                                   

Peace Circle Guidelines

1.  Listen with compassion, listen for wisdom.         

2.  Speak from your own heart and experience.

3.  Welcome silence when needed.                

4.  Practice focused sharing, modest amount of time.

5.  Hold all personal information about others in confidence.   

6.  If uncomfortable sharing, simple say, "I pass".

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