Welcome to The After Party! This course was designed to be user friendly and these additional resources are designed to equip you as you lead your group through the material. Questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@redeemingbabel.org and we’ll do our best to respond to you within 24 hours.

• Spend 5-10 minutes reviewing the session content, including the exercises and discussion prompts. Be sure to note the length of time for each section. Budget enough time for class discussion (and remember: once conversations get going, time flies, so you might need to interrupt good conversations to keep the group moving).
• Feel make the material your own and adapt it to your own needs and context. Is there an exercise that you don’t think will land with your group? Skip it or suggest it as homework. You are the expert on your community and have our full support to adapt the course structure as you see fit.
• Remember, you are not expected to facilitate from the point of view of a political expert. As the leader of this group, we encourage you to participate in the content and conversations happening in each session. You may not know the answer to every question your group asks – and that’s okay – see below in the “Leading 101” section suggestions on how to respond.
• This material works best when the group trusts each other and feels comfortable being honest. Consider laying some ground rules for engagement at the very beginning of the class and consider repeating these ground rules at each session. Feel free to add some ice-breakers or team-building exercises to your first session if the participants don’t know each other well. For example:
  • Light-hearted questions:
  • If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?
  • What is one fun fact about yourself that people might not know about you?
  • What three items would you bring with you on a deserted island?
  • More serious questions:
  • What motivated you to sign up for this course?
  • What do you hope to learn or gain from this course?
  • What role has politics played in your life?
• Don’t make the group so large that people feel uncomfortable sharing. We suggest a group size of 6 -10 people. If you are hosting this for a larger group, structure the room so that people are in smaller group sizes for the discussion exercises so that everyone has an opportunity to speak.
• If you’re still trying to decide if leading is for you, or who from your church or community is best equipped to lead, two suggestions to consider: (1) The best person to lead this class isn’t necessarily the most politically active or outspoken person in the room (in fact, it probably shouldn’t be that person!). (2) If possible, choose a leadership team with diverse perspectives and consider a co-leadership model or selecting conversation captains for each group/table to help shoulder the load. You might want to add someone to the team who has strong relational ties with the community you are in to help build trust in your group from the start.

• As a facilitator, you may find that guiding conversations, navigating emotional responses, and managing divergent opinions is difficult. We invite facilitators to adopt the following principles:
  Facilitate discussion, not a lecture
  • Don’t teach but rather cultivate healthy conversations
  • Help guests feel comfortable, respected, and welcome
  • Model good listening skills by being quick to listen and slow to speak.
  • Balance hospitality and authenticity such that there is space for rich, robust conversation that is seasoned with the gentleness and humility.
• Display one of our timers for the discussions and exercises to keep the group on time.
  • 15 minutes
  • 10 minutes
  • 5 minutes
• We encourage you to establish these ground rules for group discussion:  As a group, we commit to:
  • LISTENING DEEPLY: Ensure everyone has a chance to speak and don’t be afraid of silence.
  • SHOWING CURIOSITY: The purpose of the course is not to win an argument, but to learn about other perspectives.
  • LEARNING TOGETHER: The role of the facilitators and participants is not to provide answers to questions but to ask good questions and learn together. If you hear something you might disagree with, try asking an open-ended question instead of providing your own point of view. One of our favorites? “Tell me the story of how you came to that perspective.”
  • ENCOURAGING EACH OTHER: It takes courage, patience, and commitment to sign up for any course, much less one that tackles potentially difficult issues. Assume best intentions and bring your best effort as a leader, too. Be mindful of the complex histories and potential hurts your group members may bring with them. By leading with hope and humility, you’ll give your group an early glimpse into the essence of The After Party.
• To encourage group participation, consider opening as a large group; splitting into smaller sub-groups for discussion; and coming back together to share key perspectives/learnings. Many people, especially internal processors, are more likely to engage in a smaller group setting as opposed to keeping everything in a large group format.
• Occasionally, leaders may not know how to respond or might find themselves with group members who tend to crowd out the voices of others. A few thoughts to guide you should you encounter this:
  • Participants might raise difficult questions. Make an effort to redirect or rephrase questions instead of responding with your own opinion or responding in a reactive way. You can redirect by saying “what do you think…” “what do you feel…” or “what is your take…?”
  • Validate the person before moving on to the next person or topic. This is more art than science! Consider offering “I see you” statements like “That is a challenging question…what do others think?” or “Thank you for that interesting perspective…how did the rest of the group interpret that?”
  • Consider inviting the person in question to help you in a leadership role – perhaps by reviewing the materials in advance and highlighting the most important areas for you to address or even by inviting them to ask a few questions, while messaging to them the importance of equal airtime for all.

While TAP is designed to honor all perspectives, we recognize that some portions of this material may be misunderstood or might touch on sensitive topics for some individuals. Below are some sections in the course that might elicit emotional responses.

Session 1-2 “The Disappeared Loved Ones” Exercise and Discussion
Throughout the course, there is much discussion about broken or strained relationships. This can be difficult for all of us and it’s likely there will be some very painful stories gathered around your table. Consider collecting resources from your church or elsewhere that would provide additional support to those who may be experiencing grief, relational fractures, or frustration with a loved one.

Session 4-3 An Unlikely Friendship
Various views on abortion are mentioned as a point of difference in the story of two people becoming friends despite their political views. You may get questions about your church’s stance on abortion during this section. We invite you to lead with hope & humility and not let the larger message of The After Party course get derailed by any particular issue.

Session 5 The Cynic
Session 5 describes the American Civil Rights movement and leaders as an example of how Christian practices like prayer, peaceful resistance, and church community are a model for how Christians should engage in politics. We recognize that there may be opinions of the civil rights movement that may be contrary to those shared by leaders interviewed by the After Party. If participants find this to be a sticking point, we invite you to follow up with one of the books or organizations dedicated to this topic listed on our next step resources guide.

We’re so glad you’ve decided to participate in The After Party. A true movement is building as Christians all around the country commit to recentering their political thinking on the teaching of Jesus. Please keep in touch – we love to hear stories of how The After Party is impacting you and those around you and, of course, remain fully available for questions as you work through the material. May the words of Micah 6:8 guide you as you go.