BC: Among

For congregations ready for systemic change, whose members have participated in Within

Among Update: We regret to inform you that we will not be accepting applications from new congregations to the Among program for the Fall of 2024. Our current Among congregations will continue for their second (or more) year of the program. Additional updates will appear in this space when they are available. Please contact us at belovedconversations@meadville.edu with any questions or concerns.

In this second phase of our program, we take our learnings from Within and focus them on institutional, anti-racist systemic change in our congregations. In spite of our own, personal efforts to end racism, white supremacy culture still thrives in our congregational systems- in the way we make decisions, in the ways we worship, in our efforts towards social justice. What would it look like to work together to dismantle systems of oppression in our own congregations and build communities that center liberation? We will explore this together in Among!

In Among, participants work for two years with a dedicated Among Coach and a core group of up to 20 Within alums from their congregation to:

better understand the ways dominant white culture is woven into the congregation’s systems
explore possibilities for change by focusing on one chosen area of congregational life
learn from examples of others who have made bold changes
center the spiritual needs and voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
create a plan for change that fits the congregation and context

Together, we can move our congregations closer to alignment with our Unitarian Universalist values and a vision of the Beloved Community. We are excited to work with congregations who are looking to transform! With that aim in mind, congregations applying to the program must have a demonstrated commitment to anti-racism, a majority of lay and professional leadership who have taken at least one term of Within, and can point to ways their congregation has been accepting of change.

Who is Among designed for?

Congregations that have had people take at least one term of Beloved Conversations Within
Congregations with an explicit commitment to anti-racism
Congregations where folks in key leadership and decision-making roles (staff, board members, relevant committee chairs, etc.) have taken Within
Congregations that apply and whose application (on the balance) indicates that they are ready to commit to anti-racist transformation in their congregational systems

Learning Goals & Objectives

Foster Structural, Systemic Change

This program helps congregations foster effective and healthy structural systemic change.

Congregations will better understand systemic change and gain capacity to identify methods that create lasting anti-racist change in systems.
Congregations will work to identify factors that consistently lead them astray while attempting to change their systems.
Congregations will work to integrate change concepts into targeted areas of congregational life.

Dismantle Racial/Colonial Systems of Oppression

This program helps congregations identify how racism and white supremacy culture operate in and reinforce oppressive systems.

Congregations will complete congregational assessments in order to identify policies and behaviors that foster white supremacy culture.
Based on what is learned, congregations will have capacity to adapt thinking and behaviors, as well as congregational systems, toward alignment with anti-racist values and goals.

Center Marginalized Communities

This program helps congregations imagine new ways of doing and being, centering needs and voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, while moving the whole congregation toward radical inclusion and multicultural transformation.

Congregations will have access to inspirational materials that remind them of the beauty, possibility, and creativity inherent in multicultural communities.
Congregations will have access to examples from other congregations and communities doing innovative ministries, trying radical experiments, and living into their values of radical inclusion, centering, and welcome.
Regardless of their racial demographics, congregations will be asked to re-envision their ministries with the needs and voices of BIPOC at the center.

Make Focused Change in Specific Areas of Congregational Life

This program asks congregations to explore possibilities for change by discerning one area of congregational life, to focus their time, energy, and expertise on, making strategic shifts in that area that is most primed for anti-racist change and where change efforts are most likely to make an impact.

Congregations will not be expected to completely rebuild this area of their congregational life, but instead, along with their coach, to try making a series of shifts (or experiments) that move them towards their long-term vision.

Reinforce the Spiritual Nature of the Work

This program will focus on spiritual practices and resources that inform, nurture, deepen, ground, and complexify the change work and call us back to our religious values.

The program will include resources that engage spirit as well as mind, body as well as soul, reflecting the diversity of learning styles, perspectives, and strengths found in our human family and on the congregation’s Among Team.
While engaging theory and innovative practices will be at the core of the work, participants should expect exercises and assignments to engage the mind, body, emotional systems, and social relationships.
Congregations will better understand and develop practices that honor the presence of multiple realities and truths that exist in our multicultural/multi-racial communities.

Centering the Spiritual Needs of BIPOC+

It’s important to consider the ways that intersections of racial identity, personal interest and capacity, and experiences with previous anti-racism work will impact the creation of your congregation’s Among Team.

Although the Among program maintains the focus on spiritual growth and development begun in Within, it is likely that some Within participants from your congregation will be more inclined to continue the personal learning and relationship building centered in the Within program, while others will be poised for the congregational systems change of Among. As you explore who might participate on your Among Team, keep this dynamic in mind, particularly for BIPOC+ participants and the multiple perspectives they may hold. Congregational systemic change work may be a passion for some BIPOC members of your congregation and not of interest to others (or not where they want to put their personal energy). Do not assume that BIPOC Within alums (or any BIPOC members of your congregation) will want to participate on the Among Team just because it is focused on anti-racism work. In fact, they may intentionally choose not to participate because of its focus. It’s important to check in and trust people to know what they need to do.

It is not uncommon for BIPOC congregants and religious professionals to report increased incidences of racism in congregations that are actively digging into anti-racism learning and change work, as the status quo and norms of the system are disrupted. In recognition of this challenging dynamic, Beloved Conversations offers free registration in our Within: Gathering Our Selves program to BIPOC+ congregants and religious professionals in any congregation participating in Among, as a form of support and community building and to offer BIPOC folks in Among congregations access to chaplaincy services through Within.

Program Structure & Timeline

Key elements of the Among program include:

Coaching
Opening Retreat
Grounding Sessions
Focused Change Work
Worship
Connection with other Among congregations

Coaching

At the core of the Among program is the relationship you will build with your Among Coach, who will serve as a companion for your Among Team throughout the two years of the program.

- Your Coach serves as a guide, a mirror, a cheerleader, a thought partner, an accountability check, and a connection to the larger Among program.
- You will hold monthly meetings and accountability check-ins with your Coach and all of the members of your congregation’s Among Team.
- A point person from your Among Team will check in with and communicate directly with the Beloved Conversations Team and with your Coach to get the program set up and to plan a schedule for your meetings.
- Together with your Coach, your Among Team will make a plan for each year of the program, which will include time to do relationship building and covenant building, processing your learning from Within, engaging the Grounding Sessions (deep learning about covenant, systems change, conflict management, and congregational assessment), assessing your congregation’s current practices and policies, discerning your focus within the areas of congregational life, imagining possibilities for transformation, and setting goals for your time in the program.
- Your Coach will begin the program as your main facilitator and leader, and over the course of the two-year program, they will gradually shift the balance towards leadership and facilitation by members of your congregation’s Among Team.

Opening Retreat

Our Among Opening Retreat will be a virtual opportunity for our Among community to gather over Zoom and begin to lay the groundwork and build the relationships and understandings that will form the core of our congregational transformation work.

All Among participants will attend this virtual Opening Retreat towards the beginning of the program, which introduces the goals and structure of the program, includes basic learning on the topics the program will cover, and connects Among participants across Among congregations.
The Opening Retreat will be facilitated on Zoom by the Beloved Conversations Team and dates will be communicated to congregations once they are accepted into the program.

Grounding Sessions

The first year of the program will be grounded by an engagement with general theoretical resources and activities that are essential to the work of healthy, effective, long-lasting systemic anti-racist transformation.

Grounding Sessions are workshops created by the Beloved Conversations Team and facilitated by the congregation’s Among Coach that cover important topics related to anti-racism and systemic change in congregations. They are an essential part of the first year of the Among program.
Among congregations will engage the Grounding Sessions with their Among Coach, regardless of the congregation’s chosen area of focus.
Congregations engage these Sessions and resources first, to lay the foundation for the coming change work.
Grounding Sessions include resources and reflections on:
- Covenant
- Change Management and Systems Theory
- Emotional Dynamics and Conflict
- Centering the Needs of BIPOC
- Identifying White Supremacy Culture
- Congregational Assessment

Focused Change Work

The second year of the program will be focused on tangible systemic change work in a specific area of congregational life, as chosen by the congregation’s Among Team in collaboration with their Coach.

- Areas of Congregational Life
  - Worship and Music
  - Religious Education and Faith Formation
  - Governance
  - Social Justice
  - Membership and Welcoming
  - Finances and Personnel
  - Building and Grounds
  - Spirituality, Theology, and Pastoral Care
- Each area has a dedicated resource section on our learning platform which contains:
  - An introduction video summarizing the topic and its connection to anti-racist systemic change work
  - A rubric to help the congregation assess its current practices in this area
  - Resources for study and reflection
  - Examples of congregations and communities doing innovative work in this area of congregational life
  - Inspirational materials, to stimulate creativity, imagination, and vision
- We encourage congregations to choose members for their Among team strategically, so that the team has members who are decision-makers and invested in the area of congregational life that the congregation will focus on. For example, if the congregation wants to choose to focus on Religious Education and Faith Formation, it would be ideal for the Among team to include the congregation’s professional Religious Educator (if any) and members of the committee that makes decisions about Religious Education in the congregation.
- Congregations will aim to set goals for their change work that are tangible, achievable in the timeline, and that will make measurable strides towards transformation in the congregation.

Worship

Each Among congregation is asked to schedule one worship service each year of the program for the larger congregation, focused on the systemic transformation work the congregation is committing itself to through participation in the program.

The goals of the service are to help the larger congregation understand the value of this faith formation and racial justice-related systemic transformation, to ask them for their support for and willing participation in the changes that are coming as a result of the congregation’s participation in the Among program, and to commission the congregation’s Among Team for the spiritual work ahead.
We recommend congregations try to schedule this service sometime toward the beginning of the program year (October, November, December).
Our Beloved Conversations Team will provide recommended resources and liturgical elements, as well as video recordings, that you can integrate into the worship service.
All Among Team members will also have access to attend optional Within Meaning Making Sessions for worship together, as well as access to Beloved Conversations Chaplains, as needed.

Connection with other Among congregations

As in our Within program, relationship building and peer-to-peer connection and learning is essential to the Among program.

Our Among learning platform, powered by Teachable, includes places for Team members to make comments and share stories on each page.
Each congregation’s Among Team members will have access to a Beloved ConversationsAmong private Facebook page, for sharing resources, questions, and progress.
All Among Teams will be expected to attend the Among Retreat, a shared orientation and welcome space to begin the program together.
The Beloved Conversations Among Team will host optional monthly Zoom calls, for Among Team members to connect, ask questions, and learn from each other.

Pricing

Note: Our prices are in tiers based on the size of the congregation and are also on a sliding scale, in recognition that there is much diversity in congregational finances, even within the same size category. Please choose a price that reflects your congregation’s size and also your congregation’s financial status. We are happy to talk through the specifics of what this might look like for your congregation. Please reach out if you’d like to chat.

Prices* for the two-year program (Fall 2023 – Summer 2025):

Small congregations (up to 150 members): $7,500 – 10,000
Medium congregations (151 – 500 members): $9,500 – 12,000
Large congregations (more than 500 members): $11,500 – 14,000

*Prices are in US Dollars

Congregations may continue on for additional years after the two-year program at a cost of $500/yr with group coaching support and continued access to our Among resources and community.

Payments can be structured in several ways:

One lump sum, payable by check or credit card
Split over two or three budget years
Evenly divided or weighted toward the beginning or end of the program
Another arrangement, as needed for your budget situation

Alumni Congregations who have completed our previous, Beloved Conversations in-person program (2010 – 2020) can access a 10% discount on the total, in gratitude for your continuing support of and engagement with our program!

Important Dates

2024 – 2026 Program Application and Start Timeline

March 1, 2024: Congregational Application Open
May 31, 2024: Congregational Application Closes
June 14, 2024: Congregations are Notified of Program Acceptance
June 30, 2024: Signed Contract and Program Deposit Due (Non-Refundable) $500
August 31, 2024: Payment Deadline for Remaining Balance or Next Payment
September 13, 2024: Congregations Matched with a Coach
October 1, 2024: Start of Among Program
Mid-October, 2024: Among Retreat for all congregations (exact dates TBA)

Program Timeline

Year One: October 2024 – May 2025
Summer Break: June 2025 – August 2025
Year Two: September 2025 – May 2026
Summer Break: June 2026 – August 2026
(Optional) Year Three+: September 2026 – May 2027+

Apply to the Among Program!

In the meantime, you are welcome to fill out an interest form and we will send you a PDF version of the application to download for your perusal.

Filling out the application for Among is an important part of the preparation for engaging in the program. It provides an opportunity for an honest assessment of your congregation’s anti-racism and systemic change work and gives us a better understanding of how best the program can serve your congregation. Thank you in advance for the commitment that completing and submitting this application signals.

REMINDER: The Among program is for congregations prepared for or currently engaged in congregation-level systemic, anti-racist change work. This application should be filled out by someone who is representing a congregation and accountable to its leadership, after consultation with congregational leadership and other Within alums from the congregation. It must be a collective and transparent decision to apply.

If you are an individual Within alum who is interested in Among, but other members of your congregation, including key leaders, have not done Within, we encourage you to organize other folks from your congregations to take Within, so that you can apply as a congregation in the future. In the meantime, we would welcome you in another term of Within.

Why is there an application for Among?

We are excited to work with congregations that are looking to transform! And we are committed to setting congregations up for success in that endeavor. With that aim in mind, congregations joining the program must have a demonstrated commitment to anti-racism, a history of learning and action around issues of racial justice, a majority of key lay and professional leadership who have done some personal learning and taken at least one term of Within, and can point to ways their congregation has been accepting of change. We believe these factors, among others, will help congregations create effective, healthy, transformative change and make moves to eradicate white supremacy culture and racism in their congregational systems. We also want to know more about the congregations that choose to engage our Among program, so we can match them with an appropriate Coach who will be a good companion, guide, cheerleader, and accountability partner on the journey.

Interested in Among and want to work on the questions offline?

Click here to receive a PDF of the application form questions. When the application is open and your congregation is ready to submit it, please come back here and click the button above to enter your data and submit the application.

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