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After the lesson we felt that...
We have experienced judgement in...

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I think this is great

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Update: We had a good discussion allowing the questions to guide the conversation. A number of us shared the discrimination experienced in the world for being latino. However, in our congregation we know we have equal footing with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

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We had a great discussion on the definition of Equity and agreed that it is at the core of being a Disciple.

We had an open discussion on judgement and how we judge others and what the effects might be. We also realized that we even judge people without knowing it. Judging others will keep us from growing. Judging someone can lead that person to become the very thing you think they are.

If Christians judge others we are viewed as hypocrites. Our church being diverse has a positive impact on visitors, judging each other counteracts this positive.

The lesson has been helpful in reminding us of how we might be vs how we need to be.

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Good discussion between the Ankeny's, Paez' and Skoog's. We were confused by the definition of equity, and substituted a more dictionary-like understanding of that word. We talked about bias and identity. Romans 14 is a powerful reminder to strive for peace and mutual edification.

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McCormicks, Perez's, Holmes', Penn, Calderon, Marutzky's: This discussion helped with clarity on equity.  Equity is the value of all people.  It was nice to have a real discussion around equity with trust.    We talked about how people should err on the side of grace and humility. Paul knew his bias and set it aside to win over other people and we need to practice this. Seek to understand others in order to be understood.

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The clarification of equity and equality was very important to our groups discussion. It allowed us to have a more open discussion in this first meeting.

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We too had a great and lively discussion. I recommend checking out the Message version of the Romans 14 verses we read. Verses 10-13 were especially powerful. Everyone could relate to being judged or feeling judged. One of the things that became clear as we shared was how judgement is rooted in assumptions. Assumptions based on how someone looks, communicates, spells their name, or performs at their job. Those assumptions don't take the time to learn the truth or find out more and so artificially create barriers. Also, when we feel judged we tend to respond with defensiveness and in a way judge back, furthering division. We can see the world act judgmental and divisive over a variety of things (I always use sports as an illustration) so when we judge one another we look just like the world. John 13 is a great reminder that we are known by our love for one another, not for what divides us.

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Fabian shared this image during our discussion on equity:

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They felt like the scriptures and concepts made a lot of sense. They really desired to be given practical advice on how to respond in a Biblical way whenever they witness or experience bias and inequity. They greatly appreciated the discussion and definitely hope you guys keep that coming in the upcoming lessons! They needed some priming at times so perhaps a case study or testimony would be helpful to encourage conversation. We had a very difficult and awkward time at the beginning when we were dealing with the definitions of bias and equity because they were not familiar with the terms and were confused. Not sure but it might be helpful if we had longer videos provided for us on the topic to view together in the class.

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We all enjoyed the intro to this midweek series. The teens, Angelina, and myself (Manny) shared experiences about being judged and judging others. We all agreed that we can tend to form judgmental first impressions on people we meet and it can hinder us from getting to know someone better.
Some of us shared that we have judged others but after talking with the person we discover that the impressions we formed were wrong and have felt guilty for judging someone wrongly when they were nice the whole time.
We also talked about how being judgmental as a Christian can really influence the way one person can see all Christians. It can cause a person to see God as judgmental because they have seen Christians as judgmental.

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Williams  Bible  Talk
Brothers and sisters had a great conversation on equity(one
Sister shared that we should define it differently). But
Everyone agreed that unity and meeting the needs of the
congregation is vital.

Most shared about being judged by people in the world,
not disciples.  There was great feedback  on the questions, and  all agreed  with  the ultimate  conclusion  that we are
the same before  God, and when we are judgemental  of
Others, the world cannot see us as disciples of Christ.  Instead, we are seen as cruel unloving people.

The group thought the lesson was positive and essential.
Especially during this time when there is so much tension in the world.

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Humility is a good thing to have.

Unconscious Bias can be used as an excuse to treat others badly. It is a challenging concept. You know your bias, but you may not think about them before you act. These things may come from how you are raised.

It is more difficult to be humble to each other than to God. We need to see our brothers and sisters as Godly, even though we are imperfect.

When you judge someone based on  outward appearances you can become very negative or even angry towards them.

Judging often comes from fear, anger, jealousy, or some emotional issue.

Being judged on appearance or social status is very common and it never feels good when it is negative.

When you see someone you may be afraid of them or intimidated just by how they look without knowing their story. This has a negative impact on your living your life

Unconscious bias can cause us to have a negative reaction to even those in the church.

When you judge there is no time to love.

Judging is a form of pride.

To promote unity you need more humility.

We need to fight for unity and not let single instances or circumstances come between us.

As brothers and sisters we need to forgive each other's perceived transgressions. Try to understand and respect each other.

Its easier to try to fix someone rather than understand someone. We need to be more aware of each other's needs and less aware of each other's opinions.

Our actions based on unconscious bias is what can challenge unity.

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Humility - Not putting oneself above others.
Unconscious biases - We all have biases some say conscious and unconscious based on upbringing, experiences in life, your peers (the crowd you hang with), your environment, social standing, race and even as disciples we differ in our opinions.
One of the great qualities of being in the church is feeling safe in the body, where there is humility, love and openness. Always striving to be respectful of each other, always working to build each other up and work to be unified.
This lesson allowed us to reflect and recognize our biases and work towards not being judgmental and listening to others disposition (thoughts).

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Humility - this is something everyone should have towards each other. Our group at one time or another have had unconscious biases. We all believe we have to be aware of thoughts and judgments towards being Christ like and to not cause division. Each member is apart of the body and we have to accept what part of the body we are. Everyone liked the video lesson where you defined yourself in the past, present, etc. It helped everyone reflect at different points in their life the aspects of their identity.

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It is good to be aware of your unconscious bias, reflect on them and try to not act on them.  Keep humility as a focus.
Our tendency is to push our perspective on others and instead we need to listen to their perspective.
Don't judge others because we don't like being judged - it can be very hurtful.  Judgement leaves scars.
Remind ourselves to consider other people background's and experiences, so our biases don't impact others.  We do not know other peoples situations.  Be a listener and observer.

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Good discussion with Ankeny’s, Paez’, Skoogs.  We talked about unconscious bias and the need for humility.  How do we become aware of unconscious bias?  Ideas included reflecting on our own reaction to things, being open to correction or feedback, and asking other people about their feelings and experiences.  But, we aren’t sure if the diversity lessons are meant to address problems in our church, or to reinforce good Christian teaching.  One person said it feels like we’re “hunting for something without knowing what we’re looking for”.  Another person said it feels like “Satan is trying to push the church off track”, by getting us to look inward instead of looking to God and outward toward others.  We appreciate the lessons, but there is a feeling we may be trying to “fix” something in the church that isn’t broke.  Perhaps we are unaware of the hurts we are trying to heal.  It would help to clarify the problem statement, as it relates to our church.  Please forgive our ignorance and help us understand.

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It was hard to wrap our minds around unconscious bias, but after a lot of discussion we were able to come up with examples everyone could relate to. What makes identifying unconscious bias hard is that we assume as Christians that we're not judgmental and therefore don't have biases. But then we think of 'little things' like reactions to how people dress at church, or songs we might choose to sing, or who hangs out with who and it became clear how those 'little things' can lead to divisions.

It is easier to think of humility with respect to God because we understand God as "big, up there" as beyond and holy. But we see others at the same level as us which makes humility hard. That also means that when we aren't humble or are judgmental, our judgments are based on comparisons- to expectations, to ourselves, etc. A benign example would be describing someone as "short", but only because that person is around other people who are taller. Put the same person in Kids Kingdom and suddenly they're "tall". So those types of judgments don't make sense, but happen nonetheless.

The best way  to remain humble is to think about what we have in common. So as disciples that means our relationship with God, the forgiveness of our sins, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Outside the church that means remembering others are created in God's image and are equally loved by God. Thinking about what we have in common helps us remember that we are "one body" even if we're different parts.

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We had a great discussion about humility and unconscious bias. We all understood unconscious bias is something we have and can't avoid. We each got open about the biases we have and how it can cause division in the church. We all agreed that Jesus washing the feet of others and more was a great way to think of humility. We concluded with practical ways to fight division like pulling the person to the side and expressing how something made us feel, getting advice from others, praying for other's hearts and our own hearts and more. All and all a fantastic night. Thank you!

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God wants everybody, he cares for us all equally, but he does not treat us all equally because he gives each of us what we need, which is different from person to person

God wants the church to grow to save all people;
God wants the world to have the opportunity to come to him

The world does not look like God wants, because people struggle to love each other; Gods vision for the world was that we would live in peace and harmony with each other

We are selfish and prideful, we tell God that he needs us not that we need Him

Examples of reaching out
Invite people over to your house
Inviting them to church
Make friends with the lost
Approach people with love and kindness
Listen to people and their struggles
Pray with people

Its easy to reach out to:
Those who like you;
It may not be easy to reach out to people;
People who are nice;
Someone who is hurting or is vulnerable

Be part of a bible talk that is very diverse so it will be attractive to anyone

Reach out to people who are different than you: rich, poor, black, white, Latino, Asian, disabled, disenfranchised, and the like

We are all baptized in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit and any baptized disciple can baptize someone

We feel safe because:
we can ask questions without repercussions, but receive compassion, mercy, love, validation;
Feeling loved by people in the Church;

Safe is when you are loved and treated with respect;
When the right doctrine is preached with a focus on the Bible; To feel free of judgement by disciples;
It all comes back to Love

One of our members did not have have anyone talk to her for two years other than the one who brought her, and she questioned if she was in the right place, the only thing that kept her at our church was what was being taught, even still she stopped coming for six months, but then came back and started seeking people out herself.

Even though many did not reach out to another of our members he saw a transparency and sincerity in the disciples that was attractive and the message that was being taught kept him coming back

We feel safer in the church than outside, because we generally feel loved, secure, and understood without ulterior motives; we have the same foundation in Christ.

When we are unified, people are attracted to our fellowship even with our faults.

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Good Discussion about judgement and how it creates a wedge in relationships in the church. We talked about how to overcome our own bias and judgement and admitting we don't have all the answers.

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Reach out to other people and make disciples of all nations and then we will be a part of the solution.

Be purposeful and reach out to people we may not have before - get out of our comfort zone.

We need to strive to be more hospitable.

Build stronger relationships within the church.

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Having Unity is essential for our churches both inside and outside. How can we reach out to the world if we have division. Simply put we won't be effective.

Church makes us feel safe when we are amongst our Brother & Sister's. We have the common core of Christ in us.  Love from the church makes us feel safe, content, happy and provided for. Each of us is not perfect, but when we do fall short God lifts us up, brushes us off and guides us once again. Safety can come by not feeling judged at church. We can be ourselves.

One sister said "we live in California and believes all Nations are already here."  We need to only reach out to our neighbors to reach all Nations. Reach out to someone opposite of yourself.

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One way to overcome our insecurities reaching out to people who are different is to think of how God might be working in that person's life, remembering how God was working in our lives when we became disciples. It is easy to be judgmental of people who are different, and it might be intimidating to reach out to them, but when we remember that God loves them as much as God loves us then it's harder to be judgmental.

When it comes to reaching "every tribe, people, nation, and tongue" we don't have to look far in our community- people live here from all over. We just need to not let what makes us different divide us and keep us from remembering what makes us the same (all children of God)

When we are only close to people just like us in church, we don't get the benefit of learning from different experiences. That's one reason why testimonies are so encouraging- we hear about different backgrounds and experiences and God still worked in their lives even if it wasn't the same as our experience.

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Our discussion tonight talked a lot about reaching out to people and how selective we can be. We are selective to people by their appearance, if they look friendly, or if we know them or not. We also discussed ways to break that selectiveness and reach out to all people, because Jesus commands ALL nations.
We all feel church is a safe and secure place. We can always have conversations and overall feel like we are all friends with everyone there, and not feel judged for being ourselves. This safety feeling we can agree comes from the common goal we share of wanting to reach God. When we step outside of church, we can feel alone and isolated from the world because there is no common goal, everyone is to themselves.

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Good discussion with Ankeny’s (including Nathan), Paez’, Skoogs.  We enjoyed discussing the Revelations 5 passage.  We recognized that humility and love are important and necessary to achieving unity, and to reaching up/in/out.  Our common ground is the gospel and Christ’s mission to seek and save the lost, and being judgmental or self-righteous is detrimental to outreach.

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Reaching in:  Brothers and sisters agreed that Jesus died on the cross for "all " people , and he shows no favoritism (he doesn't care if you are rich or poor).

It was shared that God's vision for the Church is for the congregation to be unified, to love others,  to be representatives of Christ, and to live in harmony with our neighbors. One of his greatest commands is to love your neighbor as yourself. And his vision for the world is to have a relationship with him.

One sister shared that reaching in means  letting go of your ego and
not being selfish .

The group agreed that there are various ways to reach out to people ,for example, by door knocking, reaching out to co-workers, building
relationships and sharing  our faith with others.
We can make a difference if we reach out to all people- not just people who look like us.

There are mixed views about feeling safe in church. Some members shared because of church shootings, the pandemic, and social media that they do not feel as safe as  they did several years previously.

But we have hope Because God is the God of hope.

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The Spanish ministry feels safe in the church because of the friendship and hospitality found in the church. People feel welcomed.  Also, unity is forged by common convictions grounded in Scripture.
The call for the group is to be disciples who reach out to the world in new ways within the context of a socially distanced society.

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Overall the midweeks have been good. Sometimes it took them a little while to respond and we're not sure if that has to do with them really trying to reflect or if it is the virtual format or because they're just campus students. We had really good discussion when it came to questions that asked for people to share experiences of being judged or they themselves being judgmental in the past.

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We had an abnormally small group this week so it was a slight bit awkward with having to ask the same 4 people or so to respond to the questions. This week did feel like it had too many components to the lesson. We do feel that the discussion might be enhanced if there were a few lighter questions at the beginning to help them loosen up before diving into such heavy topics. We had awesome discussion when it came to asking people about their experiences and especially on whether or not they felt safe in the church. Some people did feel safe. But one black member in the group very openly and emphatically responded "no" because of conversations they have had with some white members in the church that sounded shockingly like people in the world. They felt like they had to be guarded to first find out where that person's views were before they could feel comfortable. We did our best to state that that is not at all what the kingdom should be like and that that (white) person is in sin if they're being racially/culturally discriminant and we thanked them for their honesty. We would appreciate practical advice on how to handle that both in the middle of a discussion and also later outside of the midweek setting.

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Most of our Bible talk missed tonight.

Equity: everyone is comfortable
Equality: some are comfortable and some are strained.

Equality in the Bible is that God treats us the same by giving us what we need. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but God does offer salvation to all to be freed from our individual sins/demons.

Equality in the world is 50/50 an equal share. But equity still comes into play. Different cultures may define equality differently.

In the world equality is a power struggle. in the church equality is fair.

Equality and equity are two sides of the same coin and fairness encompasses both.

One church giving to another church is considered equality in the Bible. In the world this would not be equality.

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Good discussion with Ankeny’s, Skoog’s, Andreasian’s.  We read and discussed the 2 Cor 8 passage.  Some of us were concerned the lesson points might be bringing politics into the discussion, which we wanted to avoid, so we just talked about how to apply the 2 Cor 8 passage.  One idea was to freely share what you have to give, not necessarily money, but maybe your time or compassion, to help boost another person’s spirit, and thereby bringing more equality into the world.

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*2 Corinthians supported the idea of equity
*Fairness is going to look different in different situations
*What's fair isn't always the same

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A couple of real good examples from school:
1. A media class (Fabian's) might spend more money than an english class even though the outcome is the same- teaching kids. Someone can look at that as being unfair although it is equitable because they are both able to provide what is needed
2. special education students look like they get special treatment and support while regular students struggle just to get by without the same support. Again it looks unfair, but is equitable because it is about meeting needs.

The danger in the second is that those who receive more might start acting entitled or the others may be ungrateful for what they do have. (imagine the last group of workers in Mt 20 bragging about not having to work as hard) Those types of attitudes divide and are what keep equity and equality from being talked about in godly ways.

We probably had our most 'real' talk on Mark 4 recognizing the obstacles that we unintentionally put in people's ways to "thrive" in the Kingdom- legalistic expectations, language, not considering others' needs, etc. And then we sometimes apply those obstacles out in the world so we don't share our faith with people unless they are just like us.

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Hey everyone, tonight we shared our thoughts and understandings of equality, equity, and fairness.
We all agreed that we need to be there to help fulfill the needs for all people as much as we can. Our hearts should be giving and there for others as much as we can.

In the parable of the vineyard worker, some of the teens pointed out that while to the workers it may seem unfair, the landowner shared his conditions and everyone agreed thus making it fair.
When it comes to someone else in our lives at church, school, or family and we notice them receiving more than they should, we can't be subjective. We don't understand the full situation on why someone may be getting more and we should keep thoughts and judgements to ourselves.

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We had a great discussion tonight. We were still fewer in number than usual. When we asked for feedback  they mentioned wanting (1) practicals, (2) testimonies and (3) way more visuals. Most of our group members are visual learners and have been having a hard time understanding. This made them  second guess themselves and feel uncomfortable and uncertain in what they were saying. They also felt like the topics were being dragged out and same things were being talked about over and over again. They really would love to move past surface discussions and get down to the nitty gritty. They also felt like the lessons were targeted at the older generations and were putting hard topics under one big blanket, i.e. a discussion on diversity and equity among millenials should be more specialized to their life-stage. But they also acknowledged that they were glad the church is at least talking about it and not just stopping at doing a month of lessons in Black History Month.

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Our group agreed that the pictures of the bikes played a huge role in  understanding the difference between equality and equity. Equality was defined as everyone has the same opportunity, however, there might be factors that keep them from taking advantage of the "same" opportunity.

Equity includes fairness, and it means that everyone is provided with what they need when they need it. In other words, they aren't given something that doesn't benefit them.

When the Bible talks about equality it means that the needs of brothers and sisters are being met. Therefore, we need to provide for others who have less. For example, when we give our special missions contribution we are meeting the needs of less fortunate brothers and sisters. we need to follow Christ and not the world.

We discussed Matthew 20: 1-15
We concluded that the landowner was right, and the workers were being selfish because he paid them what they agreed to. The complaining workers didn't lose anything because the landowner was generous to the other workers. society often feels that they deserve what someone else has, or that someone is taking something away from them. However, in the church we should be an example for others, and go the extra mile instead of upset because someone isn't doing their part.

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A parent can favor one child over another.

God provides Grace/Salvation to all, no favoritism

A disciple may show favoritism through who they ask to participate  in meeting; or be selective to who they want to be close to like leaders exclusively.

Favoritism is not always bad you might favor a brother because you want to learn from them

Loving someone who doesn't love you is very difficult. But when you do you may be surprised by the result.

It is not difficult to believe that God can love someone who I find it challenging to love

God loves everyone our attitude to them does not matter. We need to be at the foot of the cross and accept God loves those we cant stand and then be spiritual and compassionate. You must be the Bigger disciple when there are STRONG disagreements with another disciple

Favoritism in the church can be expressed by how "sharp" someone might look. In the AV Church there is favoritism by language because the service is in English and the Spanish speaking members are at a disadvantage.

We have examples of favoritism in the church even through who we fellowship with and being exclusive in our fellowship. Even though the favoritism may be unintentional.

Deep love is unconditional love.

The worlds values are selfish and we see disciples acting that way at times lifting themselves not others.

The worlds values, being so evil, can also shape our values by impelling us to do the opposite.

We need to treat each other with unconditional Love and respect with honesty! The hard part is doing it.

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Good discussion with Ankeny’s, Skoog’s, Andreasian’s, Paez’.  We read and discussed the James 2 passage.  It is a natural response to gravitate to a comfortable or familiar situation vs. an uncomfortable one.  How can we resist showing favoritism?  Ideas included recognizing our discomfort, thinking about it and pushing through it, and also having a sense of gratitude for the good in our life.  We agreed that we should strive to reach out to other disciples we don’t know very well when we start meeting in-person again.

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God loves us equally and for that we are grateful! He even loves and cares for us when don't deserve it.

Family or friends can show favoritism: parent showing favoritism by loving one child more than another, saying why can't you be like..., A friend drops you to become friends to someone else.

It hard to love someone who does not love you back. God compels us to love that person regardless. Look for a positive in that person vs. the hurt.  Our group understands God loving people who could be challenge for you because we know God loves all.

Caring for our brothers and sisters in prayer, being a servant, helping in good times and bad or simply listening to them are super important. We need to be careful of how the world shapes us: what we read, what we watch on TV, computers, etc. "If we could spread love as quickly as we spread hate and negativity, what an amazing world we would live in".

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Some really good examples shared.

One example of investing deeply in a friendship but being rejected, and how hard it is to continue loving that person because he or she is a child of God and a disciple of Jesus and not being resentful because of hurt.

An example of unconscious or unintentional favoritism can be seen in our families with how we treat our kids. It is easy to love up on, build up, and encourage the child who makes good decisions or otherwise makes us happy by doing what they're told or what we expect, while unintentionally resenting, talking down to, or even discouraging the child who misbehaves or doesn't meet expectations. But if we're asked "who's your favorite child?" we'll always answer "I don't have a favorite"

Last example of realizing our status as foreigners in this world was when the Montaguts went on a missions trip to Africa and they were welcomed like family by disciples even though they were so different. It challenged them into thinking about how when we're comfortable in our own space, we might tend towards favoritism because we're not experiencing the world from someone else's perspective. Sometimes all it takes is stepping outside our comfort zone and spending time with someone we might not normally spend time with or going someplace we might not normally go.

So loving deeply and sincerely means listening, having empathy, and putting ourselves in other people's shoes.

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Tonight's discussion went very well. They really felt challenged by the call to love people who don't love you back or show favoritism against you. They wanted practical advice on how to forgive people  and work through bad blood (and we gave our thoughts to them). They were very grateful for the testimony shared in the intro video and one person also shared their experience with a disciple who had once confessed having racist feelings towards his race/ethnicity. At that point we needed to take a moment to recognize the church's shortcomings but balance it by remembering that instead of getting bitter towards the church, we must love it as Christ's bride and always be working to help it become more righteous.