Asset Mapping
For class this past week, we opened with a “Chinook Psalter” from Earth Prayers From Around the World and invited persons to share observations from time spent in the natural world. We summarized “where we are” in light of our readings and discussions this past month: we’re in the age of the Anthropocene, amidst widespread planetary changes, with ominous social, political, and economic implications and ongoing negative impacts on those already burdened by existing injustices, which requires collective efforts toward deep, systemic change, with important contributions from our religious traditions, on our way to the just healing of the land. We then returned to our yearlong question of what Hennepin Avenue UMC’s role might be as a bold witness and agent of hope in a climate changed world – from unflinchingly honest to unabashedly hopeful – focusing on the wisdom of asset-based-community-development approaches: we realize transformation through community, as we seek out and get to know each other, identify one another’s gifts through deep listening, connect each other through relationship building, and then mobilize for collective action. As a start to this process, we shared responses to several of the following questions:
- Describe a time when you were proud of or excited about this congregation.
- How has this congregation positively impacted your life?
- What are Hennepin’s most important assets (e.g. buildings/property, networks of influence, finances, clergy/lay leadership, etc.) that could be used to build a regenerative and just future?
- What is something you know so well that you could teach it to someone else?
- What is the one thing that people who know you best would say you are good at?
- What are the major assets you have access to (e.g. buildings/property, networks of influence, finances, etc.) that you’d be willing to contribute toward building a regenerative and just future?
For those not present on Sunday who would like to help us identify the individual and congregational assets we might mobilize for a regenerative mission at Hennepin, you can do so by filling out this online form.
We closed class with a prayer from Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro in Earth Prayers from Around the World.