Component two is organizing and hosting four gatherings for multifaith congregations to come together to break bread, discuss the four texts, and build fellowship together.
Some clergy groups study all four texts first and then invite their members to join in for larger gatherings. Others prefer a clergy study of each text immediately prior to the congregational gathering. You decide. Either way, we all know congregational calendars are packed, so schedule and promote these fellowship gatherings early, and consider standing up a lay team to do the logistics (food, supplies, etc).
Advertising
When advertising the program in your community, emphasize the larger moral priority of healthy democracy. Consider sermons prior to promoting the program to highlight communal anxieties around the sustainability of the American experiment. Individuals in our communities are struggling with friend and family relationships that have become frayed by political differences. Work and volunteer team meetings show signs of bad habits learned through our country’s broken political discourse. This program is a positive response to those concerns. Ensuring that congregants see the bigger picture can transcend just learning about texts. In addition, make sure the promotional material indicates that this is not a history course or a policy debate but rather an opportunity to:
Share fellowship with our local area houses of worship.
Explore the big ideas that define what America means to each of us.
Discuss the values that underlie our democracy.
Plan for hosting a community-wide public civic ritual to honor July 4th, 2026, America’s 250th.
Click here to request marketing materials (faith250 logo, brand guide, etc).
Suggested Timeline & Agenda
10 days prior to the gathering:
Distribution of the text, history, and one pre-session question. This will enable participants to come prepared and avoid using in-session time to read the text (this is especially important with the longer texts, the “Declaration of Independence” and “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, for which only excerpts are included on our provided handout). The pre-session question will initiate individual thoughts on the text and provide an indication of the content of the discussion to take place. Participants should be asked to think about and write down their response to the pre-session question and bring it with them. This helps ensure they will complete the reading and thinking and build reflective practice.
On the day of the gathering:
Creating a sacred community space is paramount to the functionality of the gatherings. Seating should be comfortable, enable all to see each other, and provide space for break-out groups. There is no right size of group. The suggested approach has been used with groups as small as 6 and as large as 75. Larger-sized groups should use discussion dyads and small break-outs to ensure that all can meaningfully engage.
The role of the clergy is to facilitate fellowship and learning. The practices to guide the conversation should be consistent with those suggested for the clergy conversations. The texts, questions, and group activities are designed to penetrate the harder and more difficult aspects of our American identities, taking patriotism as a serious commitment. Skills effective clergy use regularly are required, including starting and ending with prayer and/or song, asking questions from a pastoral mindset, and teaching in a communally engaging way. In addition, educational leadership is essential. Clergy should develop a general schedule of how the time will be used, initiate each activity, pose clarifying questions, ensure participation, and determine when to use a full room vs dyads or small groups.
Suggested agenda:
90 minutes is the minimum recommended starting point for a gathering that includes discussion. If a group activity is included, an additional 30-45 minutes will be required. Group feedback at the end of the first gathering may lead to the need for alterations to the schedule for future gatherings.
Welcome. Opening prayers/songs. 5 minutes.
A quick, round robin introductory icebreaker. These are suggested for each text and should be “modeled” so they are kept extremely brief. 15 minutes.
Opening covenant (ground rules). A sample “Covenant for Conversation” is provided here. Review of schedule. 5 minutes.
Discussion: Full room, dyads, small groups, or a combination. 45-60 minutes.
Begin with the pre-session question. It is essential to use what participants were asked to do in advance, so they continue to prepare in advance going forward.
Discussion questions which illustrate the values of the text are suggested for each text. Feel free to add your own.
Connect the text to scriptures from the faiths present.
Group activity: Small groups. 30-45 minutes.
This is recommended to build community. Activities that deepen our understanding of each other, identify common themes, and orient to actions that improve the community are suggested for each text. Feel free to add your own. We caution against activities that are polarizing (i.e.: debates). Allow time for room sharing.
Closing reflection: 15 minutes.
Individual time (5 minutes) to make meaning of the gathering. This provides the opportunity for participants to identify what they have gained by being present. A question is suggested for each text. Again, participants should be asked to think about and write down their response to the closing reflection question.
Group (10 minutes): Invite a few participants to share what they wrote. Ask for any other comments about the gathering.
Closing prayers/songs. 5 minutes.