Grace in the Donut
By Deaconess Johnna Georgia
Awaken Dane Program Director
First, we met with the pastors who had applied to participate in Awaken Dane in July. Then, we met with a group from each pastor’s congregation. These groups, which we call Congregational Teams, gathered for the first time at Warner Park Pavilion on Saturday, September 25th to learn what exactly they got themselves signed up for. Participants trickled in carrying their lawn chairs and morning coffee as the sun warmed up and took the edge off the cool breeze coming off the water.
Over the course of four hours, we had planned to introduce everyone to the team behind Awaken Dane, explain further the thought processes behind creating this program, practice Dwelling in the Word, and share a meal together. As we gradually painted a picture of the religious climate in Dane County and how the four sponsoring organizations wove together to build Awaken Dane, the park was pretty quiet. I commented to a colleague, “This isn’t really a clapping crowd…” as speakers transitioned to a silent audience.
When it was my turn to speak about the paperwork and schedules in their packets (and they weren’t clapping for me!?), I remarked to the crowd that I noticed they weren’t a clapping crowd and that was OK. And to my delight and surprise – it turns out that they were. They started hooting and hollering with enthusiasm at every future transition. Just like that, the energy for the day soared.
It was perfect timing for a shift like that as we transitioned into doing Dwelling in the Word with Luke 10: 1-12 (similar to leccio divina) to practice deep listening. We asked a few pairs to share what they heard their partner experiencing as they listened to the text. The encouragement from the crowd helped break the ice further and maybe even helped assuage some stage fright for the folks who were volunteered to share by their partners.
By now the sun was shining, the ice was broken, and everyone was more relaxed and engaged. We took a short break and the folks from Journey Church Madison broke out some boxes of donuts and began offering them to the others gathered. In retrospect, this was a pivotal moment in the day.
Our work at Awaken Dane is about being present. We are shifting our mindsets that we always need to do for others and embrace being with others. And here, unprompted, our friends at Journey took the reins and showed us how a simple donut can be an entry point to conversation and connection.
For the first time that day, we were seeing the church groups inter-mingle. Whether people took the donut or not, they now could see that the person offering a donut was the kind of person you could strike up a conversation with. It isn’t so much that they were providing a much-needed carb delivery service (although that might also be true) but rather that they were providing an ‘in’ to a conversation with a stranger. They were starting to break down walls and barriers that we all naturally carry around with us.
You might call the donut in this scenario an icebreaker. I think I’ll call it our sugary grace. As participants in Awaken Dane, we are asking that these Congregational Team members begin stepping out into their neighborhoods and start practicing being present and deeply listening to their neighbors. This is not going to be an easy or natural process for everyone. Hopefully, being on the receiving end of some sugary grace will help participants remember how easy it can be to break the ice.
Awaken Dane is a joint effort of Wisconsin Council of Churches, Collaboration Project, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, and Upper House. It is a grant funded project through Lilly Endowment, Inc. To learn more, visit our website or find us on Facebook.
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