Once you have scheduled your Jerusalem Council with the national office and a facilitator/spiritual companion has been assigned, as you plan your Jerusalem Council the following information will be helpful. The agenda is scheduled to run from 9 am to 4 pm. You are responsible to provide lunch through whatever means suit your resources and location, and also to provide beverages for gathering and break times. Most constituent Councils plan a free will offering to defray those expenses. At the meeting you will also provide to participants the following documents: agenda including an opening hymn or song of your choice, proposed bylaws amendment, individual response form and the text of Acts 15:1-35.
In advance you will invite colleagues to participate by sending a letter of invitation, emailing follow-up reminders and where relevant posting the information on your website. The letter should make clear that the purpose of the gathering is to engage the question whether and how we can go on together with our different understandings of homosexuality, just as the early church in Acts 15 through Scripture, testimony and Spirit engaged the same question with their different understandings on inclusion of gentiles. While copies of the text will be provided at the session, you will also invite participants to bring their own Bibles in their preferred versions. The letter may also indicate the name(s) of the spiritual companion(s) and their background information. You may also reference the Jerusalem Council resources posted at www.ministerscouncil.com, including background materials and suggested reading list. In addition it is helpful to give clear directions to the meeting site.
The day of the gathering you will have set up a comfortable meeting room with chairs arranged in circle or horseshoe formation to facilitate communication. In addition to the documents referenced in the first paragraph above, you will have a candle and matches; a bell to signal transition times; newsprint, markers, and tape; and nametags for each participant. You will also have a songleader and/or instrumentalist to lead music in the opening worship time and perhaps later in the session.
Please designate someone to take a few photographs at the event to submit to the office for the event report. Afterward also please immediately write a brief report to send to the office along with the contents from the newsprint gathered during the final session of the day concerning three questions.
If at any time you have any other questions, please email kate.harvey@abc-usa.org.