Host a Community Discussion

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A community forum can be a wonderful opportunity to allow people from your church and your community to discuss transportation issues, specifically those raised by the What Would Jesus Drive educational campaign.

Place an announcement in your bulletin or church newsletter and post invitations in your neighborhood. Encourage people to do some background reading at the WWJDrive web site (http://whatwouldjesusdrive.org). The discussion paper or short fact sheets are a wonderful place to begin.

Set up chairs and a podium with a microphone (if your room is large). You may want to have a microphone for questions and comments from the audience.

Begin your time by having the moderator summarize information from the fact sheets or discussion paper. Have copies of the fact sheets available to distribute as needed.

Discussion suggestions (may be combined if desired)

1. Expert panel: invite experts on various tranportation issues to attend. After the summary of WWJDrive information, each expert is encouraged to present a short speech. Questions from the audience are directed at a member of the panel through the moderator.
2. Have questions asked by the audience which can be answered by other members of the audience, or by the person who provided the summary of the WWJDrive information.
3. Split up into smaller groups to talk about the issues. Give the groups specific questions to discuss and have a time limit for each. If you have enough organizers, have one to lead each group to facilitate discussion. Groups should be not bigger than 8-10 people. Possible questions:
   1. What vehicle do you drive and why did you choose it?
   2. What is holding you back from buying / driving a more fuel efficient vehicle?
   3. What could you do to lower your pollution from transportation?
   4. What options do you have for transportation? Would you like more?

The discussion should be ended with a recap of the issues and the WWJDrive position.

You may want to have a refreshment break either in the middle or at the end of the discussion. Members of the church may be willing to provide baked goods for this.

Things to remember

1. Don't allow this to become a shouting match. Try to keep people calm. Allow them to speak their point once, and to get as many people involved as possible.
2. Be ready for people who will disagree with you. Allow them to state their point, but do not let them spoil the discussion. The point is to generate discussion.
3. Be humble. Do not portray yourself as knowing all the answers and making all the right decisions.
4. Remember that every little action we do is seen by God. Some may seem tiny and hardly worth the effort, but God calls us to be faithful in all things.

Need more?

Interested, but still unsure where to start? Need more help? Send us an email: een@creationcare.org.

Let us know how your community forum turns out! Tell us the questions you used, what worked, and what did not. We'll pass the information on to others.