The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations and Department of Faith Formation, in partnership with ChurchNext, a ministry of Forward Movement, has released “Make Me an Instrument of Peace: A Guide to Civil Discourse.” This five-part online curriculum covers the following topics: civil discourse in context, tenets for civil discourse, values-based conversations, the complexities of policy, and sacred space for debate.

Baylor’s Public Deliberation Initiative has been bringing students and citizens together for conversations about some of the most pressing challenges of our day. As part of these forums, I have been moved by people’s ability to share experiences and perspectives on matters of opioid addiction, immigration, gun ownership, climate challenges and more. I like their motto: “Doing democracy differently.”

A group of Victoria residents spent their Friday evening willingly engaging one of the country’s most pressing, and often divisive, topics – immigration. The group was there for an organized discussion to consider questions like whether people who entered the country illegally should have a path to legal status and whether police officers should be required to check a person’s immigration status. Moderators followed a model established by the Baylor Public Deliberation Initiative, which emphasizes moving away from debating or seeing issues as only having two sides and instead encouraging participants to try to learn from each other.