Using the cards in HOPE25 scenarios

 Hope25 is an initiative of the Australian Anglican Church. It is a season of intentional sharing of the hope that Christians find in Jesus. It takes place from Easter to Pentecost in 2025. The challenge is for each parish, community or agency to just add ONE invitational event that provides space, time and resources for people to connect about faith.

The Anglican Diocese of Southern Queensland loves this challenge, because when we asked around, people said they want to be more relaxed when talking about Jesus and their faith. People want a way to practice, to make it easy and natural to weave faith into everyday conversations.

The ASKaround conversation cards are a great resource for this challenge! The idea is that when we take time to practice chatting about faith stuff, we gain confidence and language to contribute our own stories. Its like we go “huh, so that’s how its done!”

During HOPE25, Anglican communities can get really good at sharing faith stories, with just a little practice!

Here are some quick ideas for a busy parish to make the most of the ASKaround deck of conversation starter questions during the HOPE 25 season…

 

Book a table at a local coffee shop for Talk it out Tuesdays.

Or We’ll listen Wednesdays

Or Thoughts R Us Thursdays - You get the idea

This could be just one hour during the day, but make it a regular commitment and let people know via your socials, or a chalk board.

 

Make it a habit to practice asking and listening.

Try this: after a church service, on the way out, each person chooses one card from the ASKaround deck.

  • The challenge: find someone from your congregation/community to engage in conversation – ask them the question. Listen and then share your story too. In a Jesus community, challenge each other to weave in a story about Jesus, your church, why you believe in something more.

  • Encourage each other’s attempts!

  • This could become the way your Parish Council, prayer group, flower roster, youth group, Sunday School planning groups begin their routine meetings: ASKaround questions, listen, share, encourage…practice weaving faith into it.

  • Then host a ‘not so trivial’ night

 

A ‘not-so-trivial’ night?

  • Make it a question-and-answer night.

  • Create a cozy vibe with couches and cushions.

  • Put the kettles on, bring a plate of caramel slice and popcorn.

  • Ask wise people to host a table each and invite people to a night of being listened to.

  • Use the ASKaround decks to spark conversations and encourage your people to listen first.

  • Your guests will of course ask you to answer too, but be gracious, and earn the right to tell your story by being generous with your listening skills!

Amazing what you might hear!

Making it a great success

If you want to use the questions during your weekly services, there are a few easy ways to make faith conversations successful.

We reckon there are lots of ways to get your parish chatting more happily about spirituality, about their faith journeys – the basics are as follows:

  • Provide the question

  • Make it ‘retrievable’

  • Model a response

  • Give thinking time

  • Provide a safe structure for rehearsal

  • Take the pressure off

 

Let’s look at why we chose these particular steps for successful faith conversations.

Provide the question – This could be as a video from the innerVIVID video series. OR it could be one of the 80 questions from the ASKaround conversation deck.

Make it ‘retrievable’ – no one wants to be that person who has to ask, ‘What was the question?’ Most people would rather exit that ask. So, make sure they don’t have to ask! Print it in the pew notes, or on a poster or put it on the screen.

Model a response – use the videos to show some responses to that question. Add a short and sweet answer of your own, model how to weave your faith story into it.

Give thinking time – there are lots of different brains out there – quick brains are great with producing volume, slower brains are great with producing quality, but often don’t get airplay with all the quick ones taking the stage! Advertise thinking time, and deliver on that promise. Don’t worry about silence…it’s a gift to all. Quick brains get to sift to the gold, and slow brains get to process well. Embark on the silence with confidence and an expectation that it will be SILENT. Insist gently on it…they’ll get the hang of it.

Provide a safe structure for rehearsal – many people do not want to talk in public. They will talk one-on-one. So, make it safe. Pair up, and encourage people to take turns. Advertise the structure: say “one person answer for 3 minutes, at the bell, swap over!” This supports those polite people who will sit and listen because they don’t want to interrupt. You do the interrupting!

Take the pressure off – by this stage, everyone has had a chance to be heard. Note – it is not necessary for everyone to feed back. Relentless and forced feedback kills the joy that was bubbling in the natural conversations. Remember: not everyone wants to be in front of a crowd. This process is about creating successful interactions, its not really a big group process…but lots of little pairs sharing. It’s often enough to be heard by that one person.

If you really want to hear some ideas, go one step further: ask each pair to identify one thing their stories had in common.

  • Why is this a great summary question? Because no one has to be alone in the response.

  • There’s no risk of ridicule when there’s common ground. And if there’s a laugh, you have a partner. Safe. Secure. Successful. People feel more human, more loved, more accepted and secure when they have common ground and a buddy.

  • And so, confidence grows! You’ve created a space and process for people to share successfully.

  • Keep the pressure low. Move on.

Then repeat this process at another service, or event. People eventually get the hang of quiet thinking time, pairing, taking turns, active listening, and finding common ground.

You are creating habits of expression, habits of listening, modelling turn-taking and people feel successful!

Its fine to repeat this process many times with no changes. If you want other summary questions that build collaboration and confidence, some suggestions are:

  • What connections did you make?

  • What was different in your answers?

  • What did you learn from your person?

  • What do you like about this question?

  • What surprised you?