Unsermons

Unsermon

CFI Ottawa Unsermons take place bi-weekly on Sundays at the YMCA downtown on Argyle. Visit our Meetup group to RSVP for the next one.

Unsermons are a new spin on a regular Sunday morning get-together that the Humanist Association of Ottawa has been experimenting with. It is partially a social event that allows members to get to know each other, but it also is an event where a lot can be learned from one another.

The idea has been derived from a new phenomenon that has arisen out of the technology conference world called an Unconference.

In order to understand why we call them "Unsermons", let's start by contrasting them with a sermon:

Sermon: A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts. Elements of preaching include exposition, exhortation and practical application.

Unsermon: An Unsermon is an open discussion by a group of individuals that wish to learn from each other. Unsermons typically address scientific, political, philosophical, or moral issues, but are not limited to this. Topics are suggested for discussion by the attendees before or at the beginning of the event. Attendees are split into groups of no more than 5, and discussion begins. At regular intervals of time, the members of each group are shuffled.

Our monthly meetings tend to cover pretty interesting topics; the type of topics that trigger a lot of follow up discussion. Humanists by nature, are inquisitive and skeptical, and we often end up with question/answer sessions that last longer than the actual presentation!

Seeing that there was a huge demand for conversation, we decided to create a new type of event that would capitalize on the passion our members have for taking the topic deeper. Enter the Unsermon!

When considering the format for this event, we started with a list of goals that had to be satisfied:

It must be conversational.
Content must be presented by attendees.
Conversation must be natural and free flowing.
Must protect discussions from being dominated.
Must not allow discussion to get personal.

Using these goals, the Unsermon format works as follows:

Before the Unsermon, start collecting topics of interest for discussion from your potential attendees. Announce these topics in advance so that people may become familiar with them.
At the event, create small circles of chairs that facilitate a conversation of no more than five people.
Add as many circles as needed to facilitate all of your attendees.
Each circle must have one person designated as a moderator. This person counts as one of the five in the circle.
Assign topics to the circle. If you have many circles, it's best to have each one deal with a different topic.
Allow all the attendees to select a circle to start at. It's best if you let them opt-in to whichever one they want.
Have all people in the circle quickly introduce themselves.
The moderator leads with a topic, and opens it up to the group for discussion.
Anyone may contribute, but the moderator's job is to keep order of who is speaking in what order if things get hot.
No person in the circle should refer to another person directly when criticizing comments. Moderators should enforce that critical comments are directed towards the topic, not the person.
As a topic winds down, the moderator may introduce another one.
After a reasonable period of time has passed, ask all the circles to shuffle. You want to encourage people to remix themselves so they get into a discussion with different people. Moderators should remain at the same circle when a shuffle occurs.
Moderators should keep track of interesting comments raised during discussion for use in future Unsermons.

Unsermons are at their best if they are kept open, and casual. While you could have people taking notes of what is being said, it tends to slow conversation down, and it makes people uptight.

Our early test runs of this event format have been received very warmly, and we intend to keep working on the format to get it perfect. If you organize a group to try it out, make sure to contact us and let us know how it went.