Involving Congregations in Advocacy Now (ICAN) Introduction My Faith and Advocacy The How-tos of Advocacy How to bring advocacy to my congregation Resources Miscellaneous Activities and Handouts

Involving Congregations in Advocacy Now

• Advocacy Assessment and Development
• Scavenger Hunt
• Did You Know?
• Quick Takes
• Wrap-Up

Wrap-Up

Perspective

Two of the obstacles to the transfer of learning from a workshop to home are the lack of support for the new way of doing the work and job stressors that go unmanaged. Either of these two obstacles prevent people from practicing what they have learned or cause their new practices to deteriorate rather quickly.

For advocacy, these obstacles loom large. Advocacy can be a lonely fight. Often the problems seem insurmountable and obstacles are faced at every turn. When one issue is tackled there are three more waiting for attention. The intensity of the issues and the relationships developed have injected new meaning into the term “burn-out.”

These activities address the issue with an “ounce of prevention.” Participants will assess their advocacy skills and develop a plan for working on–and gaining support for–an area that needs improvement. You will need to develop activities which fit your time, audience and space. If you meet on a regular basis, you may split or adapt these to be done over time.

Plan Commitment

Find a partner. (Tell partners that:)

• You will have about 10 minutes in total to share your selected plan for going home, highlighting the specific first steps needed;
• Spend about 5 minutes for each partner, then switch;
• Exchange phone numbers at the end of your dialogue and contract for a specific time to contact one another to check-in on progress toward your plan.