(10 minutes)

Description

The purpose of this activity is to raise participants’ awareness of their own stressors and to consider how they react and respond to stress.

Ask participants to think about these questions:

• As a congregational leader, what “pushes your buttons”?
• What do you do when your buttons get pushed?

After participants have reflected for a minute or so, invite them to move around the room and to share brief answers to each question with others, one person at a time.

After five minutes, or when the activity slows down, call the group back together. Ask participants if they saw similarities between their own and others’ buttons or responses, and if anything surprised them. Allow some discussion.

Ask the group to consider what it is that makes their buttons “pushable.” Ask, “How are your ‘buttons’ related to experiences you have had? How are they related to power you hold—or don’t hold—in a given situation?” Invite those who wish to share their thoughts to do so.