Here are student summaries of fall 2024 MCJD dialogical surveys with members of the First A.M.E. Zion congregation. Click on any title for details, then return to see all titles.
Conversation with the Congregation: Exploring MCJD with Members of First AME Zion
Event: First AME ZionInterviewer: Emil
Whom did you interview?
Joyce is a church leader of AME Zion, who was kind enough to participate in our discussion despite not knowing about it ahead of time. I did not hear a whole lot about her background, but she was very curious about our differences in a nonjudgemental way.
How did your EcoTypes and SDG priorities compare?Joyce’s answers fit roughly under the Land Stewardship ecotype, although they both scored very close to the middle on the place axis. Our knowledge types were both integral, though, which was neat to see. I initially had Joyce down as Small Green Steps, but when we chose our top 4 SDGs, it became clear that she leaned more towards human place, with No Poverty, and No Hunger at the top of the list. This makes her ecotype complementary to mine, Earth Action. It was interesting that the SDGs actually gave more insight into the ecotype that the other survey results.
What larger MCJD lessons did you learn?I found it very pleasant to interact with someone with very different perspectives than me in a nonjudgmental way. It was nice to be able to learn the ways in which we disagree while maintaining a level of civility that is often absent nowadays. I don’t know if we ever reached counting beneath two, it was mostly counting beyond two. Regardless, I think it made for a more valuable discussion than counting to two would.