wfn.org | COSROW learns creative communication from comedy group

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Sept. 25, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-71B{428}

NOTE: This report is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS story #429.

EVANSTON, Ill. (UMNS) - They won't be taking their act on the road, but
members of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women
have learned to work as a team thanks to some tips from comedy
professionals.

Second City - the well-known comedy troupe that has fostered success stories
ranging from the late John Belushi to Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer
Simpson - provided the know-how at a communications workshop during the
commission's Sept. 21-23 organizing meeting. It was one of 150 such
workshops provided to businesses and organizations throughout the year.

Second City staffers Joe Keiff, Pam Klier and Nyima Woods led COSROW members
through improvisational exercises designed to stimulate creativity and
promote teamwork. 

"We want you to think less and feel more," Keiff told the group.

One of the warm-up exercises were "finger snaps," in which members had to
"snap" items ranging from a feather to a cream pie to a live rat to each
other. Later in the workshop, member groups responded to the challenge of
creating a product that couldn't be sold and then trying to sell it - such
as a hairless wig or stringless yoyo.

In order to work as a team, members must engage in "hyperactive listening,"
or listening with the proper emotion, the way that actors do on a stage. "We
listen to understand rather than listen to reply," Keiff explained.

Teamwork also means finding agreement with a central premise "rather than
holding onto our own ideas," he said. "This is the basis of
consensus-building." Members also must accept the group results as fully as
they would accept their own.

For an organization like COSROW, which does its decision-making by
consensus, community building is an important part of each meeting.

The Rev. Gail Murphy-Geiss of Aurora, Colo., who was elected COSROW's
president for the 2000-2004 period, said the commission would refocus on
some of its traditional duties, such as monitoring the seminaries and
denominational boards and agencies, but it also hopes to broaden its
horizons.

Specifically, commission members discussed the desire to invite United
Methodist women from outside the United States to attend meetings. The
presence of United Methodist Bishop Done Peter Dabale of Nigeria as a new
member helped spur the discussion.

"There seems to be a lot of energy around making these connections,"
Murphy-Geiss said.
    
Other officers elected are Rose Arroyo of Chicago, vice president, and the
Rev. Bill Wilson of Huntington, W. Va., secretary. Committee leaders are
Arroyo, nominating; Charlotte Fitzsimmons of Baton Rouge, La., personnel;
Mary White of Rosemont, Pa., constituents, advocacy, resources and
education; Charles Hefley of Kokomo, Ind., legislation; and Cynthia Bond
Hopson of Paris, Tenn., research and monitoring.

Commission members unanimously re-elected COSROW's co-chief executives, the
Rev. Stephanie Anna Hixon and Cecelia M. Long. The denomination's General
Council on Ministries must confirm that election. The commission is asking
that an exception be made for Long, whose tenure surpasses the 12-year limit
imposed on elected staff. Long will have completed 12 years in her position
at the end of 2000.

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United Methodist News Service
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